Story Poster
Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Football

Tranquill Goes In-Depth On Capstone Projects, Defense and Miami

November 9, 2017
3,884

Rivalry games are always fun for the college football fans, and Saturday’s game between No. 3 Notre Dame and No.7 Miami has the nation’s attention. 

The series has featured many legendary moments, but for senior linebacker Drue Tranquill, Saturday will be about getting back on track after giving up 37 points last week to Wake Forest.

“Getting back to our process, getting back to our traits,” Tranquill said of what the Irish need corrected this weekend. “The way we prepared last week wasn't the best week of preparation, and we're kind of getting back to basics this week in terms of how we've gone about preparing the first eight weeks of the season.” 

While the Irish didn’t lose to Wake Forest, the feeling around the media room after the game was a little somber considering the 11-point victory. 

‘We're just disappointed because we knew we didn't go out and execute to the best of our abilities,” explained Tranquill. “We felt that we let one go defensively. Whenever you have a bad performance, you always come back with a chip on your shoulder, and I know a lot of guys after the game were ready to put the patch back on and go right back out there because we felt we let one go.”

The Fort Wayne native was one of several players with a heavy academic load last week, and for Tranquill, the significant load of work will continue as the school year winds down. The Engineering major will graduate in December and has several projects that will have his attention away from The Gug. 

“Looking back probably a lack of sleep was probably the biggest component, just having a ton of projects,” Tranquill said of last week. “I wasn't able to get as much sleep as I typically like to sleep nine to eight hours on a game week.

“I definitely think that played a part in it. But at the end of the day, we've got to go down and execute. I'm not up here to make an excuse for myself or the defense. We all play we're all student-athletes, so we need to handle the nuances.”

So what exactly has Tranquill’s focus away from the field? Your guess is probably better than mine. 

“I am in three capstone projects,” said Tranquill. “They're all group projects. My group is counting on me to get my deliverables done. I had a lot of deliverables due last week.

“One of them we're doing a thermal management system for 3-D printers. Another one we're acting as like a venture capitalist and designing something for people who travel. And another one is a research project I'm doing for kids in developing countries to help, basically a solar-powered system to help power computers and stuff in schools in developing countries. So a lot of different projects in there, all neat and interesting but took a lot of time.”

Rick Kimball/ISD
Drue Tranquill

The history of the series hasn’t been lost on the 6-foot-2, 231-pounder, as those who played in the rivalry have explained what it was like for them. 

“What I know most about it is Coach (Pat) Eilers used to help us out here a little bit. He played in that historic game and obviously was featured a little bit in the "30 for 30".

“So just conversations with him and Coach (Todd) Lyght and those guys. That's really the extent of what I know.”

It might be easier to drown out the noise of the rivalry, but the College Football Playoff hype extremely hard to escape when two Top 10 programs meet this late in the year. 

Tranquill, a captain, will rely on his experience and his fellow upperclassmen to lead the team through the playoff waters.

“It has to go with experience, and we've played in a lot of big games already this year,” stated Tranquill. “The list goes on and on of games we've played in this year and been able to quiet the noise.

"So I think it's just that constant message internally of reminding one another, if we want to be able to celebrate and see Coach (Brian) Kelly dance in the locker room after games, we've got to focus for the time leading up to the game and through the game on what we have to do to execute.

“After the game is when the fun occurs and you can enjoy the win. But to win on Saturday, we've got to focus on the game plan and keep our minds on that.”

Finally, with the senior year winding down, Tranquill address the decision he will have to make in a few weeks, as he can return for a fifth season at Notre Dame. 

“Those decisions will be made in December and January,” said Tranquill. “I'm just focusing on finishing up here and finishing this season. So those decisions will be made at a later date.”

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