Blue and Gold Illustrated

February 2023

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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28 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On South Carolina's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown: "Obviously at that moment we were run- ning the ball really well and, again, ultimately we obviously shouldn't have thrown it, shouldn't have called it. "But the greatest thing about it was to be able to, again, use that situation as another example in the future, and the ability for that offense to have that happen, look at them on the side- lines say in about five minutes, two minutes you're going to go right back out there, and for them to march down the field and score, that's what it's all about." On the halftime message being down 24-17: "It should have been 17-10. Our defense had given up 10 points, and the field goal fake is the field goal fake. That's not the defensive coordinator's job. As I told them, they played really well. They gave up 10 points the first half on defense. "All I told them, 'Stop beating Notre Dame,' and they were able to go out and put it all together that second half, and I think they only gave up seven points in the second half." On sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans' game-win- ning touchdown: "That was meant for Mitch, and it un- folded beautifully. Again, I think it's a credit to how we were running the ball. "Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball in that short yardage situation, be able to leak Mitch out, that's a tough play versus a defense, especially when you're able to run the ball. But it was great execution by these guys." On South Carolina's fake field goal touchdown: "The communication was, 'Do we have everybody covered? Yep.' Because we've repped so many different fakes on field goal and punt, it was just a miscommunication. 'Are we good, do we need to call a timeout? No, we're good, we've got everybody covered.' "It was a miscommunication between two guys. Anytime you've got two guys covering one guy, maybe somebody is open. That's what happened." NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK LOGAN DIGGS … On his 75-yard touchdown catch: "As soon as I got out in my release and I saw the end spike, I knew it was good. I have trust in Tyler [Buchner] he's going to put it where it needs to be and at that point I have to trust myself and trust my speed to capitalize, and I did, and it's a blessing." On the Notre Dame running game taking over in the second half: "We always know, third and fourth quarter, those are our quarters, so we're patient. First half, OK, but once it gets down to when your back is against the wall, those are the kind of games we want." On the offensive line's dominance in the second half: "When we were in that huddle and you see the O-line and they're fixing their gloves and tightening their hands and they're fierce, you just know. "I have the utmost trust in them and coach Harry [Hiestand] and their preparation. All I do is adjust my reads and trust my coaches and go out there and execute. They put us in a great position to run the ball." SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH SHANE BEAMER … On his unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of the first half: "I'll say this, I don't believe I deserved to get a flag. I hate to see it sometimes when officials try to make the game about them. "And I'll be honest, I think a couple times in the first half that took place. We got talked to more in 30 minutes than we did in 12 games in the SEC this season." On Notre Dame shutting down the South Carolina offense: "They didn't do anything different; we just didn't perform as well as we needed to. Had an opportunity there after the interception that Nick Barrett got, in plus territory. I think we were up one score at that point. "We've got to punch that in for seven at that point. Give them credit, they've got a good football team. They kind of did what they do, and we got beat out there on the perimeter a couple times on some perimeter plays, and just didn't execute as well as we needed to." On Tyler Buchner returning to the field for Notre Dame: "I don't know the severity of his injury that he had at the beginning of the season, but what a tough kid he is to go out there and run the ball like they did tonight. They made some nice calls with him, and he's a good athlete. "He made some big-time throws, and they certainly caught our young DBs in some plays that were tough on us, and he did a great job of capitalizing on it, as well. But he didn't look a lot different to answer your question. He looked good the first two games, and he played well tonight." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Marcus Freeman (right) became the first Fighting Irish first-time head coach since Terry Brennan in 1954 to win four games against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at the time of the game by topping Shane Beamer (left) and his No. 19-ranked Gamecocks. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER

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