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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 29, 2010Dayne CristKyle RudolphQ. Kyle, what can you tell us about not being quite 100% coming in for Saturday? KYLE RUDOLPH: As far as me and my percentage (no microphone). Playing at Michigan State and coming right back, and at practice all week and then (no microphone). Staying on the sidelines when it's a little chilly takes a toll on a hamstring. But I feel very comfortable. And the thing that's we've done leading up until now and today and still got a couple more days to get better every day. (No microphone) I'm getting very comfortable (no microphone). Q. Dayne, whoever starts for B.C. this week at quarterback will be making his first start. Just wondered what are some of the things that that guy will have to go through in what will be his first home start? How would you relate it to your experience in your first home start? DAYNE CRIST: It will definitely be a situation where he'll have to have a great week of practice. Definitely have a different sense of urgency in practice. Definitely try and protect the ball and he's protecting the ball at all cost and taking what the defense gives you. Obviously, there are a lot of emotions going into that type of situation. I'm sure their coaches are talking them through it just like ours are kind of walking me through mine. Q. Do you feel like it's information overload? I mean, you're trying to protect the football and trying to do all the right things and trying to understand everything that's running. Does it just get to the point where it's like how in the world can I keep everything straight and keep my head about me? DAYNE CRIST: I think it's different for every person. It was unique to me, and it will be unique to whoever they decide to start. But it's one of those situations where you just have to keep an even keel and just do your best to make sure that you're making plays. You can't go out there and play scared, because when you start doing that is when you start making mistakes and doing things that you don't want to do. More than anything, you want to go out there and just play with the confidence and play with a swagger, and do what you do all week in practice. Q. What was your experience last week like with them dropping eight in the coverage? It must have been difficult looking at the coverage and not seeing what you want or what you feel you could work against? DAYNE CRIST: Yeah, I mean, it's frustrating. Any time that you're doing that. Just by nature of the scheme and by nature of the situation in the game with that happening to the point where you need to make up some points and it's frustrating as a quarterback. Now that we've worked this week and even the couple day that's we've spent looking at that we've got answers for it. We've got more answers than we did on Saturday, and it's something that we'll continue to improve upon and get better at. Q. I asked Coach Kelly this, and he concurred that that's probably the most valuable tape that you could ever look at, at least up to this point in your career. DAYNE CRIST: No, I would agree. Because at the end of the day, you know, teams can do so much with coverage and everything else like that. But at the end of the day that is really one of the more exotic looks you're going to get with the quarterback, with the exception of a few other things. Teams aren't going in playing predominantly drop 8, most teams would be crazy to do that. It's one of those things that I said we'll continue to have answers for when teams go to it in the middle of the game or go to it in the middle of a play that it's not shaking everybody up, and we can continue to move the ball and be efficient on offense. Q. How prepared were you for that based upon what you had practiced against? That isn't something you normally practice against, I take it. DAYNE CRIST: Right, and like I said, teams don't live in that world, really. You're not getting a great majority of those snaps unless, like I said, the situation calls for it within the game and within the score and everything like that. So if a team wants to go out and start the game and drop 8, we're going to run for 300 yards. It's one of those things where it's more ave situational thing and something I think I was able to mature with a little bit and understanding that situation. Now coming back after talking with Coach Kelly and watching tape with him and doing what we need to do to correct our problems that we had with it, now it will be one of the situations where like I said we've got answers. Q. For both of you, starting with you, Kyle, you guys have played number nine, all of your three last opponents are ranked Stanford 9th, and Michigan 19th, and Michigan State 24th. Most guys say they like playing that schedule, but is there any degree of envy when you see some of the other teams opening two of the first three games against Division I-AA or some lesser teams in the conference? KYLE RUDOLPH: Not really. I mean, that's why we come here. We come here to play. We come here to play the best teams in the country. You know, three or four weeks before conference play, and you play 1AA teams and MAC teams and stuff like that that some of these other schools are playing against. With us, we're going to play the best week-in and week-out. And we're going to get the best from the people that we play week-in and week-out simply because we're Notre Dame. And that is something that is the reason we came here, and what we look forward to our schedule. DAYNE CRIST: A lot of people look at that and are skeptical especially with the timing and the things on the schedule and that. As a team, we try to use that to our advantage. That's got to be something that we look to just thrive in in those type of games and situations. We need to use that to our advantage to make sure that we're having a successful season the rest of the way, and we're getting up for every game we play. Like Kyle said, no matter what the team's ranked, regardless of the situation, we're going to get a team's best every week. And that's how it's been since we've been here, and guys are well aware of that. So that's something that we need to exploit and make sure we take into account every game. Q. Do you think that when you open with teams from the major conferences, that it accelerates your progress? DAYNE CRIST: Yeah, I mean, I think so because you don't get great progress playing against lesser opponents. You get better when you're playing at your best against the best. That's how it seems to be, and that's what it will continue to be. Like I said, more than anything, we just need to use the whole scheduling deal to our advantage and make the most of it. Q. Talking to Coach Molnar yesterday he said there were some opportunities for you to run instead of hanging in the pocket but it was against your natural instinct. How do you break that and look to take advantage of those opportunities? DAYNE CRIST: That's something that you incorporate in practice. Again, there is a lot more that goes into it. There is so much on your mind on any given play and within a play it's not like there was any point where I was fighting against it. It's just I needed to do a better job of identifying when it presents itself and things like that. But I think that will come with experience and through game plan and everything like that. Q. Sunday, Coach Kelly said that he didn't think that you looked very comfortable running the ball against Michigan State. Did you feel uncomfortable at all against Michigan State? DAYNE CRIST: No, I didn't have a whole lot of runs dialed up in that game. So, no, I wasn't uncomfortable. I mean, again, I'll do what I'm asked to do. It's one of those situations where, again, I have no problem doing whatever is asked of me. Q. Kyle, being on the line, this is more for you. But it's something that Dayne commented on. Guys are going to drop so many guys back in coverage, and then you're going to run for 300 yards. But last week you guys ran for 44 against that. What was the problem in running the ball last week? KYLE RUDOLPH: I feel like when Dayne was talking about running for 300 yards and he mentioned a team coming out and dropping eight at the beginning of the game, I mean, that last week we put ourselves in a situation where we were playing catch-up and running the ball wasn't really an option for us. We needed to score points, and we needed to score quick to get back in the game. For me, personally, I feel like our running game is the best it's been since I've been here. I feel like we have great running backs and we have great guys up front that are able to make holds. Like Dayne said before, if we convert on the red zone on our first two trips and it's 14-3 or 14-7, then they can't drop eight and they have to respect our run game because we've showed it in the three weeks prior to that we can run the football. Q. I know you guys aren't trainers, but Armando and Jonas were nicked up in the game the other day. Have they looked okay in practice so far? KYLE RUDOLPH: Yeah, I think that's part of being a running back. They're the ones taking the majority of the hits. And you're going to get nicks here and there. That is something that those guys deal with on a weekly basis. Q. Lastly for you, Kyle. You had one catch for one yard, which is mind boggling for somebody of your stature and ability. You're regarded as one of the best tight ends in the country. What was the problem last week? DAYNE CRIST: Like we said before, they were able to drop eight guys. When you can have eight guys cover, at the most, five wide receivers, it creates a lot of problems for us down the field. And they had a great scheme and they executed it very well. Q. John Goodman became more involved in the offense. And Coach said last week in practice things started to click more and he was able to finish more. What changes have you seen in John? DAYNE CRIST: Not so much any changes in particular. He's just making steady improvement. He's a guy that you can count on as a quarterback. He's very reliable. He gets the proper depth on all of his routes. He knows what he's doing. So there was no drastic change or light bulb that clicked. He's just making steady improvement. I'm not surprised by it, but I'm happy he's out there and contributing, and we'll just continue to expect more out of him. But I think that's what he wants as well, so it's a good situation for him. Q. Kyle, how far off 100% were you last week? Was it a play or something that just flared up in practice? KYLE RUDOLPH: Kind of a little bit on my one catch. Just trying to break the tackle, I pulled my leg through. It was just something I couldn't get going. Whether it was reaggravating it, the weather, we did everything we could from a medicine standpoint with the trainers to get it warmed up and get it loosened up. And it was something that just nagged for the whole day. Q. How off 100% were you, do you think? KYLE RUDOLPH: I don't know. I don't have a percentage. I wasn't myself, I'll tell you that. Q. Dayne, B.C. has made a living defensively. Talk about their scheme and the looks they gave you and how important it is to be patient and just take the short stuff when it's there again? DAYNE CRIST: B.C.'s defense is a very disciplined defense similar in discipline to how Stanford played. They have smart guys on defense, and they're all very aware of where the holes are in the defense and what the strengths and weaknesses of their defense are. If they're going to go, we don't know what they're going to play against us, because we present a little bit different match-up problem than some of the teams they've played. So it's very important to take what they give you in this game. If they're going to play a lot of coverage and play often, we have to live underneath the coverage. If they want to come up and be a little more aggressive in their coverage, we have to exploit those areas, too. But it will be a you-check, we-check type deal throughout the course of the game. Again, with how games go and as I'm learning more and more each week, there are so many adjustments made throughout the course of the game. That really if you're going with the game plan, you practice it all week, it could be nothing like what you see in the game or dead on. So we could go either way on this one. But we just have to be prepared for everything and be patient as an offense in general and just go and play our game and play aggressively. Q. In regards to you run the ball a little bit more, Coach Kelly said there's going to come a time we're not going to protect Dayne from hits. We've got to put him out there and run. In the last few weeks has there been a mandate to, hey, let's make sure running is the third or fourth option, not the first or second? DAYNE CRIST: It was never like a conversation that we had. But, I did notice that some of the play calls in which I'd be asked to run went down substantially in the past couple games. Again, I understand if that's the reasoning for it. But we've never had that conversation, and I'm 100% comfortable doing whatever I'm asked to do in the run game or in the pass game for that matter. So if it presents a situation where I need to pull the ball down and run on a box play, I have no problem doing that either. Just, again, the situation really hasn't presented itself a whole bunch in the last couple games. Q. Lastly, watching the tape of Stanford, when you pop that in, do you see receivers running open that you didn't see at the time? How valuable is that, and how frustrating is that? DAYNE CRIST: Well, every game you're going to look back and there are always two to three throws that you say, man, I wish I had that one back. And that's just how it is every game since I've played, and even in high school it was the same way. But it's frustrating watching some film and then particular plays where on the flip side you're watching it and it's like wow, there is literally no one open. Or, okay, man, I see that guy now. But that is a valuable tape that we'll continue to study. But that will actually be more so or more valuable in the off-season because right now we've got to focus on B.C. and what they do. In years past, they've dropped in on us too. So we know they have it in their arsenal. But, again, we've got to focus what they do for the most part and what they major in as opposed to certain situations in the game that could arise. Q. Just in game situation last week when a defense is throwing, you use the term exotic or something a little bit different. When you get into a flow, do you almost kind of stop trusting what you're seeing? You're not completely sure what's happening down field? Do you just get a little uncertain? DAYNE CRIST: Well, it's something they do because it's going to surprise you a little bit. But the key there is just the communication that I have with Coach Kelly, and Coach Kelly has with Coach Molnar, and I have with Coach Molnar because we're all seeing it from three different angles. So it's important to have that communication with the coaches and the receivers. As we're coming off the field, what are you seeing, what am I seeing? Making sure everyone's on the same page. The quicker that gets identified and the better we get at that, the less effective that stuff becomes. Q. Just a follow-up, talking about reviewing the tape of last game. Coach Kelly said it was a great learning experience beyond the completions and incompletions, but also in terms of learning leadership and body language. When you watched the tape, what did you see of your body language? And did you talk to him about that? DAYNE CRIST: Yeah, we've had that conversation. From what I gathered from the conversation we just talked about being able to wear stuff on my sleeve a little bit more. Not so much like, oh, that was bad body language, but I do a pretty -- I like to say I do a pretty good job of keeping an even keel throughout the course of the game and not getting too high with the highs and too low with the lows. He explained to me there are certain times when you've got to wear stuff on your sleeve a little bit more. And it's okay to respond negatively and be upset about certain things. So that is something that I'll definitely try to incorporate as well. You know, it's one of those things where he said 99% of the game we want you to be cool and calm like you've been doing. And there are certain times when you can go out and wear it on your sleeve a little bit more. So that will come. I'm not real worried about that. And then, again, with the leadership thing we just talked that it's really easy to lead when things are going well and you're winning and the offense is clicking. But making sure that you're continuing to be a leader when things aren't going so well. But we talked about it. There was no negativity going into the conversation. We just talked and that's what we do, and we'll move forward from it. Q. (No microphone)? DAYNE CRIST: No, not necessarily that. But if things aren't going well, showing guys that I'm upset and letting guys see that I'm upset. Again, it just goes back to leading by example and showing guy that's it's not okay. Not necessarily saying it, but showing it through body language. Q. I don't know if you were in the room when Harrison was kind of expounding on the whole winning-losing, feeling like life and death thing before. But he said it sort of feels like you guys are dying with every loss. That is not necessarily something that's been at least vocalized here over the past few years. Is that a new feeling that's kind of settled in, amplified from where it was in years past in terms of how you take losses and go from there? KYLE RUDOLPH: For me, personally, I hate losing. I've hated losing since I started playing sports. I was the kind of kid that wouldn't talk to my parents after I lost when I was a little kid. It's just the way I am. It's the way I've been raised. That's continued on to here. I feel like that's something that kind of has resonated throughout our team. Losing is not okay by any means. When you are in the locker room after a loss, you can really see on people's faces. Just looking around, the disappointment and the distress that they have, because you put so much time and effort into this and it's something that we've been working towards all off-season and then through fall camp and each week. We've put so much time and effort in together to go out there and play the best we can and win. And when you come up on the short end, it doesn't feel very good. DAYNE CRIST: I'll never question anyone that's ever played here or guys that have played here before. But all I know is I can speak for the guys now and just know how much it means to the people in the locker room. Like Kyle was saying, you can see it on guys' faces. You can see the hurt that lingers after a game, and all the guys are like that, really. But by the same token, guys are also -- we realize that we're right there. You know, it's one of those things where guys aren't coming back to practice on Tuesday still drooping over a loss. Guys are coming back battling on a Tuesday. We had a great day of practice yesterday. As soon as you're done with a loss, the first thing you want to do is go play. As soon as the clock hits zero, it's when do I get to play next? It's the first thing you want to do is get it out of you and go get a win. I think that's how guys are responding. I'm definitely proud of how guys are responding, but we need to make sure that we understand what that feels like, and we don't want to feel like that anymore. Q. Could you testify for the seniors? Just they've gone through so much, and a guy like Jimmy and Golden, they move on and they're having great times. But the guys that have stayed the course, and even some of the guys that aren't playing so much, but just their leadership and what they've shown to you guys as underclassmen? DAYNE CRIST: Well, as seniors you're always going to see a great sense of urgency from those guys. They realize their time is limited here. Again, it comes down to just how much it means to everybody. Like I said a whole bunch before, everyone cares greatly for what they're doing. Guys come to work every day and just really just go as hard as they can. They're able to lead because they've got the experience of being here and understanding sometimes where things didn't go so well, and they understand the pain of losing and they don't want to feel that. That's kind of where it resonates throughout the rest of the team, and that's kind of where we're at right now. End of FastScripts |
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