Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546785
30 OCT. 3, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On getting up on the Boilermakers early and staying on them: "Hopefully, one, [it] speaks to the preparation and the mindset when they come out here. You have to have grati- tude for the opportunity. I try to remind them of that before the game. "They work extremely hard for this, for an opportunity to go play an opponent. You've got to have that gratitude to go out there and grasp this opportunity and that's what they did. "It's a respect for your opponent. And I told them that. You have to respect your opponent. I don't care what you see on film. You respect your opponent. If you do that, you'll be pre- pared, and you'll come out the right way." On junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert building on his career day with 2 catches for 83 yards: "The trust has been earned over time. It's through the summer. It's through fall camp. I think the previous years, he had an injury or maybe had Beaux Collins or Malachi Fields [in front of him]. But the trust has been earned between him and CJ [Carr]. "Then the game plan has called for it in the past couple of weeks and will continue to call for it. And they capitalize off it because there's repetition, repetition to it over and over in practice. That trust has to be built. "But I don't want it to be just a reflection of a big play. This takes time. The game determined that that opportunity would come, and he took advantage of it." FRESHMAN SAFETY JOEY O'BRIEN … On preparing for a Purdue passing attack that stretches the field horizontally and vertically: "So I'm in a bunch of meetings extra with [safeties coach Jevaughn Codlin], [defensive coordinator Chris] Ash. They told me I was starting on Saturday — on Tuesday, so it was kind of a bunch of preparation, just making sure I'm good with everything because it was a lot on my plate. "But they helped me. The guys, Luke Talich and Tae-Tae [Johnson] helped me a lot. They were always meeting with me, too. So they kind of made it easy." On the emotions of his first start: "I told Luke I wasn't too nervous going out there. I feel like playing a little bit in those first couple games. That kind of helped me. Of course, you're starting on the No. 3 team in the country, it's a great feeling and nerves definitely were high. "But all the guys were very supportive of me. They calmed me down, made sure I knew what I was doing." On being compared to Kyle Hamilton: "It's a great feel- ing to be compared to him, but I'm Joey O'Brien. I gotta do what I gotta do. Of course, we have the same traits, stuff like that. But I'm just trying to be the best me, and just be the best player to help this team." JUNIOR QUARTERBACK CJ CARR … On Notre Dame scoring seven touchdowns by seven different players: "Super exciting. The talent that we have up and down this roster is shown with that stat. Seven, that's wild. Seven touchdowns, seven different guys. That's pretty cool. The guys will be pumped about that, for sure." JUNIOR KICKER SPENCER PORATH … On returning to Purdue after transferring out: "I think it was just great to get back into Ross-Ade. It's a great stadium with great fans, and so, it's great to get back in front of them and play in front of them." On the emotions of his return: "Definitely the bus ride in, going back on campus, definitely hit me a little bit. Just a lot of good memories from my two years here." PURDUE HEAD COACH BARRY ODOM … On Notre Dame's defensive performance: "Notre Dame's elite on defense, and they made plays. They were able to get after the quarterback. We weren't able to get it off. They beat us in a couple blocks. Maybe held the ball at one point. "They're one of the elite groups in college football, and we're not." On Notre Dame as a whole: "They're really good. They're gonna win a bunch of games and probably be in playoff con- tention. You could mention the defense and the sacks. You could talk about the quarterback and his play. "Marcus has done a heck of a job building that roster, and they got really good coaches. And that's what I'm chasing, right? We gotta try to find a way to continue to chase and build and get there. We're not there. Credit to CJ and offensively, whatever the streak number is, I'm sure he'll start adding to that after today." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Junior kicker Spencer Porath converted 7 of 7 extra points in his first game against his former school Purdue. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER