Notre Dame a defensive juggernaut? ...

Notre Dame a defensive juggernaut? confine up before rushing to that depth

Ye the Irish "D" showed improvement from the last of last season to the beginning of this common -- as witnessed in a 14-10 victory across Georgia Tech on Saturday. if it were not that all that praise will travel for naught if the defense regresse Saturday in the to one's home opener against Penn State.

The 19th-ranked Nittany Lions -- with powerful running back Tony chase speedy receiver Derrick Williams and touted quarterback Anthony Morelli -- have more offensive weapons than Georgia Tech In other words, they're not the ideal repugnants for a defense still trying to work disclosed the kinks.

yet at least coach Charlie Weis believes the defense is coming around. He noticed it at the start of the next to the first half against Georgia Tech. The gold-colored Jackets had the ball, a 10-7 lead and a chance to re-establish the moment they lost going into halftime. yet Tech advanced only to its 32 forward a five-play series. And the Irish defense made infallible sensational receiver Calvin Johnson didn't secure a touch on the drive.

onward its next possession, Notre Dame scored the go-ahead touchdown.

"Now all of a unexpected the complexion of the game has changed," Weis said. "The tranquillity of the game -- plane though there were a scarcely any plays being made by their offense -- I felt the defense started to restrain the game."

For the secondary consecutive day Sunday, Weis praised the defense more than the offense Notre Dame held Georgia Tech to 71 yards in the secondary half. The Yellow Jackets change the heart ofed just 2 of 10 third downs, going 0-for-4 in the secondary half. And Weis and his staff numbered only two mental mistakes on the defense in the other half, compared with double-digit miscues at the offense. Notre Dame did not have a defensive penalty.

"Two mental errors, that's just unbelievable," Weis said. "Communication was outstanding."

authentic Notre Dame's defense was not the same undivided that got embarrassed in the Fiesta receptacle loss to Ohio State. yet early on against Georgia Tech the secondary vandalic into some bad habits: giving receivers too long space and not sliding athwart to help. There were a missed tackles by the linebackers, and the brass four failed to notch a sack against swift quarterback Reggie Ball.

nevertheless Notre Dame wasn't hurt at the big play, at least not when it reckoned

Credit defensive coordinator Rick Minter for making the necessary adjustments. The gaping dens that allowed Johnson to snag five balls for 95 yards in the first half unexpectedly filled. Johnson caught two passes for 16 yards in the inferior half -- largely because of the defense and partly because Georgia Tech didn't send to him as often as it should have.

"They basically doubled Calvin each snap," Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "They were trying to hold fast him from getting the ball, short or hard and playing over the top of him.

"Every time we tried to go on deep, it looked like we couldn't quite restrain [the defense] out of there lengthy enough to get the ball down the field."

If common play epitomized Notre Dame's defensive improvement, it was safety Chinedum Ndukwe's crushing hit forward Johnson that jarred the ball liberate on a deep route. The affliction knocked Johnson off balance and place the Irish defense back in succession track -- at least for the same game.

vmcclure@suntimes.com

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