As a fan of football, Tim Lester is amazed by Notre Dame’s defense. He enjoys watching it. When he does, he said he doesn’t know what’s coming.

But in the eyes of Syracuse’s quarterbacks coach, the No. 8 Fighting Irish’s (3-0) secondary poses a serious threat. Lester said the Orange (2-1) won’t overly adjust to Notre Dame’s defense. The Irish play more man-to-man coverage than any team SU has faced this season and run a series of highly unpredictable sets on third down, fueled by unusually versatile athletes.

“It’s trying to figure out and put ourselves in a situation, a good situation when they’ve got people running all over the place,” Lester said. “And it’s all the Rex Ryan stuff on third down.”

Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder joined the team after coaching the New York Jets linebackers last season. Ryan, the Jets head coach, is known for using a version of the 46 defense honed by his father Buddy, with the Chicago Bears of the 1980s.

The defense is known for bringing pressure from all angles with unusual personnel — for instance, safeties playing as linebackers.

“He’s had people influence his creativity when he was with the Jets,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “I see some of the same carryover, some of the same man concepts.”

Sometimes, Shafer said, VanGorder will have his defense play man-to-man coverage on one side of the field and zone on the other.

Lester has been giving Syracuse players stats on the percentages of which kind of coverage Notre Dame plays out of each defensive formation, he said. Most teams run man coverage as its fifth- or sixth-most used defense, Lester said, but it’s Notre Dame’s third-most frequently used.

And when the Irish slips into its 3-3-5 set — what some teams call “Okie” or “star” packages — they drop defensive lineman Romeo Okwara into coverage, Lester said.  Where Lester usually sees a lineman lumber off as defensive back trots onto the field, UND keeps the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Okwara on the field.

“He’s that big and athletic that he can play the nickel, which is impressive,” Lester said.

While Shafer credits VanGorder as a creative coach, he’s also one managing a highly talented defense.

“It’s always easy to be creative when you’ve got guys that can run around and do those things,” Shafer said. “And he’s got a bunch of them.”

Published on September 27, 2014 at 12:31 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_