Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528584
28 NOV. 9, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On winning the turnover mar- gin 6-0: "We wanted an aggressive mindset, defensively. I don't want to play fit-ball. You know that. You hear me say it all the time: 'I don't want to play fit-ball.' I want to be aggressive and violent on defense. "But probably more, the emphasis was on offense because of the turn- overs and fumbles they were creat- ing on defense. And that's probably what I'm most proud of. We put a huge emphasis on our scout team; every time there's a ball carrier, try to knock it out. "To have zero balls on the ground versus that defense is huge." On junior guard Billy Schrauth returning to the lineup at left guard: "It's great to have him back. He's a heck of a player. We felt like this was best for this game, based off some of the previous evidence that we had. And we said, 'Listen, that's what we think is best for this offensive line and this unit, is to put Billy at left guard and keep Rocco [Spindler] at right. "Sam [Pendleton] has done a great job in his preparation. He's a selfless individual. He's ready to go when his number is going to be called, but at the end of the day, each week, your role is determined by the coaches to help us achieve the outcome that we wanted. Every week, your role can change, but this is the role we needed for those offensive linemen today." On if this was a big win to build momentum for the rest of the season: "I think that's for you all to tell us what type of win that was for us. We achieved the outcome we wanted. That's the ability to celebrate in that locker room. There's always room to improve. I'm not satisfied. Nobody in that locker room is satisfied. We're greedy. We want more. We want perfection. "We're gonna celebrate it, because a lot of people in that room put in a lot of work to achieve that, so we gotta celebrate it. That's the outcome that we aspire to have. But then we also go back to work, and we really attack some of the deficiencies that we have, and we attack some of those areas that we've done well in." On if Notre Dame has handled success well during its six-game win streak: "It's hopefully a mindset that we all have. Handling success, I mean, we won, but we were so much more, so much more. And that goes back to what we just talked about earlier. … Let's enjoy this thing. The outcome's what you wanted, but the mental approach we're taking this week is so crucial. "I just told those guys, 'You don't improve by doing the same thing you did the week before. It's human na- ture. Gravity takes over. You're going to get worse.' So, we have to prepare mentally in a difficult way, physi- cally in a difficult way for the next opponent if we want to truly elevate and improve." GRADUATE STUDENT LINEBACKER JACK KISER … On taking the ball away from Navy six times: "That's always the key to the game. The defense has to wreak havoc on the ball, get the ball, and create opportunities for our of- fense. But you look at all phases of the game, I think we were able to do that. From special teams to defense, obviously, and then our offense tak- ing advantage of it when they had it." On not shying away from the pain of losing to NIU: "You gotta know every single day that you have to put in the work, otherwise you leave the outcome to chance. Every day, we come in knowing what can happen if we don't try to live up to our potential or live up to the standard. "We just use that as motivation now. You're either getting better or getting worse. Every day, we just gotta put in the work and make sure that doesn't happen again." SENIOR QUARTERBACK RILEY LEONARD … On Navy's defense: "These guys run everything you could imagine. Half the time they're dropping eight, but they got 10, 15 different ways to do it. Huge shout-out to their defense because we were paranoid all week. "We didn't have school this week, so we had extra time to get into the film room, but we came into this game like, 'What the heck is going on back there.' I certainly did. We ended up figuring out a little bit and had some success." On responding to Navy's momentum-building plays: "I think just our ability to respond and reload — like, Coach Freeman talks about it all the time. That's one of his biggest things. Something bad happens, something good happens, reload. No matter what happens on the last play, you can't let it affect the next. That's just our M.O. now. We live by that. Take away all distractions. All you gotta do is win the interval. "You got five seconds, on average, of every play. Might as well win that one." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser continued his stellar play against the triple option, tying for the team lead with 9 tackles against the Midshipmen. PHOTO BY BILL STREICHER