ND FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Brown to start in place of Hamilton; offense playing its best

Oct. 27—SOUTH BEND — For the second year in a row, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton won't play a full game against North Carolina.

A year ago, he was ejected for targeting against the Tar Heels and missed the entire second half. This year though, it's an impairment that will sideline the All-American.

The knee injury Hamilton suffered just eight snaps into the game against Southern California will keep him from suiting up this weekend for the Fighting Irish.

"Hamilton will be out this week," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "He'll get further testing this week to see where he is. We don't think it's a long-term situation, but he's definitely out this week. ... It's a knee injury, but I don't want to get into the specifics. Our medical team has done its due diligence, and we'll give everyone a chance to weigh in on this matter. There will be a collaboration with everybody that's involved, and we'll do what's right."

Behind Hamilton, veteran safety D.J. Brown took the open spot opposite of Houston Griffith against the Trojans. Brown played well, earning seven tackles in relief of Notre Dame's top defensive player.

"I prepare and practice every day like I'm the starter," Brown said. "So when the opportunity came, I wasn't fazed by it. It was a great game, I played well, and I'm happy with my performance.

"It was tough to see (Kyle Hamilton) go down. Like all of us, he works really hard during the week. It's always hard to see someone go down like that. But for me, I always try to prepare throughout the week just in case something like that happens. It's kind of bittersweet, but I know Kyle will be there for us. He's in the meeting room and out on the field helping us out, so I know he's going to do everything he can to help out the safety group."

The loss of Hamilton obviously hurts Notre Dame's defense from an overall talent standpoint. However, Brown and Griffith showed they're both capable of holding down the back end of the secondary against a USC offense very capable of explosive plays last Saturday.

While UNC sits at just 3-3 so far this season, the number 15 scoring offense and dynamic quarterback Sam Howell (1,851 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions) could present a tougher challenge than the Trojans did for the Irish secondary.

"Kyle only played eight snaps, so them playing high-leverage snaps against USC, they feel really good going into this game," said Kelly of Brown and Griffith. "Now, we're going to have to do some things relative to the depth at that position. You might want to pencil in (Isaiah) Pryor at the safety position, because asking (Brown and Griffith) to play the whole game is a lot coupled with special teams."

OFFENSIVE SUCCESS WITH TEMPO

During the last three halves of football, Notre Dame's offense has appeared to have found its footing after all of the uncertainty at quarterback and a nightmarish start in the run game.

The Irish have scored 49 points over the last six quarters of play and the emergence of the run game has helped take some pressure off quarterback Jack Coan.

In the second half against Virginia Tech, the Irish rushed for 111 yards. That momentum carried into Notre Dame's game with USC after running back Kyren Williams ran for 138 yards — a season high — and two touchdowns in the victory.

"He's someone you get excited to block for," said Notre Dame offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic of Williams. "You just know how hard he's going to run. In pass protection, he's got your back there to. He's an easy guy to want to go out there and just play as hard as you can for."

The improvement up front has helped as well with Notre Dame only having allowed one sack over the last three halves of play. That extra time has helped Coan, who led the Irish to a come-from-behind win over the Hokies before going 20-of-28 for 189 yards and a touchdown against USC.

The sudden switch to an up-tempo style of play has been raved about by the players so far as well, and the expectation is to continue yielding success offensively from it.

"Tempo seems to be an ally for us within this offensive structure," Kelly said. "This offense, and the quarterback in particular, seems to work better if there's a pace to it. (Coan)'s a guy who makes quick decisions and seems to operate well based upon what we had seen leading into the USC game. The snapshots of his efficient play were tempo driven.

"We're trying to find out how to best utilize and get the best version of our players. That's what we went to work at in the off week, and there will be more of that to come."

Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240326. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.