Notre Dame confident Justin Yoon can kick when it counts

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has been pleased with freshman kicker Justin Yoon’s performance in practice, but he’ll kick in a completely different atmosphere Saturday night in prime time against Texas.

Yoon, who was rated by Rivals as the top placekicker in 2015’s recruiting class, made percentage-wise “somewhere in the high 70s” of his kicks from 40-49 yards in practice, according to Kelly. The Nashville native’s success hasn’t waned as practice wore on during August, Kelly said, giving the sixth-year Irish coach another reason to be optimistic heading into this weekend’s season opener.

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“I was thinking that as camp wore on with the tired leg, we would see a drop in that area, but he's been solid,” Kelly said. “We've hit him with a lot of different situations. He's responded quite well to all of them.”

Missed kicks were among the reasons for Notre Dame’s plummet to a 7-5 regular season record in 2014, with Kyle Brindza hitting only 58 percent of his tries (14/24). He missed what would’ve been a go-ahead overtime kick against Northwestern and a game-tying kick against Louisville, though he did end his Irish career with a walk-off winner against LSU.

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Kelly raved about Yoon’s accuracy and said the only thing that needs work is his operation times, which he added are normal for a freshman. But most importantly, Kelly said Yoon doesn’t get rattled by much, which in theory should bode well for when his kicks start mattering in front of national audiences and sold-out crowds in a few days.

“I think the thing that stands out with me as it relates to him is he is so focused on just doing his job,” Kelly said. There's not a lot of things that kind of distract him. He's extremely focused.”

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