Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526412
30 SEPT. 14, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … O n wh a t h a p p e n e d o n No t re Dame's defensive breakdowns: "I think about the explosive plays in the first half, and the very first pass, really good throw, a really good catch in a two- high coverage, and we've got to down the ball. We didn't get a chance to down the ball, and it goes for a touchdown. "The rest of the explosives were, I think, a mixture of eye control, you having your eyes on the man, but also edges toward defense. We let the ball get outside of us too much. That's not the Notre Dame defense we've built over the past three or four years. That's not a performance that we're proud of. But we've just got to get it fixed." On the halftime adjustments on offense and what he hoped would work better: "We talked about being able to take shots down the field. 'Hey, if they give us man coverage, we can take some shots, but we can't get away from running the ball.' That was some- thing we had to do. We did it better, but not as effective as we needed to win the ballgame. "At times, we ran it, but at times, we couldn't run the ball. At times, we threw it decently, and at times, we couldn't throw the ball the way we needed to. The adjustments that we made, it didn't turn into points." On what he told the team in the locker room: "I said, 'We've got to own this. Every person in here, every coach, has to own it first and not blame some- body else.' That's the only way to fix it when, I'm sure, everybody outside of here will try to point the finger at some coach, some player, some person. It should be at the head coach. It's my job." On if he felt Notre Dame was past days like this: "Absolutely. Absolutely." NOTRE DAME SENIOR QUARTERBACK RILEY LEONARD … On how he's feeling after the game: "Obviously, you guys can prob- ably imagine, so [I'm not going to] dive into that too much. But I think it's a motivation. "So, mope around for a while but to- morrow you got to wake up and go on to the next day. That's what we're going to do." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT DEFENSIVE TACKLE HOWARD CROSS III … On NIU rushing for 190 yards against Notre Dame: "Stretches, trick plays. Not in a mean way, we knew we're more physical — like physical strength and speed — so they needed to use something to catch us off our guard, to trick us or get under routes and every- thing like that. "Again, NIU is a good team. NIU is a really good team. They have a good front. They have a really good running back. He's definitely playing on Sundays [in the NFL after his college career], just saying that right now. But they're a good team. With any good team, we need to make sure we're ready for them." On how the Irish can put every- thing back together: "I talked to Free- man outside, like, 'Yeah, this is awful. But like, Game 2.' We got 10 games left, at least. We gotta move. We literally just started the season. "So, we're done, and that's it. But that's not us, and I know that's not us, so we're gonna come out strong next week. And I'm excited. Honestly, I'm excited. I really am excited for next week." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT SAFETY XAVIER WATTS … On rallying to stop the Huskies on their final drive: "Yeah, it's a tough situation. They're in field-goal range, it's fourth down, obviously just trying to get a stop. Just trying to grab the ball, trying to attack the ball as much as we can. "Like I said, it's a hard position. Just trying to make the best out of the situa- tion, just get a stop and give our offense a chance." NORTHERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH THOMAS HAMMOCK … On the win, while fighting back tears: "I'm so proud of our kids, the coaches, just everybody. They believed. They believed, and we came here and got it done." On where the emotion was com- ing from: "All these guys that have been with our program through the ups and downs, they continue to fight. It's like they're my kids. I'm happy for the adversity, the push through no matter the situation, I just couldn't be more proud." On why NIU believed it could win: "We've got a veteran team, a bunch of guys who have been through a lot of dif- ferent things and they work together. We still are in college football. I know it's a whole bunch of other things with the transfer portal, NIL. "We still have a family. And they be- lieve in that family and doing things the right way." — Jack Soble FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Senior quarterback Riley Leonard's second inter- ception proved costly for the Fighting Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER