UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 10, 2022

Howard Cross

Press Conference

Marshall 26, Notre Dame 21

Q. Howard, that quarterback that you guys had to chase all day is on his third program, very experienced. What did you see on film leading into it that concerned you about the whole game that he has and what did he show you today?

HOWARD CROSS III: I mean, every good quarterback is a scrambler that can throw passes out of the scramble. So there was a lot of times the line came free, and he was a good quarterback. He made good shots. Even when he was scrambling he could make the shots that counted.

Q. When a team like yours loses to a team people don't know as much about, they're going to say, well, they didn't take them seriously. What can you say to that as a group? Do you have any concerns that you guys' natural is to have a letdown after going from Ohio State to Marshall?

HOWARD CROSS III: Look, the whole thing was because our whole thing was we were focusing on Ohio State because it's Ohio State the whole time, and then suddenly we're with Marshall, and the whole thing was to not look at Marshall because they had a good season the last year and the year before, so we can't undermine Marshall.

I mean, they're a good team, so they're going to do well this year.

Q. Howard, Marcus was in here talking about trying to get a run stop at the end of the game. What did Marshall do there at the end? Is there anything you would point to, okay, this is what we need to clean up defensively?

HOWARD CROSS III: I mean, just they had -- we were focused on the passing a lot during -- because their pass game, but their running back was, what, like a five-star transfer or something like that, so they have a really good running back. I mean, he was all over the field, but they really, really emphasized ripping the ball out, but he had a good handle on the thing the whole game.

Q. It seemed like Marshall did a good job of getting the ball to the perimeter like really quickly. I don't know how much of that was a focus during prep or if that was different than maybe what you guys had expected.

HOWARD CROSS III: I mean, it was. It was a focus. This is what happens when you play good teams. There was a focus all week. We practice I'm sure harder than them. We practice harder than anybody. Freeman can tell you that.

It's just what happens when you go against a good team. Any good team will find the openings that they need to find.

Q. Howard, eight quarters and no takeaways for the defense. Talk about what you guys are trying to do to get takeaways.

HOWARD CROSS III: I mean, above everything else, honestly I think we're more upset about that because we preach takeaways, takeaways, takeaways. We have a whole 10 minutes during our practice about takeaways. It just comes with we just have to emphasize it more.

Q. Can you gauge the mood of your team right now after this loss?

HOWARD CROSS III: I mean, what would any team be? They would be down in the dumps, like what are we going to do. But this is how great teams are made. Pick up the pieces and put it back together. The whole thing that Freeman told us, despite anything that happened was you guys got to stay together. Stay together because obviously it's Notre Dame; everybody is going to say something because we lost to -- it's an upset. It happens.

But we've got to get our stuff together. Everybody means from coaches to starters to scout linemen, everyone needs to get their stuff together and we've got to move on and fix this because we can. We know we can. We can be a great team.

Q. Building off that, obviously everyone in that locker room is not used to losing many games, and here you guys are already at 0-2. How do you wrap your head around it when you're not used to being in this position?

HOWARD CROSS III: I was actually watching a video about Kobe Bryant who was actually interviewed and asked the same exact question, and obviously it's not very nice, but he said -- which I take it to heart, it's exciting, because you win, you see what you did well, you see what the other team didn't do and you keep doing what you're doing; but if you lose, it gives you an opportunity to learn. Yeah, they got outside, they ran the ball on us, so what gaps are open? Are we not tackling well enough? Are we not shooting the ball? This will get us prepared better for the next team.