Notre Dame WR Will Pauling Focused on Stanford as Playoff Stakes Rise

Will Pauling has been part of some very good college football teams. 

The Chicago native was a freshman when Cincinnati made the College Football Playoffs, and now he’ll have a chance to return to postseason play with the Fighting Irish. 

Stanford stands in the way of Notre Dame returning to the playoffs for a second straight year – barring pure chaos in the last week of the season.

“I think the main thing is just to focus on Stanford,” stated Pauling. “You've got to hear a lot of the noise from all the outside sources. But Coach Freeman's done a good job of telling us to block all that out and take this thing one game at a time, and that's exactly what we're going to do.

“We're going to prep. Prep how been prepping all season for Stanford and do everything we need to do to beat Stanford and handle that. Whatever comes next, comes next.”

But as Pauling mentioned, it’s impossible to block out the noise. Playoff discussion is all over Social Media, friends and family are going to talk playoffs and then it’s going to be a hot topic in the locker room at times. 

And most recognize Notre Dame is in a position to honor the past members of the program. 

“We've had a lot of great players and teams come through this program that's allowed us to kind of be one of the blue blood programs,” Pauling explained. “One of the programs on a kind of higher pedestal, but at the same time, this is team 137 and we're focused on us. We have to take this stuff one week at a time, one game at a time. If we do all of that and focus on reaching our full potential and just trust that everything else will fall into place for us.”

Pauling, who transferred from Wisconsin, has found a home at Notre Dame and has embraced the high expectations of putting on the gold helmet. 

“It's super amazing,” Pauling said. “It's a blessing to be a part of this program. Obviously being a two-time transfer, being in my third program, you see a lot of places, you see a lot of different things and I can truly say Notre Dame's a place like no other. Would've never imagined I'd end up here, but being here, it's been a blessing and being part of the team that's so special, not only on the field but off the field. It's amazing.”

Notre Dame is one of seven college football programs to average 40 points a game (41.4), and the offensive production has been a bit of a change in South Bend. 

The Fighting Irish can attack defenses in the air or on the ground, but Pauling believes trust is the key point for the offensive explosion. 

“Trust and consistency,” said Pauling. “Everybody shows up and brings the same amount of energy and effort to each and every practice. Then we trust the play calls and the brothers next to each and every play. When you're playing with that much confidence and that much trust in what you're doing, it makes the game come that much smoother and it allows us to play a lot harder just because we know we're playing for the brother to our left and our right.”

Pauling enters the final week of the regular season fourth on the team with 373 receiving yards and leads the team with six touchdowns in the air. 

The Irish have also received big years from Malachi Fields and Jordan Faison, but Pauling has seen the younger receivers start to step up over the last few weeks. 

“Honestly, I could say every single one of them,” explained Pauling. “All of them have been in my ear asking for what they can be working on or stuff of that nature. I think they're all in a really good spot. They're all pushing each other and holding each other accountable, which is really cool and encouraging to see from a younger group.

“Cam (Williams) caught his first pass. That was really cool to see. And Elijah (Burress) down the field blocking his butt off. It's really cool to see those guys get in there because they work their tails off, and to see them get rewarded with some playing time, it's awesome to see.” 

As for the regular season finale at Stanford, Pauling expects Notre Dame to show up and take care of business for the 10th straight week. 

“We're all competitors, we're all winners,” said Pauling. “We want to win every single game, so it doesn't matter if it's Stanford or if it's Syracuse lining up. We want to win every single time, and if we focus on winning the game, that's right in front of us, then we just have to trust beyond knowing what comes next.”

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