UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 23, 2023

JD Bertrand

Press Conference

Notre Dame - 14, Ohio State - 17

Q. How do you guys bounce back from this emotionally? What was it like in the locker room after the game?

JD BERTRAND: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is we know we have a lot of season left. We know he got to learn from our mistakes. We got to go in tomorrow, be better than we were this past week in preparation. And make that sure we, as leaders, lead take a big step in leadership and make sure that we get down -- get every detail down.

Q. JD, on the last play, the touchdown play, the replays have shown that you had 10 on the field and Coach Freeman agreed with that. Were you aware of that, that you guys were playing a man short at that moment? I know it all happened fast and was there any sense in calling a time-out at the moment?

JD BERTRAND: No, not at the time, I didn't know. And time-outs aren't for us. I mean, for us, it's just the little details and the communication piece and make sure that we got our personnel groups and packages correct. And, I mean, that goes back to the little details off the field, too. We can't let them seek into all the stuff on the field. And so, that's going to be a big emphasis this week.

Q. And details, obviously, you guys watch as much film as anybody, but that's twice this year, the Tennessee State game, as well, where 10 men are on the field in the red zone. I mean, how inexplicable is that and how frustrating is it for a group that prepares the way you do?

JD BERTRAND: I mean, it's obviously frustrating. But it goes back to the details and making sure the communication piece every single detail from communication to signal to, once again, the stuff off the field, making sure we're doing all that stuff perfectly.

Q. JD, with the run defense tonight, like, what worked throughout but also, like, what was misfit or didn't happen on the big TD run?

JD BERTRAND: Yeah. I mean, it's kind of hard to talk about as a whole. I got to go back and see it. And, obviously, these plays start to mesh together. On the touchdown run, we just got to make sure we set vertical and make sure they can't circle our defense and that's something we'll make sure we emphasize.

At the end of the day, just make sure we get hats to the ball. And if we're making sure every single dude's running to the ball, like, we'll go back and see that on film if theres a change we could get it down.

Q. Marcus, when he was in here, he talked -- he wished you guys could have got more pressure on McCord than you did. But how much of an emphasis was that in the game plan? Was it just sort of containing him? And what did Ohio State do to start keeping him somewhat clean?

JD BERTRAND: Yeah, it's always going to be an emphasis. We felt like we needed to keep him in the pocket and then bring the pressure. We didn't get it as much as we hoped. And so, when we go back to the film, we just got to see why that is and then execute off of that.