Notre Dame Preparing For Second Road Test

Riding high after a big victory over Stanford, it is important for Notre Dame to go into Lane Stadium confident, but in control of their emotions.

Withstanding Virginia Tech’s hostile home environment will be important in continuing their recent success.

“Our job is to handle the environment and go in and play really good football. If we do that and handle the environment, handle ourselves and our preparation, we'll be in pretty good shape.

“If we can't handle the environment, we can't prepare the right way this week because we're distracted because everybody's telling us how great we are, and then we'll be in big trouble. But this team's shown an ability to prepare the right way, a maturity to stay away from the distractions.”

The Irish players are aware of the environment they’re going to walk into Saturday night.

We have a big screen here,” explained Kelly. “There's plenty of video to show what that environment's like. So our guys are well-accustomed to what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like. They know there will be a lot of Orange. The decibels will be loud. They'll be reminded of it during the week. So they'll be much more accustomed to the situation.”

Notre Dame’s practice facilities will be alive all week in preparation.

“It will be as loud as allowable,” Kelly expressed. “On campus, we have some restrictions, but you'll definitely know that there's a practice going on. There's no doubt.”

Playing Virginia Tech, their defense comes to mind due to their veteran defensive coordinator Bud Foster, but this Hokies team is different. They can put points on the board.

“When playing Tech, obviously everybody wants to look toward their defense and rightly so, stated Kelly. “Virginia Tech has really shown under Coach Fuente the ability to score points, and they're doing that again this year.

“Everybody wants to jump to the defense, and Coach Foster has earned that respect over his career and what he's been able to do, but Virginia Tech puts points on the board, and that allows you to do a lot more from a defensive structure.

Although Josh Jackson’s injury hurts the Hokie’s offense, they still have a viable back-up and weapons around him.

“Offensively, they've had an injury at the quarterback position,” Kelly said. “Ryan Willis has come in and done a really good job coming in. He's a big, athletic kid, a transfer from Kansas, that has got escapability and real arm talent. It's complemented again from their perspective by having really good wide receivers, a good host of wide receivers. I think they're 17th in passing efficiency. He's really solid, and he's a veteran presence.

“The running back, (Deshawn) McClease, is extremely explosive, big play kind of back. (Steve) Peoples and they bring in (Terius) Wheatley, they bring in a host of backs. Their fullbacks we know very well are part of their offense and their tight ends.”