Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 30, 2024

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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28 NOV. 30, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On Riley Leonard completing passes to eight different receivers: "It's important when you're moving the ball. I don't know how many total yards we had offensively — 462 — that's a re- flection of that. "There's a lot of confidence. The con- fidence is developed in the preparation. The preparation for what they're going to see, but also the preparation in terms of understanding what we're doing on the offensive side of the ball. "I have a lot of confidence in our of- fensive staff, our offense coordinator, our quarterback. They're playing with that confidence, too." On the offense's efficiency: "Our offense was efficient. They did a good job. We've got to be better. We can't leave points on the board in the red zone, inside the 10-yard line, and then we can't miss those field goals. But that's what we got to improve at, and that's the part that I'm gonna focus on." O n f r e s h m a n l i n e b a c k e r Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who left the game with an injury, and gradu- ate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III (ankle), missed his second straight game: "I was just told that [Vil- iamu-Asa's] got a knee sprain, he's gonna be out for the game. So they'll evaluate him tomorrow when we get back. "Howard was close. We just didn't feel like — and he practiced some — we didn't feel like he could give it a go." On what he would think if he had to hypothetically face Notre Dame next weekend: "Let's go. Get ready for a battle. It's a team that's hungry. There's a lot more. We got more. "We didn't play perfectly, and we strive for perfection. Do we ever play perfect? No, but that's what we're go- ing to strive for, and that's what we're chasing as an entire football program." SOPHOMORE SAFETY ADON SHULER … On what he learned from Army's touchdown drive: "I would just say we got to be better with penalties. I feel like that's the reason they scored on that drive. We just wasn't playing as effi- cient on that drive." On practicing against the triple option in spring, summer and fall camp: "It's crucial. It's really crucial. Our guys at practice, they do a great job. We call them the Marauders. They do a great job whenever we have to face it. "I'd just like to give props to them, because without them, we wouldn't have been prepared to come out there and see the different looks and feel comfortable and confident to play." On his development in Notre Dame's defense: "I would just say for me, it's just being consistent every week. I just want to keep building con- sistent weeks. Having great teammates like Xavier Watts that puts in consistent weeks every week motivates me to con- tinue to be great. "Kind of understand from the last time I played this triple option, I have to put my feet in the ground and kind of play more loose. So having that experi- ence before helped a lot, too." SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK JEREMIYAH LOVE … On the offensive line: "Our offen- sive line trains hard every single day. Our ones, our twos. We're coached to start off the game fast as well, so once you get into the game and get into our flow, I mean, O-line's doing their thing and executing every single game. "And shoot, that just helps me and all the other backs shine. We're making each other look good. That's how it's supposed to be." On Aneyas Williams breaking off a 58-yard touchdown run: "Aneyas, that's my guy, man. So seeing him break off a touchdown like that, it was great, man. I'm proud of him. "He works hard every single day, and he deserved it. So, seeing him break that touchdown, man, it was great." On Notre Dame's performance: "Man, we're just coming out every week trying to reach our full potential and reach team glory. Shoot, job's not fin- ished at all. This is just, we won this week and next week it's a new week. We'll try to win the next week as well. So we come into every game by just try- ing to be 1-0. "We don't really focus on the future. We just try to focus on that week in par- ticular, making sure we handle business that week. So this win was just like ev- ery other win, and we're gonna go onto next week and focus on that as well." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Sophomore safety Adon Shuler led the way for the Fighting Irish's outstanding defensive performance with a team-high 8 tackles. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP

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