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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 21, 2013Tommy ReesNotre Dame – 17 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Tommy. Q. (No microphone.) TOMMY REES: They're a great defense. Hats off to Michigan State for the way they played the game. We know every time we play Michigan State it's going to be a physical battle. You're going to have to claw and fight and get enough points up there to win the game. Q. Getting the two touchdown passes you got, especially the game winner, felt like it took more of an effort? TOMMY REES: Obviously we weren't as efficient on offense as we wanted to be. Michigan State did a lot of things to challenge us offensively. We found a way to get the ball in the end zone there twice. We were down in their area. Proud of the way we fought. But we know how to win close games. That's something we've done for a while now. I think all the guys understood what it took to close out a close one. Q. Tommy, Coach Kelly talked about Michigan State, the way they play their cornerbacks. Is that something he talked to you about a couple years ago or... TOMMY REES: That's something we've had in the game plan. We know we're going to get a lot of man coverage, one‑on‑one matchups. Their corners are aggressive, they like to play physical. Just giving our receivers a chance to put the ball where they can go make a play, if it's not complete, try to get a PI. That's something we've worked at throughout the year, really going after the ball. If we're not going to catch it, try to expose if they were getting held out there. Q. (No microphone.) TOMMY REES: Yeah, we needed to take our shots with the way Michigan State was playing. Obviously we want to hit those. But we hit a few of them early. Missed a couple big ones. But we found a way to get the ball in the end zone at the end. You need to be more efficient. But that's what you kind of expect when you play Michigan State. Q. (No microphone.) TOMMY REES: He's a sure‑handed, trustworthy guy. He had a big game today for us. We have all the trust in the world in him. Somebody that really prides himself on his ability to catch the ball. I think he showed that today. Q. (No microphone.) TOMMY REES: We have a lot of work to do. We need to be more efficient. We've had moments where we're not taking advantage of things. If we continue to work, take it one week at a time, put enough points on the board to win games... Q. Lots of penalties. Neither offense ever really got going. Was it the ugly game you expected? TOMMY REES: Yeah, you never want to expect that as an offense. We knew it was going to be tough and physical. If we could have thought about it, probably want to hit some of those deep balls early. For us, finding a way to win, we're comfortable grinding games out like that. A win's a win. It's hard to win games at this level, especially against a good opponent like that. Q. Oklahoma in here next week. What do you have to improve? TOMMY REES: Have to be more efficient on offense, take advantage of opportunities. We're going to go back, look at it, get a game plan ready, go out and execute it. Q. (Question regarding momentum.) TOMMY REES: It's a big win. Every week we're going to have to be ready to play and be prepared to play good competition. It's our job to go out there and execute and find a way to win close ones. Q. (No microphone.) TOMMY REES: They're aggressive all over the place. They'll stack the box, try to take away your run looks. Really challenge you outside. Their corners did a good job of playing man. We missed some opportunities, but we had guys open. We had some big plays that we took advantage of. We found a way at the end of the day to put enough points to help our defense win the game. Q. We asked coach about close wins. He says they coach it. How do you keep going to the well? TOMMY REES: It's the way we prepare, the way we're coached, kind of the mindset of the team. We're comfortable in those close games knowing what it takes, when we need a big play. Obviously we'd like to put more points on the board. Michigan State has a real good defense. We grind enough drives and points to find a way to win that game. Battling in those close ones, it's exciting to win those. But we've done a good job preparing and understanding what it takes to win those games. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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