Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1424555
30 NOV. 6, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY … On North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell: "What a warrior he is. I got a chance to talk to him after the game, and he's just a class act. We hit him a lot. And he laid it on the line. "Here is a guy that's not talking about going to the NFL. He's talking about playing as hard as he can. And I really, really enjoyed watching him play. He's pretty special." On Notre Dame's defensive lapses in the passing game: "We had a cou- ple of miscommunications on some man-coverage situations. That's got to get cleaned up. I think personally we have to coach it better and put our play- ers in a better position. "We're going to lean on ourselves as coaches to help our kids get in better positions." On North Carolina presenting dif- ferent looks offensively: "They were a heavy counter team. I mean, anybody who watches North Carolina play knows that's their No. 1 play. They didn't run counter at all. It was difficult to defend. "And we struggled. And we have to be better. We've got to be able to handle offenses that show some things that are different and make the adjustments." On Chris Tyree not getting any offensive snaps: "He's getting really close. We thought [kick return] was the entry level for him. I think this week we're really going to lean on him hard in practice. "We wanted to get him back to a vol- ume in practice that his conditioning level was where it is and where it needed to be. And I think we take the next step now going into Navy." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT QUARTERBACK JACK COAN … O n f re s h m a n w i d e re c e i ve r Lorenzo Styles Jr. "From the time he got here, he has worked so hard. We came in at the same time mid-year, and we threw so much right away that win- ter and during the summer. "He's a guy I know I can trust through all those extra reps. He's going to con- tinue to put his head down and work. He's a special player." On running the ball: "There were a few play calls that had me running the ball and a few others I was able to do on my own. But I was excited. "I feel like when I'm healthy, I can run. It was good to show it." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR RUNNING BACK KYREN WILLIAMS … On his injury in the second half: "I might have been a little dramatic. I knew as soon as the play was over I was going to be fine. I was just a little tired and got rolled up weird uncomfortably. "Doctors looked at me. We went to the tent and everything was fine. I was able to get back out there and continue to play." O n f re s h m a n r u n n i n g b a c k Logan Diggs' touchdown: "That was just pure joy. Logan is a true freshman. He's in a spot not many people are able to have, and he goes in there and makes plays. He takes the drive over and leaves it with a touchdown. "It was nothing but excitement out of me. I couldn't even say words. I was just screaming. I was super excited for Logan. I know the work he puts in each and every week to get where he's at." On Notre Dame's offensive play calling: "I really don't go too much into depth with the play calling. I just try to leave it to the coaches. If I do feel some- thing, I definitely let them know what I'm feeling and what I'm seeing. "I can't really say much for the pass game because I'm not really out there running routes, but I just know run game-wise I'm always in coach [Lance] Taylor's ear like, 'Let's keep doing this. It's going to hit. Let's keep doing that. If we get into goal line, we have to run this play. We can't run that play.' "They're always listening. We're always making adjustments on the fly. Shout out to the coaches for that." On the offensive line's improve- ment: "Since Virginia Tech, we've been going upwards running the ball and the confidence, mindset and identity of who we are as an offense — we call our- selves 'Big O' — it's there. It's coming along. "We're all in for it. We're working to- ward getting there. We know each and every week we have to get better." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said he was proud of his team's emotional engagement in a second straight prime-time game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER