From the Locker Room: NC State
Quotes from Notre Dame players after the 35-14 win over NC State.
Julian Love
On the pick six:
“I think they tried to draw us offsides and I think the quarterback thought that we were offsides because I don’t think the O-line moved during the play. I made a read and picked the ball off, and I was waiting for a second for the refs to blow it dead because the quarterback wasn’t moving to come and tackle me. I was a little worried that it didn’t count, but then I got some great blocks, Daelin at the end, I was kind of holding him, and it was just a great play.”
On how much momentum it gave to the team:
“I thought we really needed it, we were up, but it was just a turn of momentum and a crushing blow to the opponent. After that, our offense was hitting them, and our defense was doing their thing.”
On the shutout in the second half:
“I will credit it to two people, first off, Coach Elko calling great plays and inspiring us and leading us. And then, Troy Pride Jr., he’s the heart and soul of our secondary. He’s just a funny guy, and after every dead ball we go to the sideline, and that is so huge.”
On if the third quarter sums up the team:
“I think it sums up the team well. You have some huge runs, and our defense was relentless and just flying around. They were trying to make some plays, and we just kept making plays. They tried to reverse the field one play, and it seemed like no one was over there, but then Jerry Tillery was flying over there making plays. And, our offense sure can run the ball.”
On what it is going to be like on Tuesday watching the first College Football Playoff Rankings come out:
“It is interesting. I have never been in this spot before as a sophomore. It is something that we have always had in our hearts and minds. We are a playoff team, and we felt we were a playoff team back in August and July when we were training to be in that position. And now to be getting national recognition for our hard work, we have trained so hard to be here.”
On Josh Adams for Heisman:
“I love it. It is very overlooked how good of a person he is. I think every person on the team truly cheers for him and truly wants the best for him. He is soft-spoken at times, but he is electrifying. I can’t look away from the JumboTron when he is on the field, and Coach Lyght is telling me to pay attention to the board. I am telling him, ‘c’mon coach, it’s Josh.’ It’s amazing, and we are supporting him with the #33Trucking thing. It’s amazing for him and the team.”
On if there was anything different in the preparation with NCST QB Ryan Finley not throwing an interception this season and how it felt to be the first one to pick him off:
“We knew they had some great athletes and a good O-line. Our first priority was to stop the run, and our front seven did an amazing job of that today. Then, just to be aggressive and everyone across the board was doing a great job of attacking the ball and swarming to the ball. That is just Coach Elko practicing multiple balls coming out on one play. That trains us to attack the ball on every play.”
On if the defense is taking a step up:
“Coach Elko harped on us after the bye week to take the next step to become a championship dominant defense. We were overlooked at times we felt, and now it is us working hard and being relentless and showing the world what we are about. That starts with every day our preparation. It’s amazing that the preparation is just showing itself out.”
Mike McGlinchey
On if there was anything different with the preparation to rush for 318 yards against the nation's number 6 rushing defense:
“No, I don’t think there was anything different in practice at all this week. That is what makes us so good is because we are able to focus on ourselves and getting our jobs done and what is really important. We executed well out there today, we left some things out there today, and we are going to practice to get those fixed. You can’t let things get bigger than they are, we just know that if we do our jobs, it is going to be really hard to stop us.”
On interactions with Bradley Chubb after the game:
“He’s just a helluva player. He is obviously one of the best, if not the best, defensive ends in the country and you gotta show respect to guys like that. He gave it his all today, but we are happy that we did our part to make sure that he didn’t have too big of a day.”
On how gratifying it is to win 6 in a row and 2 in a row against top 20 teams:
“It’s huge; it is a great feeling, we gotta keep the ball rolling as the weeks come on here. We have a shot to do something pretty special that hasn’t been done here in a while. We knocked off our rival last week and then another great team this week in NC State. Couldn’t be prouder of our guys and the program here, but we have to keep moving forward.”
On how cognisant is the team that they seem to be in control of their destiny in terms of the College Football Playoff:
“Obviously, we are very aware of that. We cannot let things get bigger than they are, we have to take things week by week, play by play and if we get off of that, things aren’t going to go our way. Maintaining focus on what is important and where we want to be is critical.”
On RB Josh Adams rushing for over 200 yards against the nation’s number 6 rushing defense:
“It’s an amazing feeling, didn’t play perfect ball which is what we want to keep working for, but Josh is a helluva player. It makes it easy for us up front to open up holes for him. He is so special and very deserving of any attention he is getting.”
On what is unique about Josh Adams:
“Obviously, he is so talented, he has the size and the speed, but what makes Josh different is the person that he is. He is as good of a person as you come around in this game. He goes to work each and every day with a pride and attitude that is excellent, and he is a great leader for our football team as well. Apart from all the on-field success, Josh is important to our football team in a lot of other ways.”
Linebacker Drue Tranquill
On recovering after the early blocked punt for a touchdown for NC State:
“There wasn’t a guy on the sideline that flinched. You would’ve thought that we got a stop on defense by the response on the sideline. We’re just a group of guys that buy into what we’re doing, and you see that out there.”
On leveraging third downs after getting stops on first and second down:
“Our defensive line did a great job of pushing back the line and winning on first and second down, and when you do that, you can get them into favorable positions for third down. Then we have guys like Julian Love, Shaun Crawford, and Nick Watkins, and our safeties who are all incredible in coverage. When we get into those favorable situations, we can pin our ears back and get after the quarterback since those guys back there hold up really well.”
On the “33Trucking” campaign for Josh Adams:
“33Trucking Company, I’m just another employee. We have tremendous confidence right now as a team and as individuals.”
On the team’s confidence level:
“We talk a lot about confidence in our mental performance training. Confidence is a choice, you have to go out there and choose it to keep those negative thoughts from creeping into your head. Guys are buying into what we’re doing and loving doing it with one another. We’re just having fun. Whereas maybe most teams dread going back to practice on Tuesday, we look forward to it, and we’re excited to get back into the weight room on Monday.”
On how gratifying the wins over USC and NC State were:
“It’s gratifying, especially getting wins here at home in front of our fans. But we haven’t accomplished our mission yet of playing for a national championship. We have another great opponent in Wake Forest coming in next week, and we just want to keep taking steps towards that goal. We’ve got four games left and then two in the playoff, so we’re in a six game playoff right now between ourselves and great opponents in order to accomplish what we want to do.”
Linebacker Te’von Coney
On what makes this year’s defense different from last year’s:
“I would just say working hard and trusting our coaches and the process that has been put into place. I think we have really been doing all of those things, and it has paid off for us so far.”
On facing Josh Adams in practice:
“He’s a great guy and a great running back. I think he’s actually made us a lot better this offseason by being able to play against that high level of competition each and every day, which allows us to get better each day to come out here and produce. We compete all the time, the offense gets there’s, and the defense gets there’s, too. We're just going out there and working on our technique and getting better, and that’s all that matters.”
On getting NC State into long-yardage third-down situations:
“The coaches have been coming up with great third down plans to allow us to get off the field and get the ball back for our offense. I think just going out there and following the plan allows things to work out for us.”
On dominating teams on defense, especially in the last few weeks:
“It’s really just us going out there and working each and every day. The coaches continue to push us and tell us not to relax or settle down. We continue to go out there with something to prove and have that mindset to continue to dominate and improve, so I think we’re going to continue to go out there and dominate. Following the coaches’ process, nothing can go wrong for us.”
Offensive lineman Quenton Nelson
On being able to wear teams down in the second half:
“I think that really just relates to our tempo and physicality. We get after teams and wear them down each snap, and it really starts to show and pay off in the second half as we’re ripping off those big runs.”
On wanting to step up even more against a good defense like NC State:
“There’s definitely a lot of pride in this position group, from what we’re taught and coached to do, and we have a lot of pride in each other. We want to go out there and be the best offensive line group in the country each week. We really brought it today.”
On whether this year has been his most fun year playing football:
“Definitely. 2015 was really great with Ronnie [Stanley] and Nick [Martin] and that whole group, but we’ve been dominating opponents this year. I love Coach Long’s offense and the personality he brings, so it’s been really fun. The six of us have great chemistry, and our running backs all run really hard. The wide receivers also get after their guys downfield, which is awesome. The whole offense is playing really well. I think the receivers and backs see our physicality, and it makes them want to do that too. Coach Long has a “punish” tape each week, and the receivers see the linemen on there punishing their guys, which makes them want to get on there too. We’re all happy for each other when we have a good block or run, we’re really a family on the offense. It’s awesome.”
On Josh Adams’ big runs:
“We take a lot of pride in that, maybe a bit more than we should. Josh is such a special back who makes so many great plays; that’s why he’s up for the Heisman. We take a lot of pride in our o-line getting all of our guys on all of their guys, allowing Josh to break out those big runs. It’s awesome to support Josh and all of my teammates. We really rally behind each other, whether it’s Chase Claypool getting a big block or Josh running 80 yards for a touchdown or Brandon throwing a dime.”