Story Poster
Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Football

"We want to come out and prove our dominance"

October 19, 2017
5,235

Notre Dame Stadium at night is an exceptional environment. Notre Dame hosting USC brings national attention. Senior linebacker Drue Tranquill knows Saturday will be a unique experience as both teams enter the game ranked in the Top 15. 

“Tradition and a lot of great games,” Tranquill said of what he thinks when he hears Notre Dame-USC. “Rivalry, great coaches, great players and great fans. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”  

Notre Dame is coming off a bye week and the 6-foot-2, 231-pounder is hungry to get back on the field. 

“We’re just excited to go out and play in front of our fans at home under the lights,” stated Tranquill. “It’s an opportunity to see how we stand against one of the better teams in the country. That’s our mindset. We want to punish each and every opponent we play. We want to come out and prove our dominance against a very good opponent. We’re really looking forward to it.” 

The Irish defense has held each opponent to 20 points or less in the first six games of 2017, which is quite the accomplishment for first-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko. 

Tranquill knows his defense will need to be locked in on Saturday as the Trojans possess an explosive offense.  

“They have a lot of dynamic playmakers all over the field,” said Tranquill. “The quarterback can get it to them and has a quick release. They have a slew of running backs that can make things happen in the open field. 

“We have to be sound and execute our defense. If we do that, I think we will come out victorious.”  

The winner of Saturday night’s game will catapult into the Top 10 and be a legitimate College Football Playoff contender moving forward. 

Tranquill is well-aware of what a win would do for the program, but rankings are the farthest thing from his mind.  

“I don’t care about the rankings right now, to be honest,” Tranquill stated. “It’s kind of irrelevant to us. We have to win on a week to week basis to be relevant at the end of the season. We have to beat USC before we can beat NC State and Wake Forest. 

“Our focus is on USC. They are a great team with a lot of great competitors.”

The attention of being 5-1 has a buzz around campus and Tranquill has felt it. Despite not being caught up in the rankings, Tranquill does take satisfaction in seeing his team benefit from the hard work they put in since January.

“When you’re playing well, people are going to pay attention,” explained Tranquill. “It’s cool to see the fruition and see the 5:30 a.m. workouts pay off. We knew inside this building what was going to happen this year and it’s cool to see the output.”  

 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.