Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526670
30 SEPT. 21, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore: "Man, he's gotten better and better. We got him more opportunities throughout the first two games of the season, and today he had a lot more and made even more plays. "Boubacar is going to be a really, really good player. He is a good player right now. He's going to be a great player here be- fore we know it. He's got a lot of ability. I love the way he works in practice. He loves practice, and he did a good job today." On what he's most proud of after the win: "I'm most proud of the way they came out of the locker room in the second half — the ability, as we told him last week, to handle success. I think [in] the second half, we outscored them 24-7, which is huge. "After being up 42 to nothing [at halftime], to be able to come out, and no matter who's in the game, to be able to per- form the way we performed was really good." On how he's feeling: "I'm happy, man. I'm happy we went out and performed the way we did. And so, as I told the play- ers, we have to celebrate and enjoy the victory, and we'll get back to work tomorrow and make sure we're handling success the right way." NOTRE DAME SENIOR QUARTERBACK RILEY LEONARD … On the success of the run game: "We just had a good game plan going into the game. … But I think offensively, up front, you got a couple guys that go down and the next guys just bounce back up. "Next guys come in, and they just play their tails off. I'm super proud of them and got all the confi- dence in the world in whoever's up front, blocking for us." On sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love: "He's one of the most electric backs I've ever been with in my life. You have him [run] inside zone, he could take it like 80 yards on any given play. "Great guy, great kid. Doesn't say too much, just puts his head down and works. He's not gonna want to sit up here and get all the glory in the world either. He just wants to put his head down and play ball." On his progress with offen- sive coordinator Mike Denbrock through three weeks: "This is my third offensive coordinator, and I think we've done a really good job of getting to know each other, getting to know what we like. Obviously, I missed all of spring ball, so I really only had fall camp to under- stand him and for him to understand me. "So I'm glad it happened Week 3. Got a lot of ball left to play, so just gotta keep stacking them." NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE END BOUBACAR TRAORE … On his pick six: "I didn't even think it was going to come to me. When I saw the ball, I just had to make the best of the situation. So I got the ball and just ran." On the defensive line's veteran leaders taking charge: "We all knew that the D-line needed to step up, especially after what happened last week. So, Rylie Mills, he just kept bringing it to us, talking about coming off the ball, eliminating [mental errors], eliminating penalties. "Basically just limiting the mistakes that we made previ- ously." On what was different about the defensive line: "The preparation throughout the week, the game plan, everybody felt comfortable. Everybody was just super locked in. Not saying that we weren't locked in the week before, but we just knew what we had to do coming into this game, especially after what happened last week." NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK JEREMIYAH LOVE … On Leonard's performance: "Coming off of last week, everybody's hopes were down on us. But seeing Riley come out and persevere through all the bad comments and media and all that type of stuff, it really was some- thing to see. Because people say a lot of mean things. "To see Riley have a great per- formance, it was something. He played to our standard today." On what the difference from last week was on offense: "We started fast. We prepared very well. We didn't underestimate our oppo- nent, and we played to our standard today." On when he knew he was go- ing to score on his touchdown run: "Whenever I get the ball, I was just trying to find a way to help my team, trying to make the most of the carries that I get. I didn't necessarily picture I was going to score that run, it just happened. "I helped my team start fast." — Jack Soble FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game with 10 carries for 109 yards. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER