UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 22, 2022

Michael Mayer

Press Conference

Notre Dame 44, UNLV 21

Q. Michael, can you talk about that catch downfield that I'm not even sure how to describe it?

MICHAEL MAYER: I don't think I saw the ball to be honest. I kind of stuck out my hand and hoped for the best.

That's a route me and Drew practiced a lot, we've repped a lot in practice. Those type of throws, it's just one of those things where it's kind of just like, all right, it's me against the linebacker.

Drew knows there's a pretty good chance, if he kind of throws that thing up, I'm going to catch it. He believed in me and he threw it up there, and I found a way to catch it.

It was a cool play. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pumped to watch it.

Q. Is that the best catch of your career or your life?

MICHAEL MAYER: I got to watch it first. I mean, I was kind of all over the place out there. Sometimes I just don't really remember things. There's some catches and stuff. So I've got to watch it. I'll get an answer for you later on, but it's up there for sure. There's no doubt.

Q. There's a change in approach, I think, for physicality for Logan Diggs. Can you discuss his efforts now on third down as a short yardage back? I don't think anyone said short yardage back, Logan Diggs last year?

MICHAEL MAYER: Yeah, we've always known he could do this. He's a hard runner, downhill. I think, number one, the O-line did a fantastic job today creating holes for him, body on body, that type of thing.

I just think Logan's kind of taken on this role, and he's kind of perfected it in a sense, and he's been practicing it a ton all camp, all season long.

It's kind of finally showing now in the middle of the season. So I think it's just we've got to keep giving him the ball. He had a tremendous day today, and he's just got to keep that positive mindset. I think we've just got to keep giving him the ball and giving him opportunities.

Me and the other tight ends and the O-line just got to keep blocking.

Q. The other tight end had a touchdown today, Mitchell Evans. Did you see that during practice? Did you think it would actually get utilized in a situation that was so important in the game?

MICHAEL MAYER: Yeah, we repped it a bunch during the week. We ran it on third and one or maybe fourth and one, and we ran it, and he got it, and we pulled it out of the woodwork to run it again on the 1 yard line. I wasn't expecting that one, but I was like, hey, let's go.

That was a cool moment for him. He had a little injury. He just got back. Very cool moment for him scoring in a game like this second game back. Tight ends got a few injuries, but we're still rolling. We still got some good players.

Q. From your perspective, what do you think you guys have to do to get that home-field advantage back to what you guys had for the previous five years?

MICHAEL MAYER: Just got to keep winning at home. I don't know if there's anything else I can say. To get that feeling back, we have to keep winning at home. We'll never get that feeling back if we keep losing at home.

It was a point of emphasis all season long that we can't lose at home. Obviously that's not the way it's been, but take this momentum and kind of take it for the next home game, because we're going to need it.

Nobody likes losing at home. Nobody. Nobody in that locker room likes to lose at home. Nobody in that locker room likes to lose at all. We're trying our best. We're pouring our hearts out on that field.

We never want to let these fans down, let this community down, and lose at home.

Q. Michael, we saw you before, like in the Cal game be quick to pick up Drew after a throw he wanted back. We heard Marcus tell us his message to Drew is just keep being confident. How do you take that on yourself to help however you can given your relationship and being a captain and all that?

MICHAEL MAYER: I know Drew pretty well. I know when he's down. I know when he's up. I know when he's in the middle. I know when he needs a slap on the butt to say, let's go; we're still in this thing. Let's drive down the field. Let's go score.

I think it's important because he does get down sometimes, and I think he does need some people to lift him up sometimes.

That's why I'm there. The other captains on the team are there for him. I know Coach Freeman is, Coach Reese, and it's just about lifting him up and giving him confidence because we need our quarterback to have confidence. He had confidence today, and we need to keep that rolling.

Q. You mentioned earlier about the injuries in the tight end room. I just want to see what you saw out of Holden today, kind of his first game in a really increased role after Eli went down last week.

MICHAEL MAYER: Holden is a great player. He's going to be a great player. He needs to gain a little bit of weight, probably put 10, 15, 20 more pounds on him and block those big dudes in the box.

I'm sitting at 260 right now. I think he's sitting at about 230, 235. He knows that. We were talking about it the other day, laughing about it. This off-season is a big off-season for him because next season is a huge season for him.

I was telling him, just take the off-season very seriously, gain some weight, get a little bit faster, a little bit quicker on your feet. Holden is going to be a very good player here, and he did a very good job today.

Q. Just following up quickly on Mitchell's two rushes. The broadcast crew noticed that it was a little similar to how the Chiefs sometimes use Kelce. Without getting too much into it, is it a little exciting when Tommy or someone else comes in with a little inspiration from the pros or something like that?

MICHAEL MAYER: Yeah, it's a weekly thing. It can be any of the offensive coaches coming in and saying, I watched this on Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football, that type of thing. We should try this.

We'll try it Tuesday in practice or Wednesday in practice. If it works it works, we'll use it. If it doesn't work, we're not going to run it.

That little QB sneak to Mitch is something we practiced a lot and it looked good every single time we ran it. I'm glad that worked out the way it did.

Q. Any chance we'll see you under center sometime soon?

MICHAEL MAYER: We'll see. You'll have to wait on that one.