SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Brian Kelly’s vague answers went only so far. Without understanding just how frustrating Notre Dame’s loss of seven players to positive tests and contact tracing was, its ability to work through the quick roster depletion could not be properly understood. The Irish head coach did not explicitly say how and when he learned he would be without two defensive starters due to the late week quarantines, but he made it clear the news came closer to kickoff than anything else.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Kelly said after No. 7 Notre Dame beat South Florida, 52-0, Saturday.