Here's the transcript from a press conference with Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman, QB/offensive MVP Riley Leonard and cornerback/defensive MVP Christian Gray following ND's 27-24 win over Penn State, Thursday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
OPENING STATEMENT
MARCUS FREEMAN: “So proud of this group. What a gritty performance, and they found a way when it matters the most to get their job done. Penn State was a heck of a football team. I had a lot of respect for them coming into the game but have more after the game. It's a really good team, well-coached, and it was a tough match-up. But these guys are resilient, and they found a way to make a play when it mattered the most.”
“That's what, again, to me is what great teams, great organizations are able to do at that moment that they need to do their job or make a play, they do it. The last play doesn't matter. There's unpredictable things that happen all the time, and they find a way to make it work.
“I'm really proud of them, excited for this next opportunity. We'll enjoy this thing today and tomorrow before we figure out who our opponent is and then we've got to get healthy and get back to work for one last guaranteed [game].”
Q. Riley, when you're being evaluated for a concussion, it's not really up to you if you're coming back or not. What was your level of concern for those few minutes? What was the fear factor like? And did you have any doubt that you'd be able to get back out there and do what you did in the second half?
RILEY LEONARD: “Yeah, I think our medical support team, first and foremost, did a really good job. Got up a little wobbly, so that's an indicator they've got to bring me to the tent and take me through all the concussion tests.
“We went through all the tests, and they decided I was good to go back. But we definitely took our time and evaluated my numbers from this summer when I took a brain test to when I performed in the tent.
“Passed that, and Steve Angeli — this is a guy who has kind of waited his turn and all year has prepared like he's a starting quarterback every single week. [He] showed a lot of maturity, and he helps me out a lot. He is a guy on the sideline that knows exactly what the defense is doing.
“He's a good friend of mine, and I appreciate him a lot. So, for him to go in and drive them down the field [and get] three points before half, that was big.”
Q. Riley, did you maybe overthink some things a little bit in the first half, making some checks? And by just keeping it simple in the second half, did it allow you to perform at a higher level?
RILEY LEONARD: “Yeah, we didn't really have too much of an altering game plan. There were some checks I could have made in the first half, but overall I knew what the defense was giving me. We just knew what to get to in the second half.
“But no, I saw it well, and obviously didn't perform on a couple plays, but I can live with that. If I didn't throw that ball to J2 [Jayden Harrison], which I overthrew for an interception, I would have regretted it.
“So, I'm confident in my progression that it was the right throw. Just got to execute it. I can live with that. If I were to not throw it and hesitate, that's one thing. But I let it fly and it got picked, but that's all right.”
Q. Coach Freeman, could you comment on the performance of the offensive line after you had to put two substitutions in the lineup? No. 2, how do you manage to loosen things up so much in the second half? You scored 24 points.
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, we've got a lot of confidence in the offensive line room. When [Anthonie] Knapp goes down, Tosh Baker has to go in. And when Rocco [Spindler] goes down, Charles Jagusah has to go in.
“We've got a lot of confidence in them. I think the situation right before half, you've got a new quarterback in there. It’s a two-minute situation, they're trying to rush upfield, and they made some plays.
“As I told the offensive staff and the team in the locker room, we have to be able to run the ball and we've got to stop the run. That's not changing. We said that going into the game and we were saying that at halftime.
“We had to make some adjustments, which we did. We had to try to calm some things down. The rushing attack truly helped us open some things in the passing game in that second half. You know what? Riley just executed. The wideouts executed. The O-line did their job. Tight ends played well. And you find a way to win it with a game-winning field goal.
“It was going to be a battle. We didn't have great production in the first half, and it was a seven-point game. I told them, we get the ball the first series of the second half, and we've just to go out and execute on this play. But I want them to understand, we did not play to our standard in the first half. And credit to Penn State for what they did on both sides of the ball.
“It was a seven-point game. It did not feel like that going into the locker room, but it was a seven-point game. And our guys went out there and performed in the second half.”
Q. Marcus, your age was brought up at yesterday's press conference. Happy birthday to you. Where does this rank in terms of how you've started one of your birthdays?
MARCUS FREEMAN: ‘Thirteen years ago I had a daughter, Siema, born on the same day as me. For the past 13 years she gets all the birthday credit. But this is special. Again, this is a special moment that a lot of hard work has been put into it. It's not about a birthday. This is just about a moment and enjoying this moment together.”
Q. On the final drive where you kicked the field goal, how hard was it to strike a balance of being aggressive but also being careful knowing you didn't want to give Penn State the ball back there, as well?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, we had great communication in terms of what we were going to do. I wanted to see: Are they going to call a timeout? If they're not going to call a timeout, then I had to have a plan: Hey, when do we want to use our timeouts?
“Once we figured out what they were going to do, we said we want to center this ball on third down, center the ball on third down, and on third down — I'm sorry, center the ball on second. On third down is when we decided to do a QB sneak, because they called a timeout.
“They executed flawlessly. Nobody panicked. It was great communication. Riley kept everybody under control, and we knew we were in range where Mitch could make that field goal.
“He is a confident guy, man. There is no moment too big for Mitch Jeter. I had a lot of confidence in him, in that moment, that he was going to do exactly what he did. Aand he did a great job at doing that.”
Q. I am curious about the beginning of the drive, how you decide what the plan of attack is in that situation?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “I don't know exactly where the ball was — at the plus 42. We wanted to get the ball as close to the 30-yard line as we could. Listen, if we could have went down and scored, we would have. But we get at this moment, let's get the ball at least to the 30. And if we're not going to score a touchdown, let's run as much time off the clock as we can.
“But we didn't want to leave us with zero time, so we had to be smart with how we utilized those three timeouts, and we did a good job.”
Q. Can you speak to the health of Jeremiyah Love and how you ended up using him tonight?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, he was banged up, and he is a tough individual. He didn't get a lot of practice reps. We were very calculated on what we asked him to do in practice. There was maybe a little doubt on my end, but the closer we got to the game I said, ‘OK, he's going to give it a go.’
“The statistics maybe weren't there in the first half, but him being out there means something to everybody on that offense and everybody on our team. In the second half he made some ‘Jeremiyah Love’ plays.
“It speaks volumes to the heart he has. He gave everything he had to this place. He did not have to play today. Nobody would have batted an eye. But he put the team in front of himself and how he felt. And we've got a whole bunch of guys like that in that locker room, and that's why we're in this position.”
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OPENING STATEMENT
MARCUS FREEMAN: “So proud of this group. What a gritty performance, and they found a way when it matters the most to get their job done. Penn State was a heck of a football team. I had a lot of respect for them coming into the game but have more after the game. It's a really good team, well-coached, and it was a tough match-up. But these guys are resilient, and they found a way to make a play when it mattered the most.”
“That's what, again, to me is what great teams, great organizations are able to do at that moment that they need to do their job or make a play, they do it. The last play doesn't matter. There's unpredictable things that happen all the time, and they find a way to make it work.
“I'm really proud of them, excited for this next opportunity. We'll enjoy this thing today and tomorrow before we figure out who our opponent is and then we've got to get healthy and get back to work for one last guaranteed [game].”
Q. Riley, when you're being evaluated for a concussion, it's not really up to you if you're coming back or not. What was your level of concern for those few minutes? What was the fear factor like? And did you have any doubt that you'd be able to get back out there and do what you did in the second half?
RILEY LEONARD: “Yeah, I think our medical support team, first and foremost, did a really good job. Got up a little wobbly, so that's an indicator they've got to bring me to the tent and take me through all the concussion tests.
“We went through all the tests, and they decided I was good to go back. But we definitely took our time and evaluated my numbers from this summer when I took a brain test to when I performed in the tent.
“Passed that, and Steve Angeli — this is a guy who has kind of waited his turn and all year has prepared like he's a starting quarterback every single week. [He] showed a lot of maturity, and he helps me out a lot. He is a guy on the sideline that knows exactly what the defense is doing.
“He's a good friend of mine, and I appreciate him a lot. So, for him to go in and drive them down the field [and get] three points before half, that was big.”
Q. Riley, did you maybe overthink some things a little bit in the first half, making some checks? And by just keeping it simple in the second half, did it allow you to perform at a higher level?
RILEY LEONARD: “Yeah, we didn't really have too much of an altering game plan. There were some checks I could have made in the first half, but overall I knew what the defense was giving me. We just knew what to get to in the second half.
“But no, I saw it well, and obviously didn't perform on a couple plays, but I can live with that. If I didn't throw that ball to J2 [Jayden Harrison], which I overthrew for an interception, I would have regretted it.
“So, I'm confident in my progression that it was the right throw. Just got to execute it. I can live with that. If I were to not throw it and hesitate, that's one thing. But I let it fly and it got picked, but that's all right.”
Q. Coach Freeman, could you comment on the performance of the offensive line after you had to put two substitutions in the lineup? No. 2, how do you manage to loosen things up so much in the second half? You scored 24 points.
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, we've got a lot of confidence in the offensive line room. When [Anthonie] Knapp goes down, Tosh Baker has to go in. And when Rocco [Spindler] goes down, Charles Jagusah has to go in.
“We've got a lot of confidence in them. I think the situation right before half, you've got a new quarterback in there. It’s a two-minute situation, they're trying to rush upfield, and they made some plays.
“As I told the offensive staff and the team in the locker room, we have to be able to run the ball and we've got to stop the run. That's not changing. We said that going into the game and we were saying that at halftime.
“We had to make some adjustments, which we did. We had to try to calm some things down. The rushing attack truly helped us open some things in the passing game in that second half. You know what? Riley just executed. The wideouts executed. The O-line did their job. Tight ends played well. And you find a way to win it with a game-winning field goal.
“It was going to be a battle. We didn't have great production in the first half, and it was a seven-point game. I told them, we get the ball the first series of the second half, and we've just to go out and execute on this play. But I want them to understand, we did not play to our standard in the first half. And credit to Penn State for what they did on both sides of the ball.
“It was a seven-point game. It did not feel like that going into the locker room, but it was a seven-point game. And our guys went out there and performed in the second half.”
Q. Marcus, your age was brought up at yesterday's press conference. Happy birthday to you. Where does this rank in terms of how you've started one of your birthdays?
MARCUS FREEMAN: ‘Thirteen years ago I had a daughter, Siema, born on the same day as me. For the past 13 years she gets all the birthday credit. But this is special. Again, this is a special moment that a lot of hard work has been put into it. It's not about a birthday. This is just about a moment and enjoying this moment together.”
Q. On the final drive where you kicked the field goal, how hard was it to strike a balance of being aggressive but also being careful knowing you didn't want to give Penn State the ball back there, as well?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, we had great communication in terms of what we were going to do. I wanted to see: Are they going to call a timeout? If they're not going to call a timeout, then I had to have a plan: Hey, when do we want to use our timeouts?
“Once we figured out what they were going to do, we said we want to center this ball on third down, center the ball on third down, and on third down — I'm sorry, center the ball on second. On third down is when we decided to do a QB sneak, because they called a timeout.
“They executed flawlessly. Nobody panicked. It was great communication. Riley kept everybody under control, and we knew we were in range where Mitch could make that field goal.
“He is a confident guy, man. There is no moment too big for Mitch Jeter. I had a lot of confidence in him, in that moment, that he was going to do exactly what he did. Aand he did a great job at doing that.”
Q. I am curious about the beginning of the drive, how you decide what the plan of attack is in that situation?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “I don't know exactly where the ball was — at the plus 42. We wanted to get the ball as close to the 30-yard line as we could. Listen, if we could have went down and scored, we would have. But we get at this moment, let's get the ball at least to the 30. And if we're not going to score a touchdown, let's run as much time off the clock as we can.
“But we didn't want to leave us with zero time, so we had to be smart with how we utilized those three timeouts, and we did a good job.”
Q. Can you speak to the health of Jeremiyah Love and how you ended up using him tonight?
MARCUS FREEMAN: “Yeah, he was banged up, and he is a tough individual. He didn't get a lot of practice reps. We were very calculated on what we asked him to do in practice. There was maybe a little doubt on my end, but the closer we got to the game I said, ‘OK, he's going to give it a go.’
“The statistics maybe weren't there in the first half, but him being out there means something to everybody on that offense and everybody on our team. In the second half he made some ‘Jeremiyah Love’ plays.
“It speaks volumes to the heart he has. He gave everything he had to this place. He did not have to play today. Nobody would have batted an eye. But he put the team in front of himself and how he felt. And we've got a whole bunch of guys like that in that locker room, and that's why we're in this position.”
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