McGlinchey Wants To Continue Setting The Standard Against Miami
Notre Dame wanted to run the football heading into the year and through four games, the Irish have stuck to the plan as they currently rank seventh in the country at 293 rushing yards per game.
The success starts up front, but the last two weeks, Notre Dame offensive lineman has noticed the receiver corps has begun to throw some big blocks downfield.
“I actually said that to Q (Quenton Nelson) this past week when we were watching film,” said the graduate captain. “I think that's one of our greatest improvements on offense this year is just noticing how our receivers and how our perimeter players are working and just busting their butt off to get down and stay on people and spring the big plays. I think that we hadn't seen that before, at least to the extent of what we're doing right now in the four years that I've been here, and that's a credit to Coach (Del) Alexander and all the receivers and Coach (Chip) Long and having the mindset that they have right now in terms of doing whatever they can, whether it's the ball in their hands or whether it's blocking downfield to put points on the board.
“Our receivers have done a phenomenal job, and they've -- you just can repeatedly look on film, and you see them body on body down the field. It helps bring huge plays, and I think that one run by Dexter (Williams) in either later in the second quarter or the third quarter when he wasn't touched for 15 yards until he got into the end zone because of guys getting on bodies downfield.”
McGlinchey was named a captain last fall but entering 2017, his partner in crime was also named a captain. Nelson wasn’t known as a vocal guy but made sure to work on his leadership this offseason with head coach Brian Kelly.
“He is obviously like myself, Q is a very emotional guy, very passionate and lets it loose on his sleeve,” stated McGlinchey. “That’s been the greatest area of maturity for him is he has now found a way when he's communicating and trying to lead, has found a way to properly communicate that across the board, whether it's to another offensive lineman, to a quarterback, to a DB, no matter who it is. Q is very, very good now at communicating what he wants to be done and what our head coach wants to be done to all facets of our football team. I think that's been the greatest growth of his maturity, and noticeably in terms of the off-the-field stuff, he doesn't let his emotions drive him as much as he used to, and obviously it's a battle for both me and him every day, but I think that that's been the greatest area of his improvement in terms of his leadership for sure.”
Nelson’s greatest asset as a leader is likely his honesty. The 6-foot-5, 330-pounder is intimidating on the outside, but the ability to communicate his passion is something his teammates have embraced.
“I think Q leadership-wise is very truthful, very honest,” explained McGlinchey. “He will never, ever sugar coat anything when it comes to what you're doing or the way he views something. He's extremely passionate, cares more than anybody on our team, and he is just as good as they get in terms of his preparation, and he makes sure that everybody else is coming along with him.
“Obviously as the player, there's nobody better in the country at what he does, and we think Quenton Nelson -- you can try and scour the country, but I'll bet you a lot of money you're not going to find somebody better than him, and that's because of the way he works, the way he leads, and the way he just goes out and balls. You have to commend Q for the amount of work he's done for four years now to put himself in the position that he's in, and the sky's the limit with him. He's just phenomenal across the board.”
Both McGlinchey and Nelson took some heat after a week two loss to Georgia, but the motivation the last two weeks didn’t stem from the criticism. McGlinchey believes pride was the motivating factor to get over the hump of the Georgia loss.
“I don't think we let criticism drive us at all,” McGlinchey said. “I don't think we give much of a crap about what anybody says about us or what's going on in terms of outside the world. We look at it as if we don't get our jobs done; we're the ones criticizing ourselves. We take a lot of pride in being the engine that makes this team and this offense go, and when that doesn't happen, then we have to make sure it does, and we've got to clean it up. Obviously, we didn't have a lot of success against Georgia, but in terms of motivation from the outside world, we haven't looked at that at all. We know what we're about in our room, what we're capable of and what we're supposed to be doing, and that's all that matters with that.”
While the offensive line was a strength heading into the season, the biggest surprise of the season to this point is the Irish defensive line. Kelly gave an A- grade through four games to the unit and McGlinchey couldn’t be more proud of the defensive line unit.
“They've done a great job, and I said this before the season, and I'll keep saying it over and over again,” said McGlinchey. “Our defensive line is ready to play. They are a good group, and they've done a lot of great things for our football team already this year. They've made a dramatic improvement from where they were. That's a credit to Coach Elston, Coach Elko and the guys that they have in their defensive line room, and they just keep going to work every single day. You can feel them getting better, especially as an offensive lineman, you can feel the things that they're doing to you. You can feel how hard they're playing, and you can see the fire with which they go about their business every single day, and it's translating to success on the field, and only more of that to come.”
When it comes to Saturday, the Miami Redhawks probably don’t put fear into many Notre Dame fans minds, but it could be a tipping point for the program after one of the most complete games in the last few years.
The common message from Kelly and his team this week has been about setting a standard. Notre Dame has a chance to take care of business early again this week, and it’s important the winning traits the team has learned on the road the last two weeks carries over.
“I really can't remember a time that we felt like that good about what we did and how efficient we were,” said McGlinchey of the Michigan State win. “We had 60 or so plays on offense and wound up with the 33 points, I think, or 32 points because one of them was a defensive touchdown. That's obviously a lower number than we're used to with Coach Long being our offensive coordinator, but I think we were very efficient. We didn't stall out like we had seen us do in the past, and everybody across the board was executing their job. And I think it was as clean of a game as we've had here in the past, and I think that that's got to be the standard, and until we match that week in, week out -- there's obviously still a ton of things that we can improve on, but that was definitely as clean of a game as I can remember here, and it certainly feels good, and we're going to do our darndest to keep it moving.”
Setting the standard in weeks like this probably sounds easier than done, but McGlinchey and the other captains are making sure the Irish are locked in and ready to go on Saturday.
“It's college football,” McGlinchey said. “You have things thrown at you all different times, people have bad days, good days, but it's about being the same player and being the same team consistently throughout the way at all times no matter what. That's the best football teams, and the best football players figure that out and take that with a lot of pride and make sure that nobody can tell what's going on with them, whether they have something going on in their personal life or they're not just feeling good that day. You have to step up, do your job no matter what at all times, and until you do that and that's the standard, and you've got to try and meet that every single week.”