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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 21, 2016Mike McGlincheySouth Bend, Indiana Q. Mike, as an offense through three games, what do you feel good about, what do you feel you can build upon? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think that we have done an unreal job with putting points on the board and having those plays that can show that we are the best in the country, we are one of the best in the country on our offensive side of the ball. Definitely want to improve on the consistency of doing so. We don't want to have lulls in games and times where we don't get our jobs done and I think that that's what we are constantly working towards is that ability to play the same way at all times throughout the course of a game. We're getting there. Obviously we have some things we need to clean up and we're going to get there. But like I said, we are really -- we have done a good job of executing our plays for the most part and it's just that consistency that needs to build. Q. Obviously once you guys fell behind by four touchdowns, you had to take a different offensive approach, but just in general how would you summarize the reasons for the difficulties in the ground game? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: In terms of the Michigan State game? Q. Yes, sir. MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I don't think we had too many difficulties at all when we came and watched the film against Michigan State in the ground game. Early on, we were pretty solid in what we did and how we executed. Yeah, there was obviously a couple plays here and there where we didn't execute to our best ability, and obviously that's not the goal of ours but for the most part I thought we played pretty well, up until the point where we got behind and just couldn't put the rushing yards on the board like we normally want to. Q. As an offense, as a leader of the offensive line, as a leader of the team in the offense, what message have you been trying to give to that side of the ball this week? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: Well, Coach has preached on it all week, Coach Kelly, he's given us the sense of urgency mantra for this week, and I think it's something we all need to buy into. There is a sense of urgency around our program right now, especially on the offensive side of the ball, to get your jobs done at all times no matter the circumstances and bring that attitude to practice and constantly work on improving and becoming what we're really capable of being, because we've fallen short of that at times this season so far. It's that sense of urgency that we need to bring to our improvement individually and then as a team, as well. Q. As you look at your game individually, and as you go into this week of practice, what are one or two maybe specific things, real specific things of offensive line play that you want to improve upon? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think the biggest thing for me is just not worrying about things that I can't control and I think that has gotten in the way of my play a little bit this season. Football is a game, and it's a game that we put our entire lives into, but at the end of the day it is a game and you have to go out and recognize that and have fun with it. You saw from our offensive line and myself individually in the second half of that Michigan State game, when all bets were off, it was just time to go play. There was nothing really we could do. We were behind a couple scores. It was, all right, let's go play football and see what happens. We had a blast doing it. Watching the game on TV, I'm sure you saw us jumping up and down and celebrating and being the first guys to the ball, and that's the kind of energy that you need to have at all times. It's something that I need to continue to focus on and get back to is that just stop worrying about things. I have to trust what I do. I have to go back to work each and every day, trust the process and not worry about the end result and I think that's where I'll have the most of my success. Q. Is that something you've always had to battle? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think so. I've always had that kind of edge where if I'm not doing it right, I always kind of get in a lull of things and always -- it's hard not to focus on the end result of things. Q. How does it negatively impact the way you play? Do you angry in that? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: It's not anger. It's more of a spreading-yourself-too-thin kind of thing. It's one of those things where I have to focus on what I need to do and what I need to do is recognize in the lineman across from me, see what he's doing and then play ball. That's one thing that I wasn't doing as well as I would have liked and I'm starting to improve that. It's like one of those A.A. meetings; you have to admit the problem and keep working on it. Q. More of a micro focus, as opposed to a macro? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: Absolutely. Q. Why did you think things were off in the first half on Saturday? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think just a couple things, a couple plays that didn't go our way, and I don't think we were necessarily off. Going back on the film, we played a pretty good game offensively. I think that obviously there's some things like missing a call or turning the football over or some things, a bad bounce here and there that kind of threw us off a little bit and stopped the drive or things like that. But for the most part, I don't think that we were off on Saturday. It's just one of those things that they executed more plays than we did and that's the way football shakes out sometimes. Q. How valuable would you say DeShone is to your offense and to your team? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think that kind of speaks for itself. DeShone, he's our guy. He's everything to us. Yeah, there's no words that describe how valuable DeShone Kizer is to this offense and to this football team. Q. What makes him so special? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: His ability to just be the same guy every day. His ability to stay cool, calm and collected under pressure. I mean, it's not every day you see a quarterback that gets down three scores or something like that in two games that we've had already this year and somehow figured out a way in the fourth quarter to come back and give our team a chance to win the football game and he's done that twice now. Unfortunately we didn't finish like we wanted to but it's not just on him; that's on everybody else. DeShone is such a special player. He's a special talent and he's a special kid and that's what makes him so special. It's the combination of who he is, how he plays and his position on this football team; it's huge for us. Q. When you got home on Saturday night or maybe Sunday when you had a chance to think about things, when you realized, we're 1-2, what went through your mind? Was it anger? Disappointment? What kind of emotions were you feeling? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I mean, obviously there's a little disappointment that we haven't won the games that we wanted to win. But at the same time it's not something that I'm trying to dwell on. There's nine games left on that schedule up there and that's what we're focused on, and that's what I'm focused on is getting better each and every week and that's the only thing you can do as a football player. If we start focusing on what happened in the last three weeks, we're probably going to hit a pretty big wall here in the next nine games. Q. What is the motivation now for the next nine games knowing that the playoff is probably out of the picture; what motivates you as a player, as a team? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think it's got to be self and team pride. It's the constant battle to become the best person and player you can be each and every day. And along with that, comes the best team we can be every day. That's the motivation is just become better and do better and continue to work for that, and everything that we do is about that and that's the fun thing about what football is. It's such a process and there's never, ever going to be a time where one team or one man has it mastered. There's always something to work on and there's always something to see differently and that's why we keep coming back to this game that we all love is because of the challenge that it presents and our team is ready for that challenge, and just going back to work yesterday at practice, you can see it. Guys are ready to work again and they are hungry and that's what we need and that's the only thing that we can focus on is the next nine weeks ahead and obviously starting with Duke. It's a special characteristic of our football team to be able to do that and obviously we have some great leadership in our coaches to make us do that and help us focus on that. Yeah, the motivation is just be better. Q. And what do you guys see from Duke that make them a challenging defense to prepare for? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: They move a lot. They will blitz a lot and that's nothing we haven't seen before. Every defense brings their own challenges challenge and Duke will certainly do that. They are a good football team. They are well-coached and they have a lot of experience. But like I said, a lot of it comes down to what we do and that's the way football is, especially on the offensive side of the ball, is executing what you need to do and what your job is. Doing that against a look that is in front of you, that's the great thing about playing offense, especially offensive line, is a lot of it is in your control. You just have to be able to see what's happening in front of you and trust the guys next to you to get the job done and that's what's going to happen. Q. Coach Kelly talked about like having a better sense of urgency yesterday. That seems like kind of a nebulous thing for someone outside of the program. For you guys, what does he mean by that? What do you guys need to do to have that sense of urgency, I guess? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: Well, it means that things that haven't gone our way this season and the only thing we can do about it is bring a sense of urgency to the way we work. And there's a certain attitude that you have to bring each and every day to practice that we need to constantly uphold now, and not that we didn't before, but there's even a little bit more riding on it now that we have two losses. It's that sense of urgency to just never -- don't fall into a lull because, oh, people are saying that our playoff shot is over. It's that sense of urgency that yeah, we are playing football. There's still nine games left to be played and we have to get better. There's a lot of things that we need to work on and it's that sense of urgency that you need to bring individually to work on them. Q. In 2013, you had two losses in September and you had a captain in your group in Zack Martin. What was his message after the loss to Oklahoma that effectively knocked you out of the championship race that year? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I think it's the same message. I think that's always the message when you're in times of trial is to put your head down and keep working. It's what Coach Kelly is talking about each and every day now, is the sense of urgency to bring an attitude and a work ethic in terms of making us better and a more disciplined and highly-functioning football team. Q. Do you point back to 2013, after losing to Oklahoma State, you went on to beat Arizona State the week after. Can you take a lesson from that week of preparation that maybe can apply going forward here? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: Trying to remember, that was a long time ago. There's a lot of football in between then. Yeah, I think that -- it's not like we've never lost before. It's not like -- we've been in this position before where we have to bounce back from a tough week and a tough couple weeks. It's a time that, like I said, it tests a lot of character, and I think it's what we're about on our team is we've got the guys that are willing to do that and willing to come into work each and every day, no matter what the outcome of the last couple games have been, and it's because of that mentality that we have in our leadership and across the board on our football team. Q. Everybody knows the defense is struggling; how much pressure does that put on the offense, knowing there's not much margin for error, and that you have to score a lot of points it seems like to win games. MIKE MCGLINCHEY: I don't think we look at it that way at all. Like I've said before, or what I said to Tim about my individual struggle of trying to focus on what's important is exactly what we need to do in terms of our offense and across the board individually, is focus on things that you can control. I can't control whether our defense stops them, and they are going to, because they have got the right guys on our team and the right coaches in place. But like I said, I can't focus on whether or not Isaac Rochell is going to have a couple tackles for loss, or if Nyles Morgan is going to command everything out there. I'm not worried about that, because I trust those guys that they are going to get their jobs done and they will do that. At the same time, I'm focused on the next play going out on the drive. To be honest with you, I can't remember a time where I've watched a full defensive drive in my time playing at Notre Dame because I'm always on the sideline with the five other guys up front trying to work on what we saw the last drive and if we see it again, how are we going to do better. Can't focus on what I can't control and we are going to do our job each and every play, each and every drive and as the season continues, that will be the best way to do things for us. Q. You literally a lot of times don't even know what has happened on the field with the defense. MIKE MCGLINCHEY: To be honest with you, I don't. Until they tell me it's your time to go, I'm not really worried about them -- not that I'm not worried about them because I obviously care that my teammates are going to do well. But I can't really focus on what they are doing because they need me to do my job. I can't do my job if I'm not worried about somebody else doing theirs. Yeah, we sit on one side of the sideline each and every week with five chairs, center, guards, tackles, Coach E. stands right in the middle trying to figure out what's happening. Obviously I'll check up and see what down and distance situation it is, because then it's time to start getting prepared to go out and play again. But other than that, yeah, I don't really see a whole lot until I hear a reaction from the crowd. Q. DeShone and the two offenses played pretty well but after the game he put the loss on himself. As an offensive lineman, when you hear something like, how do you react to that? MIKE MCGLINCHEY: It's not on him; it's on everybody. Obviously being the quarterback and the face of our football team, he's going to do that because he's a man and that's who he is; and he's going to put the blame on himself that everybody else can try and do better. But we all know it's not on DeShone. It's not on any one particular man in this program, one particular player. It's on everyone. It's our job to execute. I've got to block better. Guys have to catch balls better, run harder, tackle better, whatever, whatever it is. It's on everyone to do their job and their part into winning football games, and it's the only way you can win is with a full team effort. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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