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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 30, 2006Brady QuinnTom ZbikowskiQ. Tom, what are your impressions of Calvin Johnson? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: He's big and physical. He reminds me a lot of Stoval with his height and size and the way he likes to throw defensive backs around, so obviously it's going to be challenging physically. He's fast and he's one of the best receivers in the country. How are we planning on covering? You're going to have to watch Saturday. I can't tell you now. But the challenge for us is who we'll be going weekly against. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: I think training camp was a big thing. I'm working on things that our improvement that we need to work on with the fundamentals and things like that. Once you get ready for game week, you have to be ready for players like Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson because those are the two main guys on offense. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSWKI: Well, compared to Calvin there aren't too many receivers that will match up. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: With the type of quarterback like that, obviously you get him running. You saw it in the Bowl game; it would be 3rd and 8, 3rd and 9, we'd stop him on 1st or 2nd down, but he'd find a way to scramble, either throwing for the 1st down or running for the 1st down. We've got to be on our toes, and hopefully the speed improvements that we made and the lineback with Travis coming over is going to pay off for us. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Definitely. When you have a showing of 617 yards, you want to come back. Q. Let's just talk about, he loves going on the road, and I know you've said in the past you love going on the road. What does that atmosphere create going on the road? You guys are 5 and 0 in regular season games. TOM ZBIKOWSKI: It's really a business trip. It sounds crazy going on the road that there's less distractions, but when we're at home we have pep rallies on Friday, you've got family coming in, you've got ticket requests and things like that. I know people from the southeast are going to have a lot of requests, but for the majority of the team, we're going down there and we've got one thing in mind, and it's beat Georgia Tech, come away with the win. With the home games there's more distractions, so being isolated in the hotel and getting ready for games. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Yeah, I definitely watch. ESPN loves to talk about how bad our defense is, so it should be a good opportunity to prove them wrong. Q. Has Coach been talking about that in your locker room? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: We saw the video clip from Game Day with those guys talking about our defense, how good the offense is, how bad the defense is. Once again, I was watching it live, so I wasn't too happy for the rest of the day. We'll be ready to go, though. Q. What's made you confident that you are a better team defensively? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Going against our offense every day in camp and making plays, making plays against them. Any time you make plays against receivers like Samardzija and McKnight, make plays against the quarterback, Quinn, obviously your confidence is going to be raised, it's going to be heightened, and when you're flying around and having fun and playing, and obviously we have a chip on our shoulder because we have a lot to prove and we're definitely in the media a lot. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: I definitely do. I don't think speed was a problem. A lot of people have speed, but I think our biggest thing is playing fast and really knowing the game plan. It's on the players to really understand the game plan. The coaches give us the game plan. Now we've had two weeks to get ready, we have to know it like the back of our hand and we'll be able to play faster. That's where team speed comes in. I don't think it's whether one individual is faster than another, it's whether we know what we're doing and can play fast. Q. Where do you think you're a better player than last year? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: I'm trying to make improvements in all aspects, but I think working with Coach Lewis and just making sure my patience with play action and stuff like that, I love hitting and stopping the run, but also knowing I've got to read any keys and making sure I'm making the right decisions on being aggressive or whether to get ready for some pass coverage, so I think I've definitely improved in that area. Q. Can you comment on Walls and McNeil the freshmen? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Very talented. I think they're going to be probably in the top of the country in a couple years. I think right now they're going to give us some help on special teams in defensive situations, but they've got a lot of talent, and they're going to be very good in the future. Q. You talked about playing faster, but with a guy like Reggie Ball who can scramble and throw on the run so well, does that slow you down because you're not really sure what he's going to do with the ball? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Not really. It really comes down to our fundamentals, but really you've got to do your job. Whoever has got containment has got to make sure they have containment on a type of player like that because once you get down to containment that's where you don't know what he's going to do. As long as you keep him in the pocket and not let him scramble you're able to play fast. Q. In practices during this fall camp, how much has Charlie broken you down with the 617 yards given up and how much has he tried to build up the confidence of this team and kind of say, this is a different year, don't worry about it? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: We heard it quite a bit, 617. But also, he knows it's in the media all the time talking about our defense. I think he's kind of put it on the table and kind of challenged us with what's being said in the media and stuff like that. I think that's a way that -- I don't want to say -- it builds your confidence in a weird kind of way just hearing that because it puts a chip on your shoulder just knowing that we have a lot to prove and the only way to prove it is not through words but through actions on the field. Q. With the Game Day thing, was that something from this year? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: It was from this year. Q. From a preview? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Yeah, it was a couple days ago. I forgot what day it was, but it was a couple days ago. I was watching it in the locker room. Q. Bill Lewis, does he talk much about his experiences in Atlanta and with Georgia Tech? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Not really. I know just reading from media guides and stuff like that that he's had experience at Georgia Tech. I know he brought it up that he used to be there, kind of more just what they expect weather-wise, it's going to be hot down there, going to be humid down there, but not really much of his coaching experience down there, not really stories or anything like that. He's just getting us ready for the game, and we talk about that. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: I think there's a few in the locker room. I was zoned in on the TV. My blood pressure was getting high and I was just starting to sweat. Q. With that kind of stuff, you've heard it all last year, as well. Did the novelty of that motivation wear off? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: This is the third straight year. I've been playing the defensive backfield where the defensive backs were going to be the low point of the team, so obviously it's not too fun where you have a chance to do something special, be a good team, and you're kind of -- I don't want to say the lowest part of the team, but you're kind of looked upon as not up to par to the offense and the receivers and stuff like that. So it gets old, but like I said before, we've got to keep the chip on our shoulder and play the way we can play. Q. You mentioned Ohio State earlier. What did you learn? What did you guys not do? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: I think watching film even before the Ohio State game and watching film on Reggie Ball, the play is not over until the whistle blows and the play is dead. There's plays where he looks like he's going to be down and tackled and somehow they escape and scramble; they're elusive like that. You've got to make sure you're playing until you see him on the ground or until you see the ball thrown. You've got to make sure you're playing until the whistle has blown. Q. Do you think guys maybe didn't do that last year? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: They didn't do that, but just looking back, there was plays on 3rd down where containment was lost and we picked up on what was going on, whether it was breakdown in coverage, but those things will be fixed coming up in this game on Saturday. Q. (No microphone.) TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Yeah, I think there's a few more plays made this year compared to the defensive pass. I think a lot of it has to do with the experience now that we have on defense, also. I don't want to say that we were struggling last year, but I think there's definitely been improvement from last year. Q. With all the stuff you talked about the with the secondary, how important is it that all four of you guys are back this year? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: The communication is a lot easier because now we look at different situations, down and distance or what kind of personnel the offense has or formations. We know kind of our signals, our body language. There's better chemistry than we had last year. Q. I know you said you guys think that you were fast enough last year, but I did read that you guys took some steps, including you personally, went to that Cris Carter camp, right? What was that like, and what did you do in particular? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Well, I was down in Miami so I kind of looked up if there was anything I could keep doing for football, and Cris Carter has a place down there, so I just started training down there. There was a bunch of college kids down there from -- a couple from Georgia, Florida, Miami, so just getting a chance to match up speed with them and seeing what they're doing to get ready for their season. It was pretty much five days a week of strength training, speed training, agility and stuff like that. Q. Was there a particular speed or agility drill that you liked or was interesting, something you hadn't really tried before? TOM ZBIKOWSKI: Not really. It was just most of the workouts, the way they put the workouts together. A lot of it had to do with explosive movements, jumping in verticals, which is what I needed to work on. Q. (No microphone.) BRADY QUINN: I think the biggest thing is they get up for those games. You can tell by watching film the way they play against teams like Miami and Auburn. Obviously they're excited, they're up for the challenge, and they seem to play at a higher level. I think that's obviously one of the problems we face coming into this game. Q. (No microphone.) BRADY QUINN: Yeah, it's been a long time, and you're going to have a bitter taste in your mouth any time you think about the last game you played. I'm ready to move on. I think the whole team is ready to move on at this point, and we're just excited for Saturday to finally get here. Q. Coach Weis is talking about you guys doing a good job of making this a business trip. He mentioned that you kind of set the tone. Do you like that, going on the road? BRADY QUINN: Yeah, it's a cool thing to be able to go someplace where everyone hates you. It's pretty opposite from here. Everyone is kind of against you and you feel like your back is against the wall. It's very contrasting feeling compared to what it's like here, so it's kind of nice to mix it up and get a sense of what the real world is like out there. Q. You go against the defense every day. What do you see? BRADY QUINN: The biggest thing is they've improved across the board dramatically. I would say this camp didn't feel as if it was a better camp for us offensively just because of the improvements they've made. When we were going against them the entire time, you really could see how much better they've gotten over the past year. Across the board, really there's not one specific area that you can pick out that stands out more than any other, just because they've all improved so much and really created a problem for us, where it's been challenging many times in camp, and we've had our good days and they've had their good days, and it's almost been a wash for the most part. Q. Charlie talked yesterday about Jon Tenuta, the defensive coordinator, and his scheme is so good. What is it about his scheme that really stands out to you? BRADY QUINN: He finds a way of putting pressure on the quarterback and consistently not really letting up. Their defense seems like they play at a high level of intensity and energy, and you see that obviously when they're bringing blitzes 75 percent of the time. I think that creates a lot of problems for an offense, just the fact that you've got to be ready for anything at any point in time in the game. Q. Does it remind you of a defense that you've played before in your career? BRADY QUINN: I don't know yet. I guess I could tell you after Saturday. It's tough just watching film. Obviously there's some players that aren't coming back, being the first game of the season, so it's tough to really compare them to anyone else at this point. Q. Remind me next week to ask you that question. BRADY QUINN: All right. Q. Tommy was in here talking about the fact that game day was kind of dissing their defense the other day. Do you stay away from watching those shows because they're going to be saying nice things about you? Do you try to turn that stuff off? BRADY QUINN: Either way, when it's nice things or bad things, I don't think you can take a whole lot out of that, other than really I guess you can use it as motivation in some ways. But like I said, if you're going to say positive things, you don't want to let stuff go to your head and get a big head about it. I try to stay away from that stuff as much as I can because when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter in the overall effect of the game. Q. I asked Coach Weis the other day about a visit he made when he was not the head coach here yet, and he told me the things that he told you. At that time did you take his advice? Do you remember what he said to you? Did it have any impact on you? BRADY QUINN: Without a doubt. Everything he said was so, you know, I guess dead on as far as what our team needed, but it's hard to implement that as one guy hearing it from Coach Weis and trying to spread it around the rest of the team. It really took his impact, his hands-on approach to change this team and get us in the right mindset and attitude. Q. Coach Crabtree thought one of the things that helped you become what you are right now, a Heisman candidate, was a rough freshman year. Can you talk about the lessons you learned freshman year that have helped you? BRADY QUINN: It's funny, that was probably the first time in my life where I really faced a time where I wasn't really successful in this sport. You grow up being on these different all-star teams, high school teams and are able to accomplish certain goals, but freshman year coming into it, we had high expectations coming off that 10 and 3 season before and obviously it didn't amount to much. So at that point in time I think I really learned to deal with criticism. I think I learned how to push myself further and kind of stay away from everything else that you hear when you're watching TV or reading different papers or magazines. I just tried to keep my head out of it during all the bad times, and it's continued even during all the good times. Q. Leading up to a game like an hour before the game, are you one of those guys that gets fired up or do you stay calm? A. I try to stay calm and loose. That's more my demeanor. That's more how I need to get in a mental state before a game. Even during the game, I think it's hard for a quarterback a lot of times to get too up or too down, otherwise it's sending a bad message to the team. I think as long as you're calm and cool throughout the game and you're taking it as a business approach and you don't really let anything affect you, at least at the quarterback position, that's what's necessary in order for you to keep your team in the right psyche. Q. Has there ever been a situation in your mind where you would get excited on the field, though? BRADY QUINN: I think my freshman and sophomore year, more my freshman year, I think I used a motion to just try to get guys fired up and try to get myself fired up or put myself in the right mental state, but that was also something that I didn't find helped me very much at all. If anything, I think it more or less just distracted me from what I was trying to do out there on the field. I'd say probably my freshman year and maybe a little bit in my sophomore year that was something that I obviously did and it didn't work out for the best for me. Q. Are you anticipating this Saturday much or are you just all business? BRADY QUINN: All business. That's how you've got to treat this type of game and definitely this type of trip. Q. You were talking before about Georgia Tech and the way they rush. Have you been able to get accurate information? BRADY QUINN: One of the good things about having a freshman class come in like ours and having some talent from the past couple years, obviously we're still going to have a ton of players down there giving you solid looks, and one of the biggest things that's been going on the past couple weeks is really just our scout team giving us great effort, continually starting to put on a good rush. We've been pretty pleased with what we've been able to see and some realistic looks that we thought were close to game speed. Obviously you can't completely mirror a game or try to get it up to game speed, but you can get pretty close. Q. Is it a lot different than last year, a difference in the freshman class? BRADY QUINN: I wouldn't say there's a big difference. I guess I would have to say the difference is in the fact that they've been through it a year. I think obviously some of these guys understand what's expected of them, and especially for our coaches who are relaying the message to them, hey, there's going to be a few guys taken from the scout team, so your effort and everything you're doing out here isn't going to go unnoticed. As long as you make sure you're putting forth the right effort and trying to make plays and do some positive things on the defensive scout team, you're obviously going to possibly get a trip down there to Atlanta. Q. When the season ended last year, what aspects of your game would you say needed to improve for you to be better next year? BRADY QUINN: I think if you look back, obviously we were pretty efficient in the red zone, but you're never as efficient as you'd like to be, especially in the Fiesta Bowl. We wanted to score a touchdown every time we were in the red zone. That obviously didn't pan out. Things like that obviously can end up being the difference in a game. Obviously 3rd down conversions, I think nationally we were probably ranked pretty high but it's not good enough. Any time you're below 50 percent you're not good enough, and I think this year our goal is around 60 percent. Hopefully we can keep improving, keep moving the chains, stay out there on the field. Those are more or less a couple of things that stuck out to me as far as offensively. Q. What is it about Coach Weis and his play calling that keeps you guys a step ahead? Can you continue to stay a step ahead? BRADY QUINN: No. I mean, the thing that he does, it's not just talking about 3rd down. It's 1st down, 2nd down, your goals on each of those, and then the different situations throughout a game in which you get put in certain down and distances where he's able to tell you, hey, this is what I'm thinking. This is what we're going to try to do. It allows us to understand his way of thinking so we know what our objective is, we know what we're trying to accomplish through this play. If a big play happens, more power, everyone is excited. But we're trying to get a positive here, a positive there, and if you're a yard short, for example, the chances of you getting that are much greater than a 3rd and 8 plus. Q. Just curious, how is preparing for an opener maybe different as you settle into your routine through the regular season? BRADY QUINN: I mean, it's funny because I don't want to say there's more film to watch because obviously as the season wears on then you're going to watch past games from this season, but you're looking at all kinds of different film, from last year, the whole entire season, just different things you're trying to pick up on. It's tough because you've got to prepare yourself for any type of situation. You don't really know what they've done in the off season to maybe tweak their defense, maybe have a special look that they feel they can affect you with. Q. Does that make it tougher to prepare for an opener, just that unknown factor? BRADY QUINN: I think so. I think you're given more time to prepare for an opener, but at the same point in time you're giving yourself a lot of different -- I guess possibilities of what you may be confronted with. So in saying that, I guess your play book or game plan for this week is going to be that much bigger, that much thicker. I probably have four different wristbands on my wrist this week as far as looking at what play calls I might want to call. Q. With everything Samardzija did this summer, he comes back in fantastic shape. What does that say about him to do what he did this summer and be in the kind of shape he is? BRADY QUINN: Obviously he's extremely driven. Anyone who's able to go out and play professional baseball, which is one totally different type of conditioning and then play football and be completely in shape -- I was running with him the day he came back and we had our conditioning, he was dead on. He didn't skip a beat. It was funny because we threw later on that day, the same thing; it was almost like he had never left. Really seeing him being able to maintain everything that he, I guess, left the field with in the spring and come right back with it in the summer after pitching for so many months or so many weeks is amazing. It's just a tribute to how driven he is, how he's able to focus on the things that matter most and really push all the rest aside. Q. The idea that he would start with no touchdowns to 15 last year, in good condition, keep going for another season? BRADY QUINN: Without a doubt. I think especially with his offense and the personnel that we have, the sky is the limit for everyone, whether it be Darius Walker, John Carlson, Marcus Freeman, Rhema McKnight, whoever. Obviously the ball is spread around enough where I think a lot of people have a great opportunity to do something special. Q. At some point is there going to be a favorite to you? BRADY QUINN: No. I mean, I wouldn't say that's ever been the case. That's something that I think Coach Weis has definitely engrained into our minds. It's not about who's getting the ball this play or who's getting the ball the most; it's about the end result and that's getting a win. I think when you look at the type of approach that our team really takes to each play, each situation, it's more or less just get the job done, get that victory and whatever it is. Q. How much are you looking forward to the season? You talked about great memories from high school. Here you are a senior at Notre Dame and so many great things could happen and it hasn't even started yet. BRADY QUINN: Yeah, there's obviously a lot of anticipation. I'm just trying to stay calm, because again, you don't want to let your emotions play a huge part in it, but at the same time this is everything you've been working for. This is kind of the climax of your senior year and your college career. I guess more than anything else, I'm just excited to finally get it started, finally see how things are going to be, how this offense is going to stand against a tough test like Georgia Tech. Q. Do you look at the game and think maybe it could set the table? BRADY QUINN: I wouldn't want to place -- I wouldn't want to say that -- I don't know, I guess a game is going to set the table for us. I'll tell you right now it's our most important game of the season at this point. That's the approach we're taking to it right now but I don't think you can say anything more about it at this point in time.
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