Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On graduate student defen- sive tackle Rylie Mills' domi- nant day: "We said you have to be strong up the middle, and it starts up front with those two se- niors [Mills and Howard Cross III], those guys that are veterans. They are playing really well. "Rylie got some individual glory today. He got the sacks, but there's a lot of people that contributed to Rylie having the sacks. You talk about coverage, and you talk about some other guys up front." On the injury suffered by graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III: "They said it was an ankle sprain. I don't know if he could have come back. They didn't even tell me that. Just said he's out right now with an ankle sprain. "I think by the time there was a possibility maybe he could have come back, it was over." On Notre Dame's maturity as a team: "I think it starts with the cap- tains. I meet with the captains once a week, sometimes twice a week, and this week we met on Monday, and they said, 'Hey, Coach, we want to say some- thing to the team about how important this final four stretch is — but this one, right? Yeah, we know we have four, but this one.' "It's one thing as the head coach when you say that, but when your captains are the ones driving that message, that's a sign of maturity of your team, and that's what I'm really proud of." GRADUATE STUDENT NICKEL BACK JORDAN CLARK … On his first interception with the Irish: "I think they came out in 13 [per- sonnel]. They were doing that to try to block us up, so I ended up matched up on the tight end. I showed blitz, you know what I'm saying? I felt comfort- able getting back to my leverage. "The boys up front were hunting all night; they forced a bad ball and I was able to capitalize." On playing a night game at Notre Dame Stadium: "Dude, it was insane. I've never experienced or played in a game like that. The energy that the fans brought is so important and it helps so much. We were gonna be turned up for the game anyway, but when they come out and they're a part of the game like that, it's awesome. "We dream of atmospheres like that as players." JUNIOR RUNNING BACK JADARIAN PRICE … On his 65-yard rushing touch- down: "Before the game, I talked to Coach Freeman. He was like, 'The last night home game we had, you broke one against USC.' Then I scored a touch- down, and he came up to me like, 'Re- member I told you?'" GRADUATE STUDENT DEFENSIVE TACKLE RYLIE MILLS … On being locked in for a week of practice when the opponent is 1-8: "Shout out to [running backs] Coach [Deland] McCullough, who was the coach of the week, and he really put the emphasis on that this is a rivalry game, so you can kind of throw those records out." On him and Cross stepping up: "I think our defense is really a next-man-up mentality. I don't think it's really, guys going down and that changes everything. Honestly, I think from the start of the season, me and Howard knew that we had to step up our game. Clearly, we saw — it was evident — there were times where it wasn't enough. I think that just sparked a fire in both of us that we have another level we can hit. "It kind of goes back to why to, why did we come back in the first place? We came back to be better versions of ourselves and play for a dominant defense, so I think we just had a fire under our ass and we kind of had to put it together." On his favorite sack celebra- tions: "Sometimes I kind of black out, so I don't even know what I'm doing. I think my favorite one is probably the Costco guys. They got the "bring the boom" dance. They didn't shout us out, but I thought it was still cool. So, we'll keep going with that." SENIOR QUARTERBACK RILEY LEONARD … On scoring in situations where the offense needs to score (e.g., at the end of the first half and after Clark's interception): "I think you kind of see it all year. The other team goes up early, all right, boom. We know we gotta score this drive. We've been able to do that. Whatever the situa- tion may be, you got all the way back to [Texas] A&M, that fourth-quarter drive was big time. We needed points on the board and we were able to do that. "To be able to do that at times when we need to is really good, but it's the stagnant times. The time after two three-and-outs and we're winning, and we don't need a touchdown but it would definitely help us out a lot. Those are the times where we — I gotta bring the same amount of juice and urgency to execute every play." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Graduate student nickel back Jordan Clark (No. 1 ) notched the first interception for Notre Dame and the fourth of his career in the win over Florida State. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER