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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 8, 2017

Nyles Morgan

South Bend, Indiana

Q. Defensively what needs to be better than what you guys showed against Wake Forest?
NYLES MORGAN: I would just say execution. That would be the big thing there.

Q. And when you have a game like you did on Saturday, how eager are you to bounce back and say let's just be better than what we were last time out?
NYLES MORGAN: It's never about being just better than we were the last time; it's about being the best we can. So I feel like every game, good or bad, indifferent, we always turn on the corrections and figure out how to make it better on "D" line, linebackers to safeties.

Q. And then how frustrating is it to have a game like you did Saturday where you guys had been on such a roll and playing so well defensively and then maybe take a step or two back against Wake?
NYLES MORGAN: We didn't really harp on it too much. Like we knew like the intangibles, Coach Elko just leading that program and things like that, like, literally it was someplace like they knew who was coming, like, before we even lined up. They're like 4's coming. So how did he -- we were dealing with that, too. Also, there's no point of us harping on things we can't control, things that happen already.

Like I said, we just went through the corrections and we moved on.

Q. I'm going to take you away from the defense a little bit here, and if you could maybe give me some impressions of where you think Brandon Wimbush has improved through the year. What have you seen, the sacrifices he made last year, running the team and things like that?
NYLES MORGAN: Last year or this year?

Q. Last year.
NYLES MORGAN: Last year, you know, Brandon was on scout team, but he wasn't just there to fill a role. He was there with a purpose. He was there to improve himself. And he's always steadily improving himself just like we all are. But in translation to this year, Brandon has really improved with his passing efficiency.

And from what I can tell, how well he's throwing the ball, just how well he's putting the ball in the wide receivers (indiscernible) for the receivers to catch it, not just making the throw, but throwing it where they can only get it and only them. And that's what I've seen from Brandon Wimbush.

Q. You guys have had the top 15 matchups, so you're used to games like this but not necessarily on the road. How do you guys figure to just handle a different atmosphere just being away here from South Bend?
NYLES MORGAN: Was Michigan State ranked? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter.

Q. What comes to mind to for you when you do think about the Miami rivalry?
NYLES MORGAN: I think that the rivalry is really embedded. Really before I was born, probably before some of you guys have been born, like even you. It's true. I'm sorry. (Laughter). But overall I just feel like that just brings more into like the hype of the game. But it has nothing to do with us.

Because our motto on defense is nameless and faceless. So all that stuff is cool and everything. And it's all glamorous and builds more hype and more attention, but we're just worry about winning the game.

Q. In order to do that, what are sort of some of the things you see from Miami's offense?
NYLES MORGAN: They have good athletes in space -- receivers, running backs, good quarterback who can run as well. So if we can take away the things that they do well, which is a nice pass game, okay run game, we should just be fine.

Q. When you watch tape of Miami, it appears as if it's broken down by game. Did they look like a completely different team last Saturday against Virginia Tech, the best performance of the year versus what you saw on tape earlier in the year in terms of a team that was getting better?
NYLES MORGAN: That's not actually how I watch film. We don't just watch the game like we watch game. It's broken down into plays where like they run a certain route concept this way and they run this route concept this way. And that's how it's broken down.

Because you really shouldn't get too caught up into like the games that they play versus how good they are here versus there because everybody runs a different scheme.

Like their defense runs a different scheme. Maybe they're doing things a little bit different on offense. Maybe that defense (indiscernible) to beat them. Maybe their offense found a way to beat their defense. So you really can't go game by game. Just really have to worry about just how they run their offense.

Q. Is their offense much different from what you saw last year when they came here?
NYLES MORGAN: Not really.

Q. On the historical stuff did you watch the "30-for-30" last year? Curious if you learned anything from it, if it was interesting to you?
NYLES MORGAN: Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Q. Anything that you learned about it, like I didn't know that or something that really stuck with you?
NYLES MORGAN: The whole thing was a learning process for me. I've heard about it, obviously, but when they had the "30-for-30," they broke down like the details of it and how nasty it really got. I was like dang. But that was something very interesting to watch.

Q. After the game on Saturday, did you have a chance to, knowing that Miami was playing a night game, did you sneak a peek at the game last week?
NYLES MORGAN: Yeah, I did.

Q. What did you think?
NYLES MORGAN: It was a good game.

Q. I know you were offered by Miami out of high school. Was there interest there?
NYLES MORGAN: I remember they talked to me like for three hours one day, tried to get me down. I was like I don't no, it's too far. I'm kind of like a home body. I like to have my parents at the games. (Indiscernible) to be home. But they did show a lot of interest in my recruiting process, though.

Q. You never took that visit, though?
NYLES MORGAN: No.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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