First-year
New assistant revives defense
defensive coordinator Mike Elko has played a key role in Notre Dame’s success this season, and in getting the Irish to the Citrus Bowl.
Mike Elko has done wonders for a Notre Dame defense that was in desperate need of a revival following last season’s missteps.
One of six new assistants this year on coach Brian Kelly’s staff, Elko has helped the Fighting Irish turn its program around by putting players in positions that best accentuate their strengths.
“When he came in he [took over] a group that was down coming off of last year,” Irish senior linebacker Nyles Morgan said.
“The progress we made to be 9-3 versus 4-8 is just tremendous in my eyes. A lot of that is on defense, because you can’t win unless you stop the other team from scoring.”
Along with adding more wins, the Fighting Irish improved in a number of other ways on defense in 2017. They lowered their pointsagainst average from 27.8 to 21.8 per game and increased the number of tackles for loss (75), sacks (22) and turnovers (20) against a schedule that featured 10 teams that secured bowl bids.
Another challenge awaits Monday in the Citrus Bowl as No. 14 Notre Dame (9-3) goes up against No 17 LSU (9-3) at 1 p.m. at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. The game will be broadcast on WFTV.
A solid outing in the final game of the season will go a long way in reaffirming Elko’s approach since taking on the challenge at Notre Dame after building a top-20 defense at Wake Forest during the past three years.
“I think it was just instilling in us a culture of how we
wanted to play the game,” Elko said during a press conference Friday.
“I don’t know that it was necessarily a challenge because we got a great group of kids that really wanted to change,” he said. “And it wasn’t a group that was fighting needing to change. I think they wanted to be successful, they wanted to do the things that they needed to do to be successful, and so just kind of creating a culture of what defense was and what we wanted that vision to look like, these guys have all taken it and ran with it.” LSU returns
There will be a level of comfort for the majority of LSU coaches and players this weekend leading up to the Citrus Bowl on Monday.
The Tigers, who arrived in Orlando on Thursday night, routed Louisville 29-9 on New Year’s Eve last year behind the play of a stingy defense and MVP effort from junior running back Derrius Guice.
Quarterback Danny Etling was equally impressive for LSU as the senior threw for 217 yards and two scores.
“I think it was an easier transition, but it’s also something that you have to fight,” Etling said of retuning to Orlando.
“There was a lot of excitement getting to play in this game, and you come to it, and it’s a fun experience,” he said. “We want to make sure that we [don’t] come this season and take everything for granted like it’s just a given, so we want to come out and still be excited about everything and still relish the opportunity to play in such a great bowl game.” Weekend celebration
The annual Florida Citrus Parade will roll through the streets of Downtown Orlando today beginning at 11 a.m.
Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, an Orlando resident, will serve as grand marshal of the parade and be followed by marching bands and cheerleaders from participating schools.
Later in the afternoon, players and coaches from LSU and Notre Dame will take part in the Citrus Bowl Day for Kids outside of Camping World Stadium from 2-3:30 p.m.
On Sunday, Citrus Bowl pep rallies will be held at I-Drive 360 with head coaches, cheerleaders, bands and mascots from both schools beginning at 4 p.m.