Four Notre Dame players spoke to reporters in the postgame press conference after Notre Dame's 31-24 victory over Louisville. Here's everything they had to say.
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
RILEY LEONARD
What’s the mentality for the offense after taking the field already trailing to start the game? How important was it to play the way you did in that first quarter?
“Obviously, it’s a 3-4 hour game, so to have that mishap that early, you worry about it, but you don’t really worry about it too much. Then we did a great job on offense of emphasizing and having the urgency to start really fast. Even though that mishap happened, we had all the confidence in the world that we were going to start fast on offense, because we did it every single day of the week in practice.”
Where do you feel like this team is at in the big picture?
“Shoot, it’s kind of hard for me to look at the bigger picture sometimes. I feel like I’m very narrow in my vision. I see right now that the team’s better than we were last week. The offense is better than it was last week. The defense is better than it was last week. We’re starting to roll, starting to get our confidence back.
“Bigger picture, who knows? We got a lot of potential. But right now, I think we’re doing all right.”
I’m sure you’re busy while they’re on the field, but what can you say about your defense playing without some injured players?
“Yeah, I am busy. I didn’t really see many of the injuries. I gotta pay more attention. But, shoot, we didn’t miss a beat. The guys came in and they balled out. We have a very mature, young group of guys on this team who are able to come in and fulfill roles. I saw a lot of young guys out there making plays. It’s really exciting to see that. Nobody hesitates whenever these guys have to go in. Everybody’s got all the confidence in the world in them. Proud of them.”
How soon did you feel back to yourself after you got banged up there in the second quarter? Did it limit you at all?
“The play I went out, I got the wind knocked out of me. It’s kind of soft. It’s weird saying that now. You gotta go out for a play, because you got the wind knocked out of you. But that was terrible. I couldn’t breathe. It was really no problem after a couple minutes. It’s a bad feeling getting that wind knocked out of you. It really didn’t play an impact at all.”
Was that first quarter as confident as you’ve felt this season. If so, what was the difference for you?
“That’s the most confident I’ve felt. I think it’s because of my preparation. It’s all due to the coaches. We’re really starting to understand each other and understand the plays that I really like. So they do a great job of calling that. Then my preparation — I feel like that is a very complex defense that we just went against. I felt like I knew exactly what I was going to get pre-snap the majority of the time. It’s just a testament to the hard work that we put in throughout the week and just paying attention to the little details. There’s a game within a game, and a lot of people don’t see that. But I think I was mentally prepared and knew what I was gonna get.”
Did your eyes light up when you saw Jaden Greathouse open on that touchdown?
“Yeah, there was him and then Jayden Harrison, who was also wide open on one of those. Those are the ones that freak me out, because I’m like, ‘Dude, don’t miss them.’ Because I missed a couple last week. It was good. Always a good feeling.”
When you’re struggling through the second half, how were you guys able to pull it together for the touchdown drive?
“The struggles in the third quarter, I don’t know if it was exactly their defense. It was awkward drives, some penalties here. It was just a weird thing that we gotta fit. We gotta start off fast. Everybody talks about the middle six — the last three minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half. We gotta be better there. The fourth quarter, we pride ourselves on our endurance and being able to put games away. It was good to be able to do that.”
You were sacked once late despite facing pressure throughout. What goes through your mind when you’re trying to avoid those sacks?
“Everybody thinks it’s me who’s avoiding sacks and throwing the ball away and getting the ball out, but I had a lot of time today. That’s all credit due to my offensive line. I got some young guys in there, got some old guys in there. They jell really well together. I trust them with anything. They did an outstanding job. Louisville had more of a contain mindset for me, so I wasn’t able to escape the pocket maybe like I’m used to, but that’s fine. No problem with me. They did a good job up front.”
What’s it do for your confidence and the offense’s confidence when the coaches draw up plays that worked really well on the last touchdown drive?
“No better feeling as a quarterback when your coach just calls a play and you know it’s going to work. We called a couple there. They weren’t doing a great job in-and-outing the rub routes. So whenever J2, Jayden Harrison, popped open, that’s exactly what we expected and anticipated.
“For the throwback screen to work, we practiced it all week. And what a great time to call it. Just worked out perfectly. They were in the perfect defense against it. Shout out to the coaches there. Those are easy plays to execute, and we did it.”
What do you over the bye week and the week leading into the next game to ensure you guys build on this performance?
“Probably golf and hopefully catch a bass or two. But that’ll just be for like tomorrow. Then probably get back to work. I gotta get my body right. I’m definitely gonna be feeling today’s game tomorrow. We’ll enjoy it, but we have to learn how to handle success. We didn’t do a good job of that, obviously, after our week 1 win, which was a big win. Being able to handle success is a priority for us, and we gotta show maturity and focus on the next game.”
What do you take away from being the Notre Dame quarterback this first month of the season?
“This was an experience that every kid dreams of. It was really good to be able to put on a show for the fans and come out with a win like this. It’s something I waited all offseason for and haven’t done a great job doing so far this season. But, shoot, we got it done. Hopefully, we get a lot more done.”
How close are you to complete performance at home on offense?
“Whatever we’re called to do, we can do. Kinda proved that the last couple games. We’ve had success. It just comes down to hard work and preparation.”
Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
RILEY LEONARD
What’s the mentality for the offense after taking the field already trailing to start the game? How important was it to play the way you did in that first quarter?
“Obviously, it’s a 3-4 hour game, so to have that mishap that early, you worry about it, but you don’t really worry about it too much. Then we did a great job on offense of emphasizing and having the urgency to start really fast. Even though that mishap happened, we had all the confidence in the world that we were going to start fast on offense, because we did it every single day of the week in practice.”
Where do you feel like this team is at in the big picture?
“Shoot, it’s kind of hard for me to look at the bigger picture sometimes. I feel like I’m very narrow in my vision. I see right now that the team’s better than we were last week. The offense is better than it was last week. The defense is better than it was last week. We’re starting to roll, starting to get our confidence back.
“Bigger picture, who knows? We got a lot of potential. But right now, I think we’re doing all right.”
I’m sure you’re busy while they’re on the field, but what can you say about your defense playing without some injured players?
“Yeah, I am busy. I didn’t really see many of the injuries. I gotta pay more attention. But, shoot, we didn’t miss a beat. The guys came in and they balled out. We have a very mature, young group of guys on this team who are able to come in and fulfill roles. I saw a lot of young guys out there making plays. It’s really exciting to see that. Nobody hesitates whenever these guys have to go in. Everybody’s got all the confidence in the world in them. Proud of them.”
How soon did you feel back to yourself after you got banged up there in the second quarter? Did it limit you at all?
“The play I went out, I got the wind knocked out of me. It’s kind of soft. It’s weird saying that now. You gotta go out for a play, because you got the wind knocked out of you. But that was terrible. I couldn’t breathe. It was really no problem after a couple minutes. It’s a bad feeling getting that wind knocked out of you. It really didn’t play an impact at all.”
Was that first quarter as confident as you’ve felt this season. If so, what was the difference for you?
“That’s the most confident I’ve felt. I think it’s because of my preparation. It’s all due to the coaches. We’re really starting to understand each other and understand the plays that I really like. So they do a great job of calling that. Then my preparation — I feel like that is a very complex defense that we just went against. I felt like I knew exactly what I was going to get pre-snap the majority of the time. It’s just a testament to the hard work that we put in throughout the week and just paying attention to the little details. There’s a game within a game, and a lot of people don’t see that. But I think I was mentally prepared and knew what I was gonna get.”
Did your eyes light up when you saw Jaden Greathouse open on that touchdown?
“Yeah, there was him and then Jayden Harrison, who was also wide open on one of those. Those are the ones that freak me out, because I’m like, ‘Dude, don’t miss them.’ Because I missed a couple last week. It was good. Always a good feeling.”
When you’re struggling through the second half, how were you guys able to pull it together for the touchdown drive?
“The struggles in the third quarter, I don’t know if it was exactly their defense. It was awkward drives, some penalties here. It was just a weird thing that we gotta fit. We gotta start off fast. Everybody talks about the middle six — the last three minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half. We gotta be better there. The fourth quarter, we pride ourselves on our endurance and being able to put games away. It was good to be able to do that.”
You were sacked once late despite facing pressure throughout. What goes through your mind when you’re trying to avoid those sacks?
“Everybody thinks it’s me who’s avoiding sacks and throwing the ball away and getting the ball out, but I had a lot of time today. That’s all credit due to my offensive line. I got some young guys in there, got some old guys in there. They jell really well together. I trust them with anything. They did an outstanding job. Louisville had more of a contain mindset for me, so I wasn’t able to escape the pocket maybe like I’m used to, but that’s fine. No problem with me. They did a good job up front.”
What’s it do for your confidence and the offense’s confidence when the coaches draw up plays that worked really well on the last touchdown drive?
“No better feeling as a quarterback when your coach just calls a play and you know it’s going to work. We called a couple there. They weren’t doing a great job in-and-outing the rub routes. So whenever J2, Jayden Harrison, popped open, that’s exactly what we expected and anticipated.
“For the throwback screen to work, we practiced it all week. And what a great time to call it. Just worked out perfectly. They were in the perfect defense against it. Shout out to the coaches there. Those are easy plays to execute, and we did it.”
What do you over the bye week and the week leading into the next game to ensure you guys build on this performance?
“Probably golf and hopefully catch a bass or two. But that’ll just be for like tomorrow. Then probably get back to work. I gotta get my body right. I’m definitely gonna be feeling today’s game tomorrow. We’ll enjoy it, but we have to learn how to handle success. We didn’t do a good job of that, obviously, after our week 1 win, which was a big win. Being able to handle success is a priority for us, and we gotta show maturity and focus on the next game.”
What do you take away from being the Notre Dame quarterback this first month of the season?
“This was an experience that every kid dreams of. It was really good to be able to put on a show for the fans and come out with a win like this. It’s something I waited all offseason for and haven’t done a great job doing so far this season. But, shoot, we got it done. Hopefully, we get a lot more done.”
How close are you to complete performance at home on offense?
“Whatever we’re called to do, we can do. Kinda proved that the last couple games. We’ve had success. It just comes down to hard work and preparation.”
