Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 1, 2018 29 NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY … On the win: "I'm pleased with a number of things. Obviously the win, that's why we play the game. I'm pleased with the conditioning of our football team. You get challenged on the road against Power Five teams, but you don't expect it to be over 100 degrees on the field as well against an up-tempo team. "That's a challenge, in terms of the conditioning of your team and it's ability to handle that. It's very satisfy- ing because you've prepared your football team. When they kick it off, a lot of my work is done, and the kids have to go play." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR QUARTERBACK IAN BOOK … On going through the week and how he felt: "There was some talk on Monday [about starting], and I don't know if I can really say much about it. Every week I've tried to prepare like I'm the starter. "When my name is called, I need to go out there and play at my best and make sure the offense can succeed." On how he was able to perform well: "I was a little nervous, but I think it's good to have nerves. We know week in and week out that our preparation has got us ready, and there shouldn't be anything you should be worried about or be anxious about. "We're confident, and know week in and week out we've had a great week of preparation and we're ready to go. We've done the hard work throughout the week, so I was really confident. "Obviously, I was nervous the first couple plays. I hadn't been out there for a whole game in a while. It felt good, though." NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK JAFAR ARMSTRONG … On if he is comfortable at running back now: "Yeah, for sure. The first couple games I was just going out there and trying to make something happen. I was definitely too high a couple times, and there are yards I feel like I left out there the past couple weeks from not finishing. "I feel like that's changed as the weeks have gone on. I just had to get comfortable. I'm just trusting myself and just trusting my teaching. I feel like every week I've improved." On how important is it to get running backs involved in the passing game: "The more plays we can make, the more it opens things up for the receivers. "If we're out there making plays, they're going to have their have eyes on us more, and that leads to guys like Miles [Boykin], Chase [Claypool] and [Chris] Finke making plays." NOTRE DAME FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SAM MUSTIPHER … On how it went having a new starter (junior Trevor Ruhland at right guard) next to him: "Coach Jeff Quinn always says 'Semper paratus.' It means always ready. Trevor Ruhland is a guy you can count on to always be ready. He's the second-string center, and the guy would have started if he went anywhere else. For him to step in there like that, the communication was fine. "There was no drop-off in communication. He knows the game well, and his football IQ is incredible. For him to step in there and play the way he did, I was really proud of him." On dominating in the second half: "It was very im- portant to us. We've been quick to start, and at halftime it was 28-13. We knew when we came out, the defense had to get a stop and we had to punch it in for them. "It's our job to put the ball in the end zone." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR DEFENSIVE END DAELIN HAYES … On how important the early stops were: "Huge. You talk about facing adversity, and that's something that we hang our hats on, being able to be resilient in those situ- ations. We have a saying 'head body, head body,' like a boxing term. If a boxer is down early, he just stays with his head-body combinations and eventually, you get a 'kick butt' body shot that can overtake the fight. "That's how we deal with facing adversity. We just keep playing defense hard and fast. Being able to bend and not break is huge for our team." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Junior defensive end Daelin Hayes and the Irish defense churned out three stops to open the second half, allowing the offense to take control in the 56-27 win over Wake Forest. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA