Putting together my transcript of the press conference Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had with local writers Tuesday night.
Questions may be paraphrased. Quotes aren't.
If other teams see how you played against Navy’s Cover 0 blitzing in the second half and try to implement it, how do you move forward with that?
“They played us similar in the first half. Probably more aggressive and consistent in the second half in terms of eight-man fronts and all-out pressure. It’s a very unique situation. You’re playing a triple-option team. You’re up three scores. They’re trying to get momentum and the ball back.
“I had the chance to talk to their defensive coordinator after the game, and he said, ‘It’s the only call I had left. I felt like it’s the only thing we could do.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think you guys set a record for blitz 0 there in the second half.’ He’s a great guy. He’s a great coach. He does as well as anybody in the country at presenting challenges to offenses with his pressures and his different looks.
“We felt like we had some stuff that we thought we had in the second half there. We just have to coach it a little better and execute it a little better. I would welcome the challenge if teams want to play us that way. It can be a lot like it was in the first half. The first three touchdowns were against Cover 0. You’re risking a lot there, obviously, as a defensive coach. Guys are going to see it and be aggressive.
“We feel like we have a good plan of how to attack it and how to continue to. You have to get guys down if you’re going to play that way. We would welcome that.”
What could you have done better in second half vs. Navy?
“You can win by 30, and you look at calls and you’re like, ‘Gosh, I wish I would have hit this.’ When you look back at it, there are certainly ways to attack it. I thought there were a couple on the first drive where we need to get our eyes in the right spot and make the monotonous decisions that are easy ball-control-type, quick-game throws that gets the ball out of the quarterback’s hand against one on one in space.
“As the half went on, probably mixing in more of those. We had a couple plays down the field that really one of them I’d want back. Definitely want one of them back. We had the one to Mike (Mayer). We had an opportunity, too, where we ended up going like a nine-man pro on one of them trying to take a shot with Braden (Lenzy).
“Helping Drew get into more of a rhythm again. We hit the dig on third down and you felt like, ‘All right, here’s some positive momentum.’ And then you miss one and get behind the chains. Probably in that moment, getting another positive ball out of his hand. Just helping him with the timing of it.
“Then having a chance after some success to bring him over and say, ‘All right, this is what’s happening. Let’s have awareness of it.’ He did a great with his feet job on the touchdown to Audric (Estimé). Did a great job with his feet on the touchdown to Chris Tyree of buying some time. When teams are doing that, you really have to try to bait them to you to buy time.
“I thought we got a little comfortable with our feet. When you get hit that many times, you better not be that comfortable. So, it’s something we’re going to continue to work at and put him in a good spot moving forward.”
Is there anything in the screen game family that can work?
“Slow screens are hard, because you’re not going to have time with that much pressure. We threw the one to Mike. We threw two to Zo (Lorenzo Styles). Which were kind of that same realm of thought. Get the ball out of his hand. Those perimeter-type screens. Slow screens are extremely tough. You saw the pressure. Imagine having less blockers on a screen than more. You’re going to have a tough time getting those off.”
(more)
Questions may be paraphrased. Quotes aren't.
If other teams see how you played against Navy’s Cover 0 blitzing in the second half and try to implement it, how do you move forward with that?
“They played us similar in the first half. Probably more aggressive and consistent in the second half in terms of eight-man fronts and all-out pressure. It’s a very unique situation. You’re playing a triple-option team. You’re up three scores. They’re trying to get momentum and the ball back.
“I had the chance to talk to their defensive coordinator after the game, and he said, ‘It’s the only call I had left. I felt like it’s the only thing we could do.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think you guys set a record for blitz 0 there in the second half.’ He’s a great guy. He’s a great coach. He does as well as anybody in the country at presenting challenges to offenses with his pressures and his different looks.
“We felt like we had some stuff that we thought we had in the second half there. We just have to coach it a little better and execute it a little better. I would welcome the challenge if teams want to play us that way. It can be a lot like it was in the first half. The first three touchdowns were against Cover 0. You’re risking a lot there, obviously, as a defensive coach. Guys are going to see it and be aggressive.
“We feel like we have a good plan of how to attack it and how to continue to. You have to get guys down if you’re going to play that way. We would welcome that.”
What could you have done better in second half vs. Navy?
“You can win by 30, and you look at calls and you’re like, ‘Gosh, I wish I would have hit this.’ When you look back at it, there are certainly ways to attack it. I thought there were a couple on the first drive where we need to get our eyes in the right spot and make the monotonous decisions that are easy ball-control-type, quick-game throws that gets the ball out of the quarterback’s hand against one on one in space.
“As the half went on, probably mixing in more of those. We had a couple plays down the field that really one of them I’d want back. Definitely want one of them back. We had the one to Mike (Mayer). We had an opportunity, too, where we ended up going like a nine-man pro on one of them trying to take a shot with Braden (Lenzy).
“Helping Drew get into more of a rhythm again. We hit the dig on third down and you felt like, ‘All right, here’s some positive momentum.’ And then you miss one and get behind the chains. Probably in that moment, getting another positive ball out of his hand. Just helping him with the timing of it.
“Then having a chance after some success to bring him over and say, ‘All right, this is what’s happening. Let’s have awareness of it.’ He did a great with his feet job on the touchdown to Audric (Estimé). Did a great job with his feet on the touchdown to Chris Tyree of buying some time. When teams are doing that, you really have to try to bait them to you to buy time.
“I thought we got a little comfortable with our feet. When you get hit that many times, you better not be that comfortable. So, it’s something we’re going to continue to work at and put him in a good spot moving forward.”
Is there anything in the screen game family that can work?
“Slow screens are hard, because you’re not going to have time with that much pressure. We threw the one to Mike. We threw two to Zo (Lorenzo Styles). Which were kind of that same realm of thought. Get the ball out of his hand. Those perimeter-type screens. Slow screens are extremely tough. You saw the pressure. Imagine having less blockers on a screen than more. You’re going to have a tough time getting those off.”
(more)
