Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly … On the offensive play calling: "I thought it was great communication. We were able to really stay ahead of the game in terms of what we wanted to accomplish. "But I think I've said this clearly, and I'm not trying to be coy with anybody. There are different times where we're all interjecting our ideas and our thoughts, but we do that on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednes- day, Thursday and Friday. "So we have in front of us essen- tially what we want to do. We have openers and we've calls and we'll collaborate — the three of us, Mike [Sanford], Mike [Denbrock] and my- self, as to where we want to go every series. "We had good communication. It was clear, it was concise and we knew exactly what we wanted to ac- complish. It was very comfortable out there offensively in terms of what we wanted to do next." On if the high number of Texas fans in the stands bothered him: "What I loved was our students. They were awesome. Just to see them there early. "That was kind of the balancing factor for me is that when I saw some orange shirts, I could immedi- ately turn over to our students and see them and just a massive amount of them over there. That made me feel better." Notre Dame senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell … On his first game back after sit- ting out 2014: "It felt great. You just have to get first-game jitters out of the way, and now that it's over I feel confident as ever. "I was out there today not just for me, but for my family, for the fans and everybody who has been wait- ing for this return." Notre Dame senior linebacker Joe Schmidt … On the Irish's defensive line per- formance: "I just can't say enough good things about our defensive line right now. They bullied and domi- nated up front, and I was really, re- ally thrilled with how they played. That made it fun tonight." Notre Dame senior left tackle Ronnie Stanley … On the team's overall offensive performance: "I think it was the be- ginning of what our offense can be. We still need to improve, and we know that. "The best part about it is that we understand how good we can be. We always need to come and improve every day." Notre Dame junior wide receiver Will Fuller … On if he expected Zaire to per- form at a 19-of-22 level passing: "I don't think anyone in the country is as prepared as we was for this FROM THE LOCKER ROOM