Defensive Notebook | LB Drew White & Vyper Isaiah Foskey
Notre Dame captain Drew White spoke following Saturday's loss to Cincinnati.
On sudden change defense following turnovers by the offense:
"Down there was just a lack of execution. We stopped them to a field goal the second time. The first time we were down there, we have to be better. We held them to third down and they were able to do a pop pass, which we practiced all week. We were prepared for it and we just have to execute."
On Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder:
"Ridder played well. He was able to make some explosive plays. He was a deep ball threat and able to use his feet a little bit.
"At the end of the day, I think Notre Dame beat Notre Dame today. We made too many mistakes and didn't execute well."
On Cincinnati’s touchdown drive following Braden Lenzy’s touchdown:
"It goes back to a lack of execution and missed tackles. During those key moments, those impact moments in the game, while we played good the whole game, we need to make that stop. We need to be better in that."
On message to the team as a captain:
"I told the guys it's the 24-hour rule. It's the same as a win. We've had a lot of wins and we celebrate that win for 24 hours and we're back into work. That's exactly how we're going to handle this loss for 24 hours. Guys are going to be down. WE're going to be watching film and we're not going to feel good about it.
"Coming in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we're going to be ready. We're going to prepare and be ready for Virginia Tech because it's going to be a good game. They're going to try to beat us too. We can't let one game define the rest of our season. We need to continue to battle and come back."
Isaiah Foskey
On Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder:
"He played one hell of a game. He was able to make plays that we just couldn't. We weren't getting pressure. They were just a better team today."
On if he felt momentum changed after his strip sack:
"We always felt like we were in the game. There wasn't a point in the game we thought we were going to lose. We thought we were going to win the entire time. That was just a great momentum changer for us to get the offense going and the defense going as well."
On the mindset of defense being put in tough situations:
"We like the adversity that we're put into. We're put into those situations and we just have to blow up. We did some plays and some plays we didn't. They scored a touchdown and kicked a field goal.
"Those situations we're put in, we can't do anything about it. We just have to blow up and do our best to keep them out of the end zone."
On defensive performance:
"I felt we didn't execute as well as we wanted to. We started out fast and we have to keep the same momentum throughout the entire game."
On the importance of rallying around each other:
"That's something we do every week. We have FTB - for the brotherhood. That's what the entire team echoes and that's what we're going to stick to. It's all family around here."