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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 28, 2011

THE MODERATOR: We have Michael Floyd and Tommy Rees. We'll start with questions.

Q. Tommy, on the drive on Saturday, can you talk about how that drive went, what you saw, why you think it went so well.
TOMMY REES: You know, at that point in the game, the offense needed to come out and make a play, get a touchdown to put us in position to win the game.
We had a lot of confidence throughout the game. That was something that, even through some of the tough times throughout the game, our confidence was never really shook, we were moving the ball pretty well to that point. Everything seemed to start clicking on that last drive.
Good for us, it came right in time. The whole offense did a great job on that final drive of putting themselves in position to go down and score a touchdown.

Q. Can you talk about the obvious connection you're developing with Tyler Eifert when they have two and three guys covering Michael.
TOMMY REES: Tyler has done a good job all season, the off-season, working hard, getting better. He provides a mismatch for us out there. He does a good job of feeling throughout the zones, making himself open. He's a big, athletic target. He can go up and get a lot of the balls.

Q. He had a lot of guys close to him. What did he do to make himself a big enough target that you felt comfortable throwing him the ball?
TOMMY REES: Right as he turned, he was open. The ball got there right in time. He did a good job of attacking the ball, coming back to it, making sure he fought for it.
He came up with it. Two guys closing in on him, he did a good job, like I said.

Q. Michael, when a team puts as much attention on taking you out of the game, what do you do when you know there's going to be somebody below and above you every time?
MICHAEL FLOYD: Not too much you can do besides run your route and keep them occupied. Obviously, if they have two or three guys looking at you all the time, there's obviously got to be someone open. We're trying to get the guy open. I'm trying to do as much as I can to make sure to put him in the most comfortable spot as possible.

Q. How much pride are you taking on your blocking now? A lot of the biggest runs this year, you have been throwing one of the key blocks on those runs.
MICHAEL FLOYD: I'm just trying to do whatever I can to get our good runningbacks who have improved throughout the year to expand plays. We know we got two good runningbacks that can score touchdowns and make long drives go.
Just trying to do my job, get them good yards.

Q. Michael, Coach Molnar yesterday was talking about the defense they put on you, that it wasn't a double coverage, it was a hybrid type of thing. What did you see looking at the film on what they did to you, how you might attack something like that in the future?
MICHAEL FLOYD: Well, to me I thought it was double coverage (laughter). I guess the coach and me see eye-to-eye kind of different. I thought it was double coverage.
But, like I said, I'm just trying to do whatever I can to get as many people occupied on me so that opens up space for other wide receivers.

Q. What is a game like that for you, where you get three catches in the first series, and your fourth catch doesn't come until 52 seconds left in the game? What is the frustration factor like in that period of time?
MICHAEL FLOYD: I don't get myself frustrated. When you're frustrated, you don't play hard throughout the rest of the game. You might miss a critical block that could expand a play for a touchdown.
I just try to stay as positive as I can throughout the whole game, just do my job.

Q. Is there a secret that a receiver uses in double coverage? Are there nuances, tricks that will get you open?
MICHAEL FLOYD: There's a few tricks that I can't really say to the tricks (laughter). They're my own things that are in my arsenal. I just try to keep it a secret.

Q. Tommy, could you critique yourself after three and a half games? What have you done well and what do you think you need to improve on?
TOMMY REES: Well, obviously it's not a secret, I need to cut down on some of the turnovers and some of the mental mistakes.
I think each week with different defenses, different situations, I keep growing as a player. The last two games we come out with wins, so you can't be too upset after those. After games there's places where you can improve. I think the more experiences, the more games that come, I can keep developing things, work on limiting some of those mistakes.

Q. I know every game is different. Is there anything you can do to kind of work on that turnover part, regardless of who it is?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, there's a couple things within the fundamentals of playing quarterback that can help limit: when you're in the pocket, making sure you have two hands on the ball, taking a sack instead of trying to make something happen when it's collapsing on you, knowing the defense and being prepared in the game plan, that helps a lot with setting your protections.

Q. Michael, could you talk about how much he's grown this year as a quarterback from last year. Is it different playing with him, have you seen any improvement?
MICHAEL FLOYD: I just think the most important thing he has improved on was staying poised in the pocket. It's kind of hard to take the hits that he does. His frame isn't too big. But he's strong in the pocket. He takes big hits and delivers the ball to the wide receivers. I commend him on that and give him lots of props for that.

Q. The clichÃ© is that quarterbacks get too much blame and too much credit. Do you still take it on yourself, you have to drive this offense? Do you feel like it revolves around you or do you think this is an 11-man thing or a little bit of both?
TOMMY REES: Probably a little bit of both. No one is harder on themselves than the quarterbacks are. They want to be the leader, the guy. Everyone is looking at them throughout the game. They do get a lot of the blame but they get some unnecessary credit.
I shoulder a lot of the responsibility. I think any quarterback would say he believes as long as he goes, the offense can go. Obviously we have so many great play-makers, I just need to get them the ball.
As a quarterback and a leader, I try to shoulder some of the blame, take it upon myself to make sure the guys on the offense know I'll take the blame for times that are not mine, but also step up and take accountability when it is mine.

Q. Coach Kelly and Coach Molnar are answering questions by saying the guy is 6-1 as a starter. How hard are you being on yourself?
TOMMY REES: At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing. But you need to stay productive and you can't put your team in situations where the game can go either way.
As individual performances, you want to be sharp, be good. But if you're winning, you can't complain too much. Like I said before, I'm pretty tough on myself. I know where I need to improve. I look forward to keep getting better and eliminating some of those mistakes.

Q. Can you talk about what your relationship is with Tyler off the field.
TOMMY REES: Me and Ty are pretty good friends. We have been since I got here. I think that helps with some of the on-the-field chemistry. We can talk and have dialogue about what's going on.
I think we feel real comfortable with each other. We both started playing at the same time last year. As far as the connection and chemistry, I think it's real strong on the field and I think our off-the-field relationship helps that.

Q. Specifically on the golf course?
TOMMY REES: Ty is probably the best golfer on the team. We compete back and forth a little bit. But never that close. He's a pretty good player.

Q. Mike, you mentioned something last week when we were asking about Pitt's secondary. You said for some reasons teams play the best against you. Have you found that to be the case throughout your year at Notre Dame, that what you see on tape from a team against a non-brand name opponent doesn't seem to translate, teams seem to play up when they play you guys?
MICHAEL FLOYD: Yeah. Watching film, when they play these different type teams from around the country, they might have positive yards on this play. We want to put it in. Unfortunately, I think they key on me more than anything. The play might not work. That's just how it always is.
I think we just got to look at film and just see what works best for us.

Q. Do you find that teams play better against you than maybe what they had shown in previous games?
MICHAEL FLOYD: I don't know if they play better. But I think they key on me more. In other words, yeah, you could say they do.

Q. Tommy, when you went and watched the film from Sunday on what it's like, Coach Kelly said it's like a revelation for a quarterback. What was that experience like to go back and watch?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, there are things you miss throughout the game. You come back and see on film, you beat yourself up over.
The whole thing about watching film, it's a learning process. That's the time to really understand where you need to improve and where you could have been better on game day.
It's a really important process of moving past the game and moving forward. You know, you're pretty eager after you watch the film to get back out there, learn from your mistakes, keep moving forward.

Q. Coach Molnar and Coach Kelly said Pitt did some things that were new looks for you. When that's happening as a quarterback, can you figure that out on your own or do you need to go talk to Coach Molnar and say, Here is what I saw, what should I be doing here?
TOMMY REES: A lot of it is adjustments throughout the game. Obviously the coach in the box has a pretty good view of what's going on, on the field when it's happening it's a little harder to pick up on some things. You come to the sideline, talk to the coaches about what you're seeing, what you're getting pressure from. They come up with the answer.
I thought we came out better in the second half and made adjustments to what they were doing. We were really able to move the ball after that. The coaches did a really good job of making sure I knew what was going on and how to attack it.

Q. While the current series is going on, when maybe you're not sure what's happening, how do you try to manage that when you can't necessarily trust what you're seeing?
TOMMY REES: I think you just stay within the offense. There's somewhere in the play that can get you out of pretty much anything as long as you understand what you're trying to do on offense and what your protections are trying to do. You can figure out ways to get by.

Q. Coach Molnar said on Saturday there were a lot of times if you stick with your progression something was about to come open, but maybe you would make a decision a split second earlier. Do you see that on tape and how do you deal with that?
TOMMY REES: That's just playing football, I guess. You can say 'what ifs' about every play, different things that could happen. But when you're out there and playing, you got to trust what you see and kind of anticipate what's going on.
Yeah, there's always things when you watch film, if I held onto the ball one more second, this guy is coming open. If you threw it this much further out, it would have been a touchdown. Those are the things you can't get too caught up and just have to move forward?

Q. Tommy, yesterday Brian Kelly said we can make a highlight reel and a blooper reel so far. When you're in the film room, do you focus on those mistakes and get hard on yourself or do you try to focus more on the positive? What's your attitude?
TOMMY REES: Definitely focus more on the mistakes. Those are the critical things that affect the football game. You always learn more from mistakes than do you from positive things. If you clean up those mistakes, turn those into positives, week-to-week you'll limit some of the mistakes and missed opportunities come.

Q. Do you kick yourself sometimes over things you've done, the whole thing about being a sophomore, and the coaches calm you down?
TOMMY REES: I think the whole being a sophomore thing isn't really that relevant anymore. I need to improve how I'm playing and keep getting better. It can't be a matter of age or experience. I think I can be the quarterback for this football team and I think I need to be learning by my mistakes and playing up to my capabilities.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everyone.

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