UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2022

Joe Alt

Press Conference

Notre Dame 44, Boston College 0

Q. Joe, how important was it for you guys to establish the run and continue that throughout the game?

JOE ALT: Yeah. We were challenged early in the week that this was going to be a game where we were going to run the ball. And being able to go up there as an offensive line and play as a unit and run the ball like we did, it's just so much fun. And to be able to send our seniors out, especially the offensive linemen, with a win like that running the ball, nothing better.

Q. Speaking of the seniors, how can you describe the impact that Jarrett Patterson and Josh Logan had on you as a player?

JOE ALT: Just their leadership, their understanding of the game and setting the standard day in and day out, practice, how we prepare and how we go into games and them teaching us the ways to play our best football on game day. I mean, their leadership there has been amazing.

Q. Joe, is there anything you would put down to like the team sort of, like, playing independent of its opponent, like you didn't have to get up for Clemson necessarily, but for Boston College, you have to sort of bring your own energy a little bit. Why do you think you guys were sort of able to put it together that way tonight?

JOE ALT: I think it's always in our preparation. I think every week, we set a standard of preparation. I think for us this week, it was we want to send our seniors out the right way. And I think we prepared that way all week. And we were able to go out and perform that way today. And it was great to send them out that way.

Q. You were sitting here listening to Marcus Freeman talk about the program's responsibility to protect their quarterback. With you as a left tackle, how much emphasis do you put on that in your game? And what's the mentality and focus like for you?

JOE ALT: Yeah. I mean, I put definitely a lot of focus on it. And I think that comes in the film room and preparation in the week and seeing the looks throughout the week and watching the film on how I'm going to block the looks and watching how they're going to run them. Put a lot of emphasis on that, the whole O-line does, and how we're going to play together and block them. The overall emphasis is focus on that. That's very important. But there's also the run game. So you've got to put equal emphasis on both. But protecting our quarterback, like coach said, is utmost important.

Q. Kind of following up on Josh Logan, Jared Patterson, how much have they led the way in that sort of mindset of protecting the quarterback as, like, leaders in this program?

JOE ALT: Yeah. I think the way they play, how they play the game and how they prepare every week, they show us what the standard is and how we're supposed to do it. So it's not very hard after practice to go watch film and watch them do it day in and day out. And that's what we all want to do. We just follow their lead.

Q. Minnesota guy. Probably been in a few snow games and a few cold games. What's the coldest or what did this remind you of today?

JOE ALT: Yeah. This one reminded me of, like, you know, the pee wee days. Eighth grade we had one, I think it was 0 with the wind chill. But, you know, back then you could wear sleeves. So that was a little bit different. Today was up there. It was cold. But growing up in Minnesota, I was pretty used to it.

Q. Coach Freeman talked about he didn't want cold tough guys. He wanted warm tough guys, but a lot of guys still doing the sleeveless things. Speak to that. What was the conversation amongst you guys about how to dress?

JOE ALT: For us, offensive linemen, it's never going to be sleeves. We just knew we weren't going in sleeve. We were just going to prepare for the cold. And I think being outside two to three days this week, it being cold, we prepared ourselves. We knew what it was going to be like. I think it's also just a mindset. It's going to be cold. It's cold for everybody. We don't want to have that affect our play. We want to focus on the game. The cold's going to be there. The cold is there for everybody. But let's just put that out of her head and go play.

Q. Not sure if you were in here when Marcus was talking about the rushing yards total.

JOE ALT: Uh-huh.

Q. So you do know the number?

JOE ALT: I think it was 289, 281, something like that.

Q. Yeah. How much of a sense of pride is that for an offensive line? Do you guys talk about that? Are you like, yeah, we paved the way for that, we were a part of that? To see a number like that, what does it mean to you guys?

JOE ALT: I think for us, going into this week, it was how are we going to send our seniors out right. And we prepared all week. We knew -- challenged to run the ball every week. So I think being able to go out and put up a number like that for our seniors, especially our senior offensive linemen, send them out on the right foot at Notre Dame stadium, it was so much fun for us as a group, and I think it was even better for those seniors.

Q. Joe, you talked about playing in the cold and the snow. But just what about the memory that this game will provide of doing that in Notre Dame stadium on a senior day, snowy game. How special was that in this regard?

JOE ALT: Yeah. It was weird. It was either a time out or something in the third quarter. It was a blizzard out there. And being able to be out there with the offensive linemen, my teammates, my brothers, it's a memory that I think I'll be able to flash back to the rest of my life and just being out there with them, having so much fun playing the game, playing the game the right way. And to do it for them on their last game in Notre Dame stadium in the snow, in the cold was such an experience. And it will be a memory for me for life.

Q. Can you put into perspective the growth that the offensive line and the team as a whole has made since your first game at Notre Dame stadium this year? Obviously, a loss to Marshall to the way you guys had a dominating performance today.

JOE ALT: Yeah. I think for us as the offensive line just playing together and preparing every week to go out and do that. And I think this week and every week, we've just -- our preparation has gotten a little bit better, a little better, a little better. And I think that showed today. And I think we were on our game plan as best as we possibly could have been as an offensive line playing together and going out there and rushing for the yards we did and playing the way we did. I think it all was in our preparation. I think it's been building throughout the entire season.