Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/907039
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2017 29 NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY … On what Stanford did to slow down Irish in short- yardage situations: "It was just a tough, physical game. We had our share of wins. They had some wins. "… It was going to go down to the last possession if we don't hand them two touchdowns." On if he noticed something change since halftime of the game versus Wake Forest Nov. 4: "No, not really. I love the way the kids play. Their mindset is good. They played hard today. "The issues that we've had against really good football teams — Miami, Georgia, and this Stanford team a good football team —is turning the football over." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR QUARTERBACK BRANDON WIMBUSH … On what the next month looks like for him: "Back to fundamentals. Being able to be precise and do the little things that will affect our game and this offense in a positive manner. "I think the offense has the right mindset to do just that." On offensive rhythm during the game: "I thought we were in a good rhythm. I thought we had control of what was going on. I felt good about what we were doing." NOTRE DAME JUNIOR RUNNING BACK JOSH ADAMS … On if Stanford was the best-prepared defense the Irish offense had faced: "They were a solid defense. In terms of best prepared, I don't know what they were doing throughout the week. They definitely brought the energy. They definitely came with a good game plan. "A lot of credit goes to those guys for doing that. … They just played a good game and made more plays than we did. We just have to learn from this." NOTRE DAME SENIOR LINEBACKER GREER MARTINI … On what team has to do to get back on track: "We've just got to train really hard. We're going to have an op- portunity to get in the weight room. It's all about the little things, and for us it's just having this mindset that we've got to re-establish ourselves. "We kind of stepped off the pedal a little bit, and now we've just got to finish strong." On what he credits the end of the season to: "I think we're still playing good football. It's just at critical points, we're not making plays we need to." NOTRE DAME SENIOR ROVER DRUE TRANQUILL … On the defensive plan entering the game: "We knew coming in they had incredible playmakers, and we had to stop their running game first and foremost. "They were going to establish that, and if you can't stop that against Stanford then you're not going to be successful. That was kind of our mindset from there." On what went into the finish: "Probably misfitting, probably a lack of execution, but ultimately it comes down to guys making plays. "Their guys made the plays, and we didn't make the plays to win the game." STANFORD HEAD COACH DAVID SHAW … On slowing down Irish junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush: "I'm a big fan of knowing yourself. One of my issues is I'm very subtle at times. I was not subtle this week about containing the quarterback. "We had to keep him inside. It was about three times tonight where he started to go outside. You saw one if not two guys running out to put him back inside. It was a huge key." — Corey Bodden FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Head coach Brian Kelly is now 2-6 versus Stanford with the Irish, including an 0-4 mark in Palo Alto, Calif. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA