Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 11, 2017 31 Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly … On the importance of getting off to a fast start this season: "Each year, confidence is really huge with a football team. That wasn't a word that I used much this year. I wasn't really worried much about confidence in this group as much. They just needed to go play and exhibit the things that they had been exhibiting through the 26 practices. "Last year, I felt we needed confidence. We needed some good things to happen. Even when we fumbled the ball and turned it over today, I really didn't feel like we weren't going to respond in any way. "It's just a different group, a different year and a differ- ent team." On junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush's perfor- mance: "I thought that for a guy starting for the first time, he provided some ex- citement and energy to the offense. "I think everybody that watched him can see the tools that he has; the ability to run, throw the football. He's tough. He got hit today and got back up. "When you assess the quarterback position at the end of the day, you are going to assess him on wins and losses. Today was a good day for the quarterback at Notre Dame because we are 1-0." Notre Dame junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush … On how the quick start helped the team: "The last couple of times we've had outings in the stadium, we've hit big plays the first couple of plays. We were deter- mined to come out and have a second strong drive consecutively. "The second play with Josh [Adams], he opened up, and it looked good to see him hit that run." On if anything surprised him during his first start: "I don't think anything surprised me. I think it was defi- nitely what I expected out of my first start. "Coming out 1-0 is all you can really ask for." Notre Dame junior running back Josh Adams … On the team not getting complacent after a good start to the season: "I don't think you should ever get compla- cent. I don't think it'll be in the mind of anyone on the offensive unit or the defensive. "We want to get better and improve. We didn't work that hard in the offseason for one game. We worked that hard for all the games this season. This was just the start of us getting better and improving as a team." Notre Dame senior tight end Nic Weishar … On tight end usage against Temple and moving for- ward: "It's awesome. Coach [Chip] Long is great with getting us all in. You saw a lot of guys out there. "We're getting the ball thrown to us a lot more, which is great. … It's cool being featured in this offense for sure." Notre Dame fifth-year senior left tackle Mike Mc- Glinchey … On offense going six-for- six in the red zone with touchdowns: "As an en- tire offense we've worked so hard on the details and knowing our playbook in- side and out, and knowing where each side guy is sup- posed to be, the trust that we have in our coaching and the playmakers we have all across the board. "It's just one of those things that we weren't ever going to let happen again. We're going to be a team that finished drives, a team that created plays and a team that scored points. That's all we'll continue to work on. "We didn't get to the red zone as much as went wanted to today. We're going to have to find a way to get down there more than six times." Notre Dame sophomore drop end Daelin Hayes … On defensive coordinator Mike Elko's post-game message: "Coach Elko came up to me and said if I ever jump offside on fourth down again, he's going to kill me [laughter]. That's my guy. I love the coaches. "It was a great first step. Obviously, there's a lot of growth and maturing that needs to go on as players. We are just continuing to take that step." Notre Dame senior rover Drue Tranquill … On what the team showed the country in week one: "I think we showed that we have pride in the tradition and excellence of Notre Dame. That's what Coach Kelly has preached to us. That's what we've built ourselves on. "We all wanted to come out and prove that we care about the tradition and pride of Notre Dame. We care about those who came before, we care about those who come after us and we want to leave our legacy." — Corey Bodden FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Fifth-year senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey and the rest of the offensive line helped the Irish convert all six of their red-zone opportunities into touchdowns against the Owls. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA