Notre Dame Enjoying The Moment
If Notre Dame feels the pressure of keeping an undefeated season alive, you wouldn’t know it as the Irish have kept things loose over the month of November.
Did the Irish learn from last year where the pressure got to them? Possibly, but the 2018 team is simply having fun, and it starts with running back Dexter Williams.
‘The Juice Man’ has added a boost of energy and passion to the Irish since his return to the field in week five against Stanford and the last two games he’s been seen throwing up the deuces at the end of long touchdowns runs.
It could be seen as cocky by some, but it’s just Williams enjoying a moment on the field.
“It really just happens,” laughed Williams. “I’m just having a lot of fun. Just being able to throw up the deuces is something showing we are working hard. A lot of guys have their own things. We’re trying to have fun.”
The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder leads the Irish in rushing yards with 844 on just 126 carries as well as touchdowns with 11.
However, the Irish seem to be expanding the playbook with more two-back sets and even moving quarterback Brandon Wimbush into a running back role last week.
“The run game is definitely expanding,” explained Williams. “It starts with our offensive line. They’ve done a great job creating holes for us. We’re going out there and getting the job done. Having Jafar Armstrong and Tony Jones Jr. going out making play free’s me up a lot.
“When we’re running a two-back set, it takes eyes off me, or it gets Jafar open holes like we showed at Yankee Stadium. Jafar could have walked into the end zone. It gets the offense going because you can’t guard all the weapons on our offense with Book being back and having dominant receivers like Chase (Claypool) and Miles (Boykin) with (Chris) Finke making plays.”
Captain Sam Mustipher doesn’t feel pressure heading into the last week of the regular season undefeated. Mustipher knows if they take care of business this week, then the game will take care of itself.
“We look at it as another opportunity to go out there to showcase the work we’re putting in each week,” Mustipher explained. “We understand it’s more about us and this team embraces it. If we stick to what we’ve been doing and get better at what we’ve been doing, then the outcome will take care of itself.”
Williams will have a chance to reach the 1,000-yard mark with another big game, and he echoed Mustipher’s statement.
“It starts with wanting to get better each week,” Williams said. “It starts with film on Monday, and we know we can get better each week. We find ways to get better. We find little thing to work on individually and as a team.
“We really want to go out and get better. We want to be the best team.”
The 11-0 record should be enough to make sure the Irish are fired up, but it’s also a rivalry game and one Mustipher grew up watching.
“It’s one of the greatest rivalries in sports,” said Mustipher. “You think about college football rivalry weekend growing up as a kid. This is one of the games you watch with Ohio State-Michigan and the Red River Rivalry. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m looking forward to it.”