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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 27, 2018Ian BookTe'Von ConeyAlohi GilmanDexter WilliamsSan Diego, California Navy - 22, Notre Dame - 44 THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. Ian, take us through that third-and-10 play in the final quarter. Coach Ken called that a back breaker. What did it mean to have Jafar back as another weapon? IAN BOOK: To start, having Jafar back in the backfield just allows our offense to be able to run a bunch of plays that we've been wanting to run. He's been preparing all week. Couldn't be happier with the way he played. On that play, I mean, I think it's just a broken play. The guys are working to try to get open for you. As a quarterback, to see Jafar sprinting down the field, there's nothing better. Happy he was working that hard. It was a big play in the game for us. Q. Ian, can you talk about the performance in the first half. Were you impressed with your performance coming out of the bye, and the balanced respect these two teams have for each other, anything else like that that exists in college football? IAN BOOK: Being able to play Navy is an honor. Obviously we have a tradition that goes way back. We have so much respect for that team. Defensively we knew they're a good team. We had to prepare well. I think with the bye week, I think it was a good timing bye week for us to rest, then coming back and basically being able to get a couple more practices in definitely helped. I think if we just keep preparing like we have been, I think we're going to be fine. I think we didn't take any steps back this week. Even with a little bit of time off, everyone was still practicing hard. That's really the key for us, is preparation. Q. Alohi, first six possessions of the first half, you were able to stop them, force a punt. What was the key to you having so much success early in the game? ALOHI GILMAN: Being able to execute on all levels of the defense, first, second, third level. Guys keying into their keys, executing what they had to do to do their job. When we did that, we played well as a defense. Q. How difficult was it to get the penetration production? ALOHI GILMAN: That was huge. We knew we had to be physical up front, set a new line of scrimmage. Obviously our guys did that pretty well in the first half, first few possessions. Happy they played that well. Q. Ian, first play of the game, you fumble. What was the emotion like for your offense after the defense was able to force them out on four quick plays? IAN BOOK: Just to have the next play mindset. I know Miles is mentally strong. It was the first play. Takes a little bit of momentum away. We come back as an offense, I know we're strong. That's football. Stuff like that happens. It's how you bounce back. I talked to Miles. I think he was good. You could tell he was fine. As an offense, we knew we had a bad play. It's about the next play. No point thinking about what happened when you have a whole game in front of you. Q. Dex, you showed a lot of patience letting the blocks set up. DEXTER WILLIAMS: Well, today, just being out there with the offensive line, they were creating holes for me. Also just being patient, just letting them set up the blocks, then I made the right cut, just really running hard for them because I know they're going to block hard for me. Basically we're just holding each other accountable. Q. Dexter, I think after your first game back this season, you said you weren't really worry about numbers, you were trying to play all out. Is that a mindset you stuck with for the rest of these games? DEXTER WILLIAMS: Oh, yes. I don't really try to chase stats. I try to go out and win each and every game with my brothers. It doesn't matter if I have 10 carries, 20 yards, 10 carries, a hundred some yards. I really go out and try to lay it all on the line that night and really just keep moving and just keep on winning. Q. Ian, obviously you had success without Dexter early in the season, having success now. What does he add to the offense? IAN BOOK: Yeah, having Dexter back, he adds a speed to our offense that we need. You know when you give the ball to Dex, he's going to do his job. That's all you can do when you have a group of runningbacks like that. Having Dex, Jafar, honestly everybody in the runningback room, it's a key for our offense. Obviously, love to have Dexter in the backfield. Q. Alohi, you talked about performing in the first half on all three levels. You shut down pretty much all three phases. Coach Niumatalolo said they wanted to slow the safeties down in the second half. Explain what they did to do that. ALOHI GILMAN: They just changed up their blocking scheme, tried to get their slot backs, even push their offensive linemen to sealing off the safeties. I know they did that a lot with me, having their backside A back seal me off on the long motions. They also brought some combos with the backside guards. Yeah, just some scheme matchups. We adjusted accordingly. We just had to make the plays when they came. Q. Alohi, you said earlier in the week what you remembered about the 2016 game was just that you came out on top. What do you think you'll remember this time around? ALOHI GILMAN: I'm just proud of my defense and my offense just as a team, being able to get this win. I know we challenged each other before the game, just to stay together, to lay your heart on the line for your teammates. I have guys like Te'von, Dex, Ian, putting their hearts on the line. It's really just about these guys here. This is what I'll remember the most. Q. Ian, you stumbled a little bit early. What was the catalyst to overcoming that for you? IAN BOOK: Kind of like what I was talking earlier, just having that mindset of not thinking about the play that just happened. Just moving on. We know what we can do as on offense. We prepare every day hard. We know what we can do. We're confident. Just thinking back on plays that happened, it won't help you. I think we all knew, everybody on the offense was confident, knew the potential we had for that game. Q. Te'von, you talked about how difficult it is to transition to defending the triple option. Is it easier to go back the other way? TE'VON CONEY: I mean, yeah, obviously it's a little unique. Like I said earlier in the week, it's fun to play guys that come out and give it their all. We're happy to move on to the next game, get ready for our preparation next week, get another win. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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