Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1508272
30 SEPT. 30, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On going for it on fourth-and-1 early in the game instead of kick- ing a field goal: "I'll probably do the same thing. We got to find a better way to execute. That's what we have to do, is we have to find a better way to execute." On why he went for it: "Any time we're across the 50, I'm probably going to go for it on fourth-and-1. And you play the percentage. You're either going to be all in and do it or not. And obviously, when you don't get it, it's terrible. But the percentages show you, man, fourth- and-1, across the 50, you have to go for it because of the percentages of getting that. "The call was getting big person- nel in and, really, trying to get them to think we're going to run and take a shot and be aggressive. And it was a play ac- tion pass, and they covered it well. Sam knows he's got to make that first down. We knew, 'Hey, if they cover the pass, Sam would be able to scramble,' and we just came up a little bit short there." On the third-and-19 at the end of the game that Ohio State quar- terback Kyle McCord converted to wide receiver Emeka Egbuka: "We wanted to play coverage, and we thought we were going to be able to kind of give them a different look and play some quarters and he threw a good ball, man. He threw a really good ball. "That last series, we were trying to kind of mix it up a little bit with a young quarterback and not just play man every play. And he ended up putting it in a tight window and he made a play." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT LINEBACKER JD BERTRAND … On bouncing back from the loss emotionally: "I think the biggest thing is we know we have a lot of sea- son left. We know he got to learn from our mistakes. "We got to go in tomorrow, be better than we were this past week in prepara- tion. And make sure that we, as leaders, take a big step in leadership and make sure that we get every detail down." On not getting enough pressure on McCord: "It's always going to be an em- phasis. We felt like we needed to keep him in the pocket and then bring the pressure. We didn't get it as much as we hoped. "And so, when we go back to the film, we just got to see why that is and then execute off of that." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT QUARTERBACK SAM HARTMAN … On his failed fourth-down quar- terback sneak: "We're just trying to go for it. Went with a QB sneak. Trying to get around the edge, got caught a little bit. But, again, it's part of the game. "We execute a little bit better, I find a better hole, get outside a little bit better, it's a different ballgame." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT SAFETY THOMAS HARPER … On needing to learn from the final drive: "Yeah, definitely learn from it. I think — just we got to execute, kind of like Rico [Flores Jr.] said. I mean, we're going to learn from it and just get back to the drawing board. "We still got a lot of season ahead of us and we can still do all the things that we hope to accomplish." On the emotions in the final min- ute: "It's always fun being a part of a game like that. So many emotions were in play. … We knew we were going to go back out there. "… At the end of the day, we still got to do our job. We can't get too high or get too low." OHIO STATE HEAD COACH RYAN DAY … On Lou Holtz and his comments on the Pat McAfee Show about Day's OSU program losing to "more physical" teams: "A lot of people took a lot of shots at this team over the last 48 hours, and it really hit home to me. The way that our team played — not only did we physically get after these guys last year, but we did it again here at the end of the game. And I think it says a lot about this team. "I'm really upset and disrespected by what Lou Holtz said publicly about our team, and Ohio State, and Buck- eye Nation. And we're not gonna stand for that, because that's not even close to true. We had one bad half a couple years ago, up at Ann Arbor. We did, the second half. But every game we play in, we're physical. We are. I don't know where that narrative comes from, but that ends tonight." — Jack Soble FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Ohio State head Ryan Day was fired up after the game and let everyone know how upset he was about for- mer Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz's comments about his team in a national radio show the day before. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER