Troy Pride Jr.: 'We want that all the time'

Notre Dame's defense has played well for most of the season (minus one rainy night in October), but Clark Lea's defense might have taken a big step forward on Saturday night. 

The Irish defense dominated in every aspect in the 38-7 win over Duke and senior cornerback Troy Pride Jr. wants that to be the norm. 

"It feels good," stated Pride. "We want to continue that. We don't want to be half and half. We want to dominate. We want to beat a team 150-0 if we can.

"When we can execute and do exactly what we're supposed to do and everyone does their job, in the hole, fitting their coverage and everyone is in tune as a string, then man, that's what you get. 

"We want that all the time. That's what we're always working for." 

Notre Dame's defense gave up 197 total yards and Duke's longest play from scrimmage was 29 yards. 

Pride believes the Irish have avoided the noise since the Michigan game and focused on themselves, which allowed for the impressive performance 

"We could care less," Pride said of the noise. "We're just competing. That's what kind of team we are. We've never worried about the outside. We're internally motivated and we're working as hard as we can." 

It's the second week in a row the defense has come up big. Notre Dame made key plays against Virginia Tech to escape with a win.

"We believed in ourselves, but it's nice to execute to the fullest of our ability," explained Pride. "It's nice to go into an opponent's stadium and have their crowd leave.

"It's nice to put some other guys in and execute some other types of defense. It's just a great feeling to have as a competitor." 

Pride also got his first interception of the season and returned it 19 yards. 

It might have gone for more, but Pride admitted he got blindsided with a hit and he jokingly put the blame on a fellow cornerback.

"I'm going to blame TaRiq Bracy," laughed Pride. "I'm going to put him on the spot because that was his guy he was supposed to block. 

"I saw some things on film that I liked and I got a chance to get a ball. I just ran it back and he came out of nowhere and smacked me pretty good. I got whiplash. It'll probably go on his highlight tape."