UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 23, 2023

Thomas Harper

Press Conference

Notre Dame - 14, Ohio State - 17

Q. Thomas, how are you guys going to go about watching the film from the last drive knowing that, A, it's going to hurt, B, you need to learn from it?

THOMAS HARPER: Yeah, definitely learn from it. I think -- just we got to execute, kind of like Rico said. I mean, we're going to learn from it and just get back to the drawing board. I mean, we still got a lot of season ahead of us and we can still do all the things that we hope to accomplish.

Q. And what's the coaches' message to you guys in the locker room after the game and what's your message to each other?

THOMAS HARPER: Kind of like what I just said. Like, at the end of the day, we made plays, they just made a little bit more plays at the end. But, I mean, like I said, we were there, we just didn't execute at the end.

Q. Thomas, I know that there's an L at the end of the night, but do you feel like there's any ways that your defense took a step forward tonight?

THOMAS HARPER: Definitely. I mean, I think we learned a lot. That was, like, the first real two-minute of the season that we had. So we learned a lot from that. And then just -- we played a lot of man coverage. So just -- I mean, just being able to see everything and just gaining that experience. So, I mean, I think we learned a lot from tonight.

Q. And then, you know, you've been asked a little bit about bouncing back. But you're one of the older guys on the team. You've been through a lot. What do you do to set an example that way? What would be your example?

THOMAS HARPER: Just keep my head up. Like I said, we still can accomplish everything that we set out to accomplish this season. And just keeping my head up and learning from the game, not getting discouraged or anything like that.

Q. Thomas, there were 10 players on the field, not only for the last play, but the play before that. Was there -- it seemed like you were on that side of the field where there's a defensive end missing. Was there any communication between those plays to identify that you guys were down a man or was that not obvious to you?

THOMAS HARPER: I mean, not really. I mean, everything was going fast. I'm trying to do my job, get the call. Like I said, that's something that we can't -- I mean, we got to do better. Like, we can't be down -- in that situation, we got to do better, players and coaches. So, I mean, like I said, we're going to learn from that and just -- yeah, I mean, learn from it and grow.

Q. Is it difficult in any way on that long third down play that they had to sort of make a tackle before they get a first -- either in the end zone or the touchdown? I don't -- what's the strategy for you on that play?

THOMAS HARPER: I mean, I just got to be better. We played a lot of man coverage. Coaches are relying on me to cover my guy. I just got to be better. I mean, yeah, I just got to be better.

Q. Can you just describe the gamut of emotions in the last minute or so? I mean, you think you win, and then the touchdown, the call reversed. It just seemed like everything froze in the stadium. What was it like being a part of it?

THOMAS HARPER: I mean, it's always fun being a part of a game like that. I mean, I think -- I mean, so many emotions were in play. I mean, like you said, thought we won, we just scored. We knew we were going to go back out there. There was a lot of emotions. And at the end of the day, we still got to do our job. We can't get too high or get too low. So, like I said -- like I keep saying, I just think we can learn from this. And then, you know, like I said, we can still accomplish all the things that we hope to accomplish as a team.