Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 NOV. 7, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On whether Notre Dame committed to the run game in order to "set a physical tone": "No, it was to be efficient in what we're doing offensively. Running the ball is something we pride ourselves in doing. We're gonna try to find different ways to run the ball because I believe that helps our offense have success. "So, it wasn't about anything more than that. It's not trying to go in there and say we wanna impose our will, we wanna keep the ball, the time, control the clock. It's like, this is what we need to do to be efficient on offense. We're having success running the ball, run the ball. If they give us a look where we can throw it over the top of their head, then let's do that. "But continue to be efficient. Don't try to get outside of what we do to have success. Don't try to make an impact play by throwing it over the top if they're not giving you an oppor- tunity to do that. They have everybody in the box, and they're saying, 'You can't run the ball. Don't run the ball.' Take advan- tage of what they're doing. I think that's important." On sophomore running back Nolan James Jr.'s day: "Nolan James had a great day, but that's what Nolan James does. That's what Jonaz [Walton] does, Aneyas [Williams]. They're really good running backs. "He had an opportunity to create some big plays, and he did. But I'm not surprised, that's who Nolan James is." On CJ Carr seeming "a little frazzled" in the first half: "It's important that I make sure that — the position he holds is one that you get credit when things go well, and you get blamed if there's an incompletion. But not all the time is it because CJ wasn't on, right? It was for one of a couple of dif- ferent reasons. "So, I thought he did an excellent job. That's what I'm going to answer to your question. I thought he did an excellent job. I thought he managed the game. I thought he put our offense in really good situations. "Is it perfect? No. We aspire to be perfect. How do we keep getting better? We go back and evaluate and find how many different ways we can go to work and practice to make it better. But this wasn't a negative, a bad game for him, in my opin- ion, and I hope he understands that's what matters, right? I thought he played excellent and did a great job managing our offense." SENIOR DEFENSIVE END BOUBACAR TRAORE … On moving forward after his targeting ejection against BYU: "Yeah for sure, fueling me for sure. It hurt not being able to play that game because of that penalty. But at the end of the day, it's behind us and all we can do is move forward. "The next opponent we play, just keep our head forward." On how Notre Dame's defense handled itself at half- time: "We definitely handled it well. We kind of came in at halftime not really overreacting based on what happened in the first half. "Just kind of recognizing who we are and what type of foot- ball we play, and we were able to go out there and just play our game, which is what we wanted to do." JUNIOR QUARTERBACK CJ CARR … On how he would describe the first half, given Navy's dominance in time of possession: "I think it was a re- minder for us to take every moment and every play we get on that field seriously, like it could really affect the game and that it's the most important play we're going to get. And it showed extra today, because of the type of offense Navy runs. "They're going to possess the ball, they're going to eat the clock. And so, I thought it was good for us to battle through that, and then I thought we handled the middle eight really well and came away with points." On watching his brother Tommy make his first Michi- gan start during the bye week and following his per- formance against Rutgers: "It was good to be home with family. His game's on right now. Actually, I think they just sealed the deal, hopefully. It was about 1:30 left in the game. They were driving, so, got to see his last touchdown, which was pretty awesome. "The way he goes out and just competes day in, and day out was — it put me in a weird position, because I've never watched his game in college, and I was stressed. It was fun. It was good to see them this week, coming out with the win. He plays his butt off." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Senior defensive end Boubacar Traore said the Irish stayed composed at half- time and rediscovered their identity, holding Navy to 56 yards and no points after the break. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE