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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 13, 2010Kapron Lewis-MooreHarrison SmithQ. Can you talk about the success you've had playing defense in the red zone this season, and to what do you attribute that? HARRISON SMITH: Really I think it started you know when the staff came in and throughout workouts, you know, doing an extra sprint here or there, just when coach says a sudden change and you all run out there and it's just like when -- you have to throw in an extra rep or something, it's that mind-set that you have to turn it up an extra notch and when we get into the red zone, it's time to turn the intensity up and make sure they don't get a touchdown. KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: Being in the zone, it is a mind-set, like this team is not going to score, no matter if they have a long drive going, our ultimate goal is to not let the other team score. So just like Harrison said, going in this summer, starting with the coaching staff, just assume that this was early, you know, being in the red zone is a mind-set defensively. Q. Kap, can you talk about the confidence with three straight wins cheek? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: I think the confidence is building and rolling over Boston College and Pittsburgh, that got our confidence going good, you know, going into this next game and everything, but you know, like any team, there's always room for improvement and we have got to watch them and correct our mistakes and get that confidence rolling. Q. Harrison, can you talk about that confidence level increasing? HARRISON SMITH: Yeah, just like Kap said, once you get a couple of wins and you start seeing yourself making more plays, everybody is just coming together, we kind of just, you know, let's you know that everybody on the team can make plays. And then you know, at the same time, there's a lot of corrections to be made so when you get wins and you still have all of those corrections, even though you did things wrong, you have confident that you can improve that much more. Q. Have you made sure there's not a letdown against Western Michigan? HARRISON SMITH: We are going to approach this week just like any other week. There's no reason not to. We are not 6-0 and the No. 1 team in the country. We just didn't have the -- we don't have -- we are not at that place yet to where we can just roll in to teams that we play. KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: It's just like Harrison said, we can't take Western Michigan lightly or anything like that. Nothing is going to stage change on the coaching staff and nothing is going to change on our defensive team or anything like that, we are going to approach Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday just like we do any other team. Q. And talk about Carter and being a dual threat and problems he can pose for you guys? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: He's a tough kid. He's not scared to take a hit. Watching film, this guy is not like any other quarterback, he's looking for that extra yard and he's a tough kid. He makes some pretty good throws and he has some dynamic receivers that are pretty good and I think it's going to be a great challenge for us this week? HARRISON SMITH: He's definitely a competitor and you can see that in just the way that he plays, fighting for every yard that he gets, you see a lot of quarterbacks run out of bounds and he's not like that. You know, so he'll fight for the extra yard and he'll put it up for his receivers to make plays. He's a great competitor? Q. Harrison, Coach Kelly was in here yesterday messengering your leadership and how that's been an evolution for you in the last six or seven months since you've got here, is this a comfort level, understanding the defense, being a senior? What would you point to? HARRISON SMITH: I would say probably all of those things. You know, that I've been here more than a lot of the guys and been on the team more that's helped me mature and things like that. And also being comfortable with what they are doing and with the coaches, being on the same page with the coaches, like now, if I make a mistake or something, I don't even have to look at them to know; I already know that I did it. So it's like we are kind of on the same page and there's good communication there. Everything is going well. Q. Quarterbacks getting more experience -- is the same held true for you? HARRISON SMITH: Yes, definitely, from since when I first started playing to know. Started to notice more and more things. You get a full picture of what the offensive line ends up before the play and you notice which guy is where and from watching film, you know what they might do out of these formations and what they might end up in and things like that. So it's really slowed down a lot. Q. The concept of giving up big plays is something that's been on the last couple of years and you've really cut that down against the run and against the pass, what would you point to there as far as the reason you guys have been better in not giving up big plays? HARRISON SMITH: I think it's just the defense as a whole, kind of coming together and everybody counting on one another. The secondary, you know, is counting on Kap and all those guys to get to the quarterback and then we are counting on them to get in our pitch for the run and they are counting on us. Really, we are all just working together and everybody is getting into their assignment where sometimes in the past you may have had two guys doing the same thing and then there's a void somewhere else and that's where it will hit. But this year, you know, we have all kind of focused on being that 1/11th of the defense and doing your role and the rest will take care of itself. Q. Can you follow you up on the 1/11th of the defense, that's not something we have heard in the past but a ton of guys in the last week have used that phrase exactly, what does it mean exactly and why is that so important? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: Just like Harrison said, you have to embrace your role. As a defensive lineman, I can't be doing, Ian or Ethan's job. I have to do my job. They can't be doing my job. They have to do their job and just like Harrison said, you have to be 1/11th of the defense, and just like, you know, anything, you have all 11 together. It's one whole and it's going to be a great defense? Q. Is it fair to say you guys are a lot more disciplined defensively now? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: Oh, for sure, I think we are a lot more disciplined. We are playing our roles and we are doing everything we can. Q. Aside from the coaches just saying, hey, just do your job, how do they get that point across in practice or the drills they do, things like is that? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: They just say it once, "Do your job." Gets the point across. Q. In talking to Coach Kelly, he said, you know, your aggression and your desire to get after it, it sounds like maybe playing that 1/11th role is kind of difficult for you because you want to be so aggressive and proactive; would that be accurate? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: I don't think that's accurate. I love being aggressive and everything, but you know, like I said, I've got to play my role. I think there -- I think this defense allows us to be aggressive, play physical, without, you know, playing outside your role and everything. Q. Following up with both of you guys with regard to the red zone, the good job you guys have done there, Coach Kelly says everybody talks about the mentality, but I'm wondering what you might be doing differently schematically when you get in a red zone? HARRISON SMITH: There's really not too much difference to what goes on once you get into the red zone. There's always different calls for different areas on the field. But it's not a whole lot different. Really it's just a mind-set that we have stayed in and we want to move that out to the whole field, too, so that we are not just the best red zone, we are the best in the entire field. So that's something that we need to work on. Q. What about up front, are you guys doing anything differently? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: We are doing everything the defense tells us to do. We are playing our role. We are doing our jobs. We are doing our assignments, but just like Harrison said it is a mind-set going into the red zone. Like I said earlier, our mind-set, the other team is not going to score on us. Any defense, that's their mind-set going into the red zone. Q. I know you guys try to approach every game the same, so you are usually playing teams that you are familiar with or a team from a BCS conference; what is it like emotionally getting ready for Western Michigan? You probably know guys, usually when you play an opponent, you know guys on the other team; do you guys know anybody from Western Michigan? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: I actually know a couple of guys from Western Michigan that are the offensive linemen. To answer your question, nobody on the team is taking this game lightly, at all. Like Harrison said earlier, we are not a team that can come into the game and just throw the ball out and, you know, roll over, we can't do that right now. But emotionally, we are all excited and we are playing in a stadium with 81,000, I am getting excited for this game as if it's any other home game? Q. I know you guys don't play on the same side of the football as Kyle Rudolph, but when you heard the news about him, wonder how you reacted to that? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: You know, anybody that's out for their career -- not career, but anybody that's out for the season, that's not good, you know, and being as great a player as Kyle Rudolph is, that's going to be, you know, pretty bad. But that's what it is. Eifert and Golic and Mike Ragone, they have some shows to fill, but I think they can do it? Q. What kind of teammate is Kyle? HARRISON SMITH: You can't ask for a better teammate. I mean, not only like a fantasy, that he's incredibly gifted and talented, but the things that people don't see is the hard work that he puts in throughout the entire year, not just during the season, but the whole year, you know, getting his body in shape, watching film and just doing all of the little things will be great. And so when you go down with an injury, you obviously feel for a guy who is putting in everything that he has into this program. Q. And tackling tight ends that are 6-6, 260 -- HARRISON SMITH: Luckily there's not too many tight ends like Kyle out there. He's put together like, you know, his body is not one that you see very often. Luckily we don't have to tackle too many guys like him. Q. A couple of weeks ago -- can you talk about just where you guys were -- is the timing of how that happened and how you guys -- did you see anything or maybe that was just the whole team's attitude and it carried over? HARRISON SMITH: That was the whole team's attitude. That wasn't just me speaking; that was the entire team, just the way that we felt. And not that I was trying to be dramatic with that statement or anything like that; that's just how it was. And so I think, you know, that's how -- because that's how everyone felt, we kind of decided that it was enough and we just had to start turning it around. Q. Were there my repercussions of that? Did you get much feedback after that? HARRISON SMITH: Not too much. I just didn't think -- when I said it, I didn't think it was that big of a deal, just because that's -- I think that wasn't anything new to me. That's just how the team is. Q. You're at the midway point of the season, now that you have the first half out of the way -- there's just so much more optimism as you look ahead? I don't know if you can put it in football terms, maybe you're tied at half-time? KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE: For sure. These past few games, I feel like, you know, we have shown potential to what these teams can be, and you know, looking, you know, looking forward in the schedule, I think if we play up to our ability, I think we can be successful the second half of the season. HARRISON SMITH: We definitely lost some games that we kind of lost. But we kind of have -- we turned that arrow from going down and now we got a U and now it's kind of going up. You just have to keep progressing and doing the things that we have been doing to turn that arrow and not start getting complacent. We have had a couple of wins; big deal. Just have to take it one week at a time and keep getting better. End of FastScripts |
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