For Te’o, time off meant Irish had time to improve

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. >> Where others see an interruption to momentum, Manti Te’o sees a chance to improve.

Where others see building rust, Te’o sees building trust. More time to synergize the Notre Dame defense as it preps for Alabama in the Discover BCS National Championship Game on Monday. More time to watch tape and spot tells in the Crimson Tide offense.

The Fighting Irish haven’t played since Nov. 24 when they beat USC to finish the regular season 12-0. Alabama (12-1) finished a week later, topping Georgia in the SEC Championship.

It can be viewed as an advantage for the Tide that it has played more recently — and also because Alabama has experience in this situation, winning two of the past three national championship games with similar layoffs between the end of the season and the BCS finale.

“Obviously our players, (and) Coach (Nick Saban) have been through this before, so the process from when we started our preparation after the SEC Championship was well planned out,” Alabama offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. “We had a calendar from day one, and we’re excited to get out and play.”

But Te’o sees the extra off days as good for Notre Dame.

“With all this time, it’s a great opportunity for us to get better. It’s a great opportunity for our eyes to get familiar with Alabama, and the best way that we can do that is to watch film,” Te’o said. “The days off has given us the opportunity to sit down and watch tons and tons and tons of film. Coach D. (defensive coordinator Bob Diaco) always said the best way to simulate the speed of the game and to simulate the speed of the players is to watch them on tape. That’s the best thing you’re going to get besides the game itself.

“On the days off, it could definitely be a distraction, but by the way that our coaches scheduled everything and just by the way that our players approached every day’s tasks, it was a great experience for us to get out there and practice and to get in the film room.”

After the regular season, Te’o went on a whirlwind tour of awards ceremonies. He also spent a few days back home in Hawaii during the holidays. But he has spent most of the past five-plus weeks preparing for the biggest football game of his life.

Te’o and Diaco both said Te’o has had no problem restarting.

“It’s been easy,” Te’o said. “When you’re in the middle of football, nothing else matters. Football is my sanctuary where I feel most at home, and when I’m with my guys, when I’m with my coach, that’s my comfort zone, and that’s where I want to be. I was just glad to finally get back from that week of traveling and just to spend the rest of my time with my guys.”

Diaco said Te’o and the rest of the Notre Dame defense has managed to remain sharp despite the long layoff.

“Manti has actually practiced harder the last week since the award circuit, practiced harder than he has all year long,” Diaco said. “So he himself has raised his game even just as early as last week and leading up to the travel here to South Florida.”

Te’o sees it merely as an extension of his regular-season philosophy that includes few if any days off.

“It’s for the simple fact that I know that a lot of the success that you experience on game day was already done throughout the week, and if I don’t prepare myself the best I can throughout the week I won’t be ready for Saturday,” he said. “I can’t just turn it on and off. I can’t just slack the whole weekend and when game day comes, say OK, I’m ready, I’m going to go all out now.

“It’s a day-to-day process, and I know that, and everybody on our team understands that. If we want to be successful on Monday, we have to be better on Wednesday and better on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then Monday hopefully will take care of itself.”

———
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.