(Opening statement)
“Definitely excited about this weekend and the opportunity ahead for our football team.
It will be a great chance to test and see exactly how we stack up against one of
the nation’s best. I know our team is looking forward to having a great week of practice
and trying to get better each and every day and going out there and trying to play our
best on Saturday.”
(Key to getting the right fit at QB in the portal)
“Well there are risks involved without question you know it’s not like you can go and
fully scout them and get to know them. Things have to happen fast and you need to do
your research and you’ve got to trust what you see but also get to know the individual
as fast as you can because that position is very important. Luckily for us Tyler has come
in and done a great job and really led this football team really good through three games
and of course were got many tough games ahead of us; but to this point he’s played
very well and has been a great addition for us.”
(On Notre Dame and a “revenge game”)
“Without question when you lose to a certain team one year maybe when you’re
supposed to win you’re going to be prepared and go above and beyond to make sure it
doesn’t happen again so I’m sure they are going to do that. First off it’s a very talented
football team; I mean really talented across the board. A lot of great players and they
are well coached, the defense has been outstanding, they want to run the ball and use
their quarterback as a runner and not turn it over; you know presents challenges. When
you face those types of teams you have to find a way to kind of beat them at their game
a little bit while still doing what you do well. It will present challenges for us, last year
we just played very efficient football, they turned it over a lot which really hurt
them. The game was still close for a while until we broke a couple runs that really
shifted the momentum to us. With Notre Dame it’s important to figure out a way to get a
lead and to make them do some things that they’re not as comfortable doing and when
you do that you can create a little bit of advantage, but until then they are very talented
and they are going to challenge you and it’s going to be a tough game for us.”
(On preparing for Notre Dame)
“Well because the game didn’t go the way they wanted to last year, we expect their
best. They will be ready to play, and they will be fired up to win this football game. So
that’s why we have to worry about ourselves, have a great week of practice, and come
ready to play. We can’t have a lot of mistakes and there’s things we have to correct from
this past week that we can’t do again, in order to keep this game close as long as can
and figure out a way to win in the end. So, without question we expect their best and
they will be ready to play.”
(On Riley Leonard)
“Well once again he is very similar to the quarterback we faced last week verse Georgia
Tech, he can run the football, he can use his legs to win. They have done a good job
this year of calling specific quarterback runs and making you defend against an extra
blocker, which presents challenges. He still has the ability to throw the ball so I just think
it will be another good test for our defense, we’ll have to be really sharp. Not giving up
big plays will be big, not giving up big quarterback runs it’s one thing if you two, three,
four sometimes five yards but big runs will be a big play. Then you know trying to stop
the run, making them throw the ball vertically will be something we have to really
concentrate on. They’re well coached and they’ve utilized his talents very well to this
point this year. “
(Updates on injuries)
“Well like everyone we had a little injury bug this past week and Jadon (Thompson) will
be out for the year with a knee injury, (Dakadrien) Saunders on the special teams play
will be out for the year with a knee injury, and Quincy (Riley) will be a game time
decision and Maurice (Turner) we’ll see, I’m not optimistic. We’ll continue to work
through that, and those things happen and that’s why you’ve got to have depth. Other
guys have to practice every week like they’re going to be on the field every play and if
they are great, if they’re not they need to keep practicing every day like their numbers
called because it will be called throughout the course of the year. Definitely this game
will have some new pieces out there and they’ll have to perform.”
(On how similar Notre Dame is to last year)
“It’s very similar. On defense, they’re really good. They’re well coached and they
understand the package and they challenge you, they get after the quarterback and
they hit him a lot. Really good up front, two outstanding defensive tackles that are really
highly ranked. My old teammate, Roman Oben, his son [RJ Oben] is a defensive end
transfer who’s done a good job. Their linebackers have played for a long time, they’re
really good. The secondary, two outstanding players - corner and safety - and the others
that are really good. So we’ll have to play well and we’ll have to be sharp in all aspects.
And of course on offense, they pride themselves on running the ball and, with this
quarterback [Riley Leonard], it presents more challenges. He can run the ball and he
can throw it as well, but he will use his feet, they will have designated runs for him, they
will make you account for him and all the plays and formations they have, which is
challenging. We have to prevent him from getting yards in the running game and that
will be a challenge for us and they’ve been really good at it.”
(On the running game against Georgia Tech)
“It was not a great day for us running the ball. Sometimes, that will happen against good
teams. Could we have done some things better? Without question, we could have. We
probably need to make sure we utilize certain runners on certain runs, maybe a little
more specifically and make sure we’re doing what they do best. At the same time, if
people are loading the box and they’re putting some guys in there, unless you’re going
to use your quarterback as a runner a lot, you might have to take what they give you.
That means maybe throwing the ball and doing some things when you get those looks.
But, the team is disguised well now, they’re not going to show you everything they do,
so you’ve just got to be good at both. Yes, being efficient running the ball helped us in
the game last year. Our defense’s performance and our running game is what won us
the game; being efficient and not turning the ball over won us the game. So, to this
point, we have had zero turnovers and that’s hard to do. You practice it, you talk about
it, but it’s hard to do. Possessions will be vital this game, and that will be the starting
point: making sure we’re aggressive but smart enough to not give them more
opportunities and more possessions because they will run the ball at you, they will use
the clock, they will use the quarterback as a runner and we need to try to find a way to
get the lead.”
(On the importance of this game for the program)
“Well this is a huge stage for our team. To go up there and play in this atmosphere
against a really good opponent can be a huge momentum swing in our direction if we
can find a way to win, without question. It gives your team credibility and definitely
elevates your program, so this is one of those games that you’ve got to take advantage
of. You’ve got to come ready to play, you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got, you’ve
got to lay it on the line, you’ve got to be aggressive and take some shots, and you’ve
got to try to win. So, our team hopefully will prepare well this week. I think we
understand what this game means. It’s important like every game, but this is just a great
opponent, in their venue, and that can be special if we find a way to win.”
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