Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1428488
28 NOV. 20, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY … On senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy's performance: "Braden Lenzy got a lot of recognition from us. He was gritty tonight. That was a gritty per- formance from him as a senior. The re- verse, he finished that run strong. The touchdown catch launching him into the end zone, even the [pass interfer- ence] fighting back for the football — those are gritty catches. "And I use that word in the sense that you can easily give up on those plays, but he got himself dirty tonight and that goes a long way to winning football games." On sophomore defensive lineman Rylie Mills' per- formance: "He was on every kickoff. We had him on kickoff because we wanted to break their double team, and he certainly did that. He caused a personal foul because they couldn't block him. "Then we had the smart idea of moving him to de- fensive end today, and he got [two] sacks. Myron [Ta- govailoa-Amosa] being out really shortened us, so we kicked him out to the end po- sition and he responded with [two] sacks. I think he's prob- ably earned his right to stay there." On sophomore Ramon H e n d e rs o n s ta r t i n g a t safety: "We don't just say, 'Look, you're ready to go.' It's been load- ing work on him and getting more con- fident in his ability to play the position. He's fast. He's long. He plays the ball really well in the air as we saw tonight. "It's really been about confidence and recognition. He's been showing that, and it's been coming. And it showed itself in a big way tonight." NOTRE DAME SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER BRADEN LENZY … On Kyren Williams providing en- ergy: "Kyren can make a three-yard run look like the best play of the game, and he can go untouched for 70 [yards] and you're just like, 'That's Ky.' "I think he's just set the standard so high for what we expect that I would love to say that I get really surprised, but there's just so many times at this point that I'm not as much. I'd say what he does more than anything is he just gets people excited to play football." On his own 'gritty' performance: "I just think going into the week, when you lose [Avery Davis], someone that puts up a lot of good numbers and has been a great player for us, it was defi- nitely harped on to be more focused in what we do. Obviously the score doesn't reflect it, but we were going in thinking it was going to be a shootout. "In my mind, I was prepared to do ev- erything we could each snap because we don't know what can happen. And I just think that's the culture at Notre Dame. It's pretty normal." On getting better every week: "The goal is to get better every week. I think early in the year there came so many games where we were winning and we just didn't feel good about the wins. Winning is not easy. You see so many of these good teams losing, so I think we really have just been very me- thodical and focusing on that week and what we can do to get better that week. "I think that you see the results recently especially after the bye week and Vir- ginia Tech. We just continue to develop." NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE SAFETY RAMON HENDERSON … On preparing for mul- t i p l e Vi rg i n i a q u a r te r- backs: "I think we can all say that [Brennan Armstrong] is a good guy. [Jay Woolfolk] is also still good. I think they're a little bit more fluid with [Armstrong]. "When we heard the news, at the end of the day, we've still got to go play them. They've got to come play us. I don't think any heads turn, it's just like we've got to go play. We've got to stop [Woolfolk]." On guidance he received from teammates in prac- tices: "DJ [Brown] was a big help. DJ is the guy I can ask any question, and he knows t h e a n swe r. DJ, Ho u s to n [Griffith], Kyle [Hamilton], KJ [Wallace] — even X [Xavier Watts]. "I live with X. Me and X have our own apartment. Just getting those plays down, getting those checks down, they were all a big help." On his interception: "Honestly, I probably wouldn't have gotten it if DJ didn't tell me to do something. He told me to show two-high, and then he bumped down. [Woolfolk] just showed eyes at [wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks], so I just ran over there and tried to catch the ball." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Junior running back Kyren Williams led the team with 70 rushing yards and added 15 receiving. Senior receiver Braden Lenzy said he has stopped being surprised by his highlight reel plays, "You're just like, 'That's Ky.'" PHOTO BY KEITH LUCAS/SIDELINE MEDIA