Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 NOV. 19, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On game-planning against Navy's blitzes in the sec- ond half: "What you have to do is make defenses pay in the pass game. It is hard to run against all-out pressure. But in the pass game you have to make them pay. "It wasn't that [junior quarterback] Drew [Pyne] wasn't hit- ting the target as much as he didn't have time. We have to make sure we try to protect and if they are bringing one more than we have to protect him, we have to get the ball out of our hands and hit some hot routes." O n t h e No t re Da m e defense in the second half: "When [Navy start- ing quarterback Xavier Ar- line] went down, we knew the backup was more of a thrower so we went into our prevent defense. They said, 'OK, we are going to just run the ball.' It is a little bit of a chess match. We are looking at the clock saying, 'Let's keep the ball in front of us' while they are saying, 'We are going to run if you are in prevent.' "They still found ways to score. … You don't want to let teams run down the field, but at that moment you are up 10 or 11 points. We know it is a two-score game. Let's be smart and not give up an easy big pass play and make them earn every inch because they were out of timeouts." On the challenge of defending the triple option of- fense: "They started the game and had a couple long runs up the middle. Not having JD [Bertrand] in there, I think that af- fects us a little bit. Not only in terms of production, but leader- ship. You are missing a captain. "… We knew against Navy, it is a time of possession battle. They love to steal possessions. We knew every possession would matter. That first possession [of the second half] mat- tered and we went three and out on offense. That can't hap- pen. You have to get some first downs and try to regain some momentum." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR QUARTERBACK DREW PYNE … On the difference in his play from the first half to sec- ond half: "I don't think it is anything with playing well in the first half. We come into the locker room at halftime whether we are up or down. It doesn't matter. That was my mentality." On his personal takeaway from the game: "It is the same every single game. I am the same every week. I am pro- grammed the same every single week. I learn from it and get better. That is how I operate. That is how I live. "I am sure I made mistakes in the first half. I am not perfect. I am going to learn from it and keep getting better. That is what I do. That is all I will ever do." On Braden Lenzy's touchdown: "That was unbelievable. Braden is a guy that all season has been open a ton of times. He runs as hard as he can. He is a guy that in practice always has a smile on his face. I felt like I have to give him a shot. "I scrambled out there and he beat his man by a couple of yards. I saw that and said I was going to give him a chance. I threw it up and it was an unbelievable catch. I haven't seen anything like it before in my life. I am so happy for him. He is going to continue to get better." NAVY HEAD COACH KEN NIUMATALOLO … On Navy's comeback effort: "I am proud of our players. I don't know if I have ever been more proud of a team after a game, win or lose. I thought our kids battled to the very end. "Great testament to who they are, their character and fortitude, their resolve, their resiliency. Great testa- ment to their parents who raised fine young men. Great testament to the school that is going to battle to the end." On his feelings after the loss: "That's a good football team. Coach Freeman is a good coach. Just proud of our guys. Obviously we didn't make enough plays, and against a team like that you can't make mistakes. "A couple too many mistakes against them. To our kids' credit, they came back and battled. Hats off to Notre Dame, but I'm really proud of our football program and our team." On the trick play that was intercepted: "It was a very bad sequence. I probably got a little too greedy myself calling that trick play. I was going to come out swinging. Probably in hindsight should have run the ball a little bit. That blocked punt hurt us, too. "We also needed to get some stops. I thought we played much better on defense in the second half. We were struggling in the first half, so I probably got a little more aggressive on of- fense. I took some chances I normally wouldn't take." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Junior quarterback Drew Pyne and his teammates plan to learn from their second- half struggles vs. Navy and focus on getting better. PHOTO BY TAVAN SMITH