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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 1, 2010Dayne CristMichael FloydQ. Could you talk about Braxston Cave, and what he brings to the table? DAYNE CRIST: Braxston's done a great job in the spring and summer and through fall camp just competing every day. Football is the most important thing in the world to him. He's worked incredibly hard to try to obtain the starting spot, and he just comes to work every day. You know as a quarterback that you can trust a guy like that. He's doing the work away from here to make sure that he's the best position for that spot. He's been playing well so far. Q. What's he like in the weight room that we don't see? DAYNE CRIST: He's real tenacious. That is somewhere where he definitely shines and spends a lot of time obviously, and takes very seriously. He's one of the strongest guys on the team, so definitely pays off when he's on the field. Q. How excited are you to finally get this started? I can remember when Coach Kelly came in here and the place was packed, and we were all wondering what it's going to be like at this time. But now as you get close, what's it like? MICHAEL FLOYD: It's really exciting. I'm excited myself. Just getting everybody pumped up and ready to go, you know, just making sure we're all able to compete on Saturday. DAYNE CRIST: Yeah, it's really kind of becoming a real thing now. We've done a ton of preparation work and everything like that. It just seems like it was just yesterday that the new staff was coming in and everything like that. But I think everyone's just excited to get going and start the season off on the right foot. Q. Dayne, yesterday Coach was talking about how he can protect you in the play calling. What is your responsibility to avoid hits like that? DAYNE CRIST: I think taking hits is part of playing football. It's part of the game and it happens. I think talking about trying to avoid excessive hits and stuff like that, I think that falls a lot on my shoulders and making sure that we're in the right protection. I know where my hot throws are, and we're just putting our team in the best play possible on any given down. But, again, I will do what's asked of me. I'm not calling the plays. If I'm asked to run, I'm asked to run. If I'm not asked to do that, then so be it. But I'm doing whatever Coach Kelly asks of me. Q. It's been a while, are you looking forward to getting that first hit out of the way? DAYNE CRIST: Sure. It will be nice, but it's part of the game. It's not something that I'm really stressing about when I go to bed at night. But it's part of the game. It's what football's all about. Q. For both of you, you're obviously excited for your game Saturday. But how excited are you for college football in general to start back up again? MICHAEL FLOYD: Like I said, I'm really excited. I'm really excited for this year's team. We have a very good team, and I think we can do great things this year. You know, it's just going to be a very exciting year. DAYNE CRIST: I'm also very excited. For as much time that we put in here, it's also cool kind of watching your friends that play on other teams and things like that. College football in general is a very exciting time. My favorite time of the year by far. So it will be cool to get that whole atmosphere back going again. Q. Football players always talked about getting that first hit out of the way. But quarterbacks don't take the kind of hits that Michael and everybody else does during the preseason. What's that like? How much contact have you had in the preseason just being bumped? What's it like taking that first hit when you haven't really had one since probably Washington State? DAYNE CRIST: To answer your question, first off, in preseason I haven't been hit at all. That was just by the decision of Coach Kelly and everyone else. But it's kind of a similar situation to when I got my first real reps last year and not playing for basically two years before that. So I've kind of done it before and I guess anticipating your first big hit, but I've played in a game. I've taken a hit before, and I don't see anything being that much different taking my first hit as a starter. Q. I don't know what your personality is like exactly. What will your emotions be in the locker room prior to the game and on the field? DAYNE CRIST: It will definitely be an exciting time for me. It's a moment that I've waited for for a very long time. Something I've dreamed of since I was a little kid. But at the same time the quarterback position isn't really a position that you're getting too Jacked up before games. I just try to remain pretty calm and try not to get too high with the highs and too low with the lows. Q. For you, Michael, it's old hat going into your third year? How will you feel before the game? Do you have nerves generally? MICHAEL FLOYD: Not too much. You know, I'm just kind of a calm guy. But when it's time for the team to get up, you know, I'll get my whole team ready to go. Just whoever wants to be talking about the game, I'm the guy that has experience to tell them just how it is out on the field. Q. What are the tangible differences between catching passes from Dayne and catching passes from Jimmy Clausen? MICHAEL FLOYD: Not too big of a difference. They're both really smart guys and they make good decisions. So I'm happy with both of them. Dayne, especially, you know, this is a big year for him. We're just going to get it rolling. Q. What can you do to help him out as he begins his starting career? MICHAEL FLOYD: First of all, you know, running at the right depths of routes and just basically catching the ball for him. I think when quarterbacks see the ball is being caught, it just lets him keep his composure and makes him feel better in the pocket. Q. Would you guys be in favor of playing a preseason scrimmage against another school? If they allowed something like that, or does that just put you in another game of being at risk? DAYNE CRIST: I don't think so. I think we get a competitive look every day in practice with the guys that we have. We still go ones versus ones, and we maintain that game-like speed. I think it runs the risk of injury and things, especially like we're talking about with the scrimmage where the game's not that meaningful. Again, I think we're just excited for the ones that do mean something and that starts Saturday. Q. How do you feel about that, Michael? MICHAEL FLOYD: I feel the same way as Dayne. No reason for an extra game. I'm just ready for Purdue. Q. Building on the pregame and the emotions. What do you expect to hear from Coach Kelly on Saturday in the locker room before the game, and do pregame speeches really matter a whole lot? Does that carry a whole lot of weight once you go out on the field? DAYNE CRIST: I don't think anyone really knows what Coach Kelly's approach will be before the game. The closest we had to that was the spring game, but obviously that's a much more relaxed environment. I think it definitely affects some players more than others and definitely gets your guys going and your juices flowing a little bit. But it will be as much an emotional time for him and the rest of the coaching staff as it is for us being their first game in Notre Dame stadium and everything like that. But coaches always know the message that they want to relate to their team, and Coach Kelly is good at communicating a clear message. I don't think Saturday will be any different. Q. Michael, in your career, has the pregame speech meant a lot to you once you get out there? MICHAEL FLOYD: Just every coach has their own thing to say to the players or the teams. You know, I'm just kind of there listening and taking things in that will motivate us and the team. It doesn't really matter to me. Just keeps me kind of focused if something's said. Q. Dayne, I want to ask you about Tyler. He's getting a lot of reps with Kyle banged up during camp. What do you see from him and what kind of weapon does he give this offense? DAYNE CRIST: Tyler's done a great job for us, especially when Kyle was banged up through camp. For the system that we have in place, I think he's a great fit. He does a great job in receiving and is also a really tough kid and will put his hat in there and definitely block somebody as well. He's continuing to learn and get better and progress each day. You can honestly see that in him. I've got all the confidence in the world in him. If he's asked to be out there, I don't think we really miss a beat. Q. How is he specifically different from maybe the guy you're working with in March and April? DAYNE CRIST: I think that everyone just kind of has a different style to them. He does certain things different than Kyle. He does some things, you know that he's asked to do that maybe Kyle's not. But he's doing a great job of really just learning the system and making sure he's in the right place at the right time. Q. Talk about staying calm on Saturday and everything? Coach Kelly brought up yesterday how last Friday when you were at the stadium he felt the tightness within the group. Did you guys sense that? How have you tried to get your teammates more relaxed here this week as they get ready for obviously a very hyped game and big game? MICHAEL FLOYD: I don't know if we're really tight, but it was a practice, so, you know, it's totally different from the game. I know coaches don't like to hear that, but it's totally different. Everybody -- about being calm during the game, everybody has their own rituals of what they do before the game. So just staying calm for me. Personally, I just go through the routine, you know, school and then just get my mind focused for the game. DAYNE CRIST: I don't think there is too much worry about guys being ready to go on Saturday. That will not be an issue. I think guys, like Michael said, have their own style of getting ready. Some guys like music. Some guys don't. Some guys are really loud and jacked up. Some guys don't say a word. But, again, as a team and collectively, there is not a guy that won't be ready to go come kickoff on Saturday. Q. Can you talk a little about the Purdue defense and maybe some of the challenges they can pose? DAYNE CRIST: They're a very good defense now. They've got guys, you know, at every spot on the field really. That was really the one team that I got to study a lot last year in game preparation. They're really talented. They've got a great D-line. Their linebackers have all played and have some experience. Their secondary's good every year, so you really can't sit there and take an opponent lightly. We've got a lot of respect for them. We're just going to continue to prepare all week and figure out what we can do. Q. You've got a left tackle who hasn't played a game and he's got a tough assignment this week. What have you seen out of Zack that gives you confidence going in? DAYNE CRIST: He's consistent. Zack's incredibly consistent. He's been that way since he's been in the starting role. All spring he was consistent, in camp he was consistent. When you have that in your left tackle, it makes you feel pretty good. Q. Coach Kelly talks about how athletic he is. Have you seen him make a play or do something off the field that just shows you what a good athlete he is? DAYNE CRIST: Well, at that position it's almost better the plays that you don't see being made. Knowing that he's doing his job, you know, you don't have a lot of time to peak in during a play. But not knowing about him I guess means that he's doing well. Q. When you think about Theo going from running back to wide receiver and his development. How impressed are you with how quickly Theo has made the transition? And what do you believe he can add to the wide receiving corps? MICHAEL FLOYD: I think he can just add speed. That's what we need in the slot position is speed. I think he picked up a lot coming from running back to wide receiver but he's just an athlete. So you expect that out of guys that are athletes. Just to be able to switch positions and get the job done. Q. Did he click right away? Did it take him long to get comfortable? MICHAEL FLOYD: As a wide receiver in this system it's pretty hard to change from a different offense. So we all, you know, try to get the whole offense together. I think he picked up on it pretty well. Q. Outside of the blue-gold game, Cierre Wood is a guy we have not seen. From your standpoint, what do you think are his strengths? And is he does he have a different element maybe than the other three? DAYNE CRIST: I think all of the running backs we have in our system offer something different. They've got their own style. I guess, speaking specifically to Cierre, he's really good about making one cut and going. He's not a guy that's going to dance around. He reads his blocks really well and reads his keys real well. But, again, he's an explosive player. He can score on any given play. Again, it's a guy that you like having out there. Q. You mentioned Purdue and studying them. You've played against them. Does that help that your first career start goes against a team that you saw action against? DAYNE CRIST: Maybe. I won't know until Saturday. But I think it will be somewhat of a level of familiarity. But, again, their secondary's different than last year. Upfront they lost a guy or two, but I think that you just need to continue to study the most recent film and stuff like that. And we had them pretty early in the season, so they did some things differently toward the end of the season. So film study will continue to be a pretty big point of emphasis for me this week. I'm just excited to see how it translates in the game on Saturday. Q. I want to ask you about T.J. Jones. Did you kind of the same thing he's doing. Stepped into a big role as a freshman. How difficult or what kind of can you speak to about getting the chance to do that? And what have you seen out of him that reminds you of what you went through or you were able to do? MICHAEL FLOYD: I don't know. I think he's just a whole different type of receiver than me. You know, being kind of bigger and he's a little kind of smaller, quicker. But I mean I'm just trying to give him all the advice I can. Me being a junior now, I have a lot of experience playing and making sure he knows what he's doing out there. If he makes a mistake, it's on to the next play. So just making sure he stays focused. Q. What are the biggest challenges he will see or face as a freshman playing this season? MICHAEL FLOYD: I think going against, you know, when I was a freshman just upperclassmen's strength. How the defense rolls, and maybe looking at the defense and trying to read it. That was one of the hard things when I was a freshman. Q. I know Coach Kelly said media day, people turned their heads and they thought you were overrated and overhyped when they first met you then changed their opinion. Were you aware of that? Did he make you aware of that? And what did you do to try to change his mind on that? MICHAEL FLOYD: I think every coach, you know, has their own kind of feeling about every single player. You know, him telling me that he thought I was overrated kind of made me work harder, and that's what I did. I'm a guy that competes every single day. So him putting that in my mind motivates me more to want to play harder and get better. Q. In what ways do you think you're better this year than you were last year? MICHAEL FLOYD: They put a really big emphasis on me running routes, different routes. Making sure I could get all the routes and get in the right depths. End of FastScripts |
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