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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 23, 2013Tommy ReesBYU – 13 TOMMY REES: It's awesome, the young guys did a really great job. Words can't describe how good it feels to win your last game here. That's four years in a row for us, which is awesome, and unless you've experienced it, it's a pretty special feeling. Q. How different is it today than it was two weeks ago? TOMMY REES: Completely different, and we are going to enjoy it, just like any other game, for about 24 hours. We have got a tough one next week. We've got to be ready to go but we are definitely going to enjoy this tonight and share this moment with my family and teammates. Doesn't happen every day. Q. How difficult were the weather conditions? TOMMY REES: Hey, the weather is what it is. I grew up a couple hours from here so I'm used to that type of weather. Thought we did a great job the whole game communicating what was going on with the weather, but the end of the day, you can't let that effect how you play. You've got to just work through it. Q. And at the end of the game, the student body yelling 'Tommy,' what did that mean for you? TOMMY REES: That was a very special moment. We've been through a lot, the entire senior class, not only on the team but everybody here. They could have chanted anyone's name, the whole senior class‑‑ but definitely a memory I'll hold very closely for a long time. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: You know, first and foremost, being remembered as a winner has always been important to me. Doesn't matter how you win games as long as you get that W. Just gave everything they had to this university and this football program, and I've built a lot of strong relationships not only with people on this team but off this team and those are going to continue for my whole life. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: There's a whole lot. You know, chanting Tommy, that was pretty special, hard not to get choked up with emotion in a moment like that. So proud of this whole team and the senior class and what we were able to accomplish. Like I said, going to enjoy it a little bit and got to move forward. Q. When you guys lost for the third time in the BCS, a lot of sentiment that you don't have anything to play fornow; why is that not true? TOMMY REES: When you're part of the team, you play for one another and you play for the university and you play for the pride that you put in the program and that you have in yourself. You won't find a better group of guys than we have in that locker room and to be able to share this field with them and play with them, that's all the motivation that you need. Q. Did you have to account for the wind because it was swirling? TOMMY REES: I wore a glove just to get a better grip on the ball and able to spin it through the wind. You know, there was some plays that you want back and you've got to adjust a little bit, but for the most part, you kind of just go through‑‑ you try not to think about it and go through your normal progression and way of throwing the ball and usually it works out fine. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: They were awesome. They did a great job all game in the run and pass, and we were able to get to our fourth and fifth targets on plays and get some crucial thirds downs and hats off to how they played. They had some guys come in and step up and it was an awesome unit out there. Q. You threw down to Corey down the middle, throwing to a freshman, and he made a heck of a play. TOMMY REES: That's the kinds of kid he is. He catches everything. I tried to put it high up there for him so he could use his length and his ability to catch the ball. Kind of started back side and worked to the front and he did a great job getting open and he finished with a heck of a catch and huge play to convert. Q. Going north, to the north end zone‑‑ TOMMY REES: Towards the tunnel? Yeah, you know, the wind's blowing, kind of swirling but it was definitely going that way into us, so made it a little tougher at times, but to be honest the wind died down. In the first half it was blowing, and then started snowing a little bit but the wind it kind of went off and on for us. Q. Do you like these kind of conditions with the snow and wind? TOMMY REES: It's a pretty cool moment, yeah. It's a pretty cool way to close out a game. I don't know any of us that have played in a snowy game like this, but it's pretty special out there, persevere, show the kind of toughness we have as a team through any conditions. Q. Winning 11 out of your last 12‑‑ TOMMY REES: It's something we talked about for a couple years now. Being able to win at home in front of these fans and really having home‑field advantage, it's been awesome, and I think we're 11‑1 the last two years, so it's been an awesome accomplishment. Q. How much of a calming influence with the play call‑‑ TOMMY REES: Yeah, he doesn't speak a lot. He's been great all year, very consistent and level‑headed. He knows exactly what he's doing obviously and he's got a great mentor in his big brother. He's been awesome for us. Tough to see him go down but Matt Hegarty came in and played well for us and Nick's been awesome all year. Q. How about Zach? TOMMY REES: You can't say enough about a guy like that, 51 year starts or something, it's going to be the record in a couple games, and you know, two‑time captain, a guy like that doesn't come along every day. And to call him one of my closest friends and to be able to play with him, it's very special for everyone in the locker room. They don't come around like him very often. Q. What's your mentality after you threw that interception? TOMMY REES: You've got to come right back out and get ready to go. I knew we needed to convert and seal the game away. Just a little late on the throw, and obviously you don't want those to happen but you know, definitely I came back to the bench and told the guys, hey, that's something we need to go back out and convert and I took accountability for it. We were able to make some big plays at the end. Q. It's been an up‑and‑down run for you but this game felt like a lot‑‑ there's some things that go well and some things that go bad, but you held on to get the win. Did you fall back on some things that you had experienced before, when you go to the bench and say, listen, my bad, let's pick it up and do it again? TOMMY REES: Not a whole lot. I took accountability for it and I told them, hey, it's on me, we are going to go back out and convert and win the game. Obviously throughout every game there's ups and downs, but proud of the way we responded and we were able to close one out. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: Great, obviously haven't seen the film but I had a relatively clean game, ran the ball well. I'm sure they played well and were awesome coming in. Hegarty taking the snaps and understanding the counts; we do a lot of checking, and he did a great job of staying calm and communicating well. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: Right after Pitt, we had two weeks to get prepared and everyone was focused over the last two weeks and we were ready to go. You know, you want to get back out on the field as soon as possible after a loss. I think after Pitt, somebody asked me, is a bye week good or do you want to play. I said I didn't know but you definitely want to get back out there. You don't want to be sitting on a loss for two weeks. Coach challenged us to have two great weeks and be prepared and they were tough on us but we responded great and love how the way the team came together. Q. Was there a little bit of a reminder of things that you had to do to get to where you were before? TOMMY REES: No, I think we knew what we needed to do. Watching the film we understood where we needed to be and how we need to close out games and we were able to do that tonight. Q. What was the difference in closing out? TOMMY REES: We don't turn the ball over in the fourth quarter. You make stops when you need but for us it's about maintaining the line of scrimmage and being able to run the ball and being able to make plays in the passing game when we need big first downs and we were able to do that. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: I think you get him one‑on‑one, he's a great player. He's really come along nicely for us throughout the year. I think teams, to be honest, he just had an awesome year and focus on him‑‑ any time you have two guys that can make plays like that, it definitely helps each other out. He did a great job of being in tune and making great plays for us. Q. Coach Mendenhall talked about the secondary‑‑ are you cognizant of who they have got? TOMMY REES: Yeah, we know some guys that are back there and we know who to prepare for. But we can't worry too much about the personnel as much as the scheme. We saw some things we knew we could do and we were able to do. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: Yeah, it helps, any time you can have a strong running game and get some playaction going, it helps those guys up front. Zach's talking, it's the offensive line's dream to have a game like that. But yeah, offensive line has been awesome all year. Critical passingdown I was able to get through, back to my fourth progression and make some great plays down the field and it all starts with them. I told themat halftime, keep controlling the line of scrimmage, it starts with you guys and we are going to close this one out. Q. Talk about Matt. TOMMY REES: Yeah, he did awesome. For him to be able to come in, understand the snap counts and understand what we are trying to do, it's awesome to see. Q. Is it different having him left of center? TOMMY REES: It is. We work with all the centers and we have experience, but we joke around with him being a southpaw, bring in closer, a lefty. He did a good job and really happy for him. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: Very similar, aggressive, get down in the box. But they are both very good defenses and we were able to make some plays tonight and get some points on the board. Q. Has it hit you yet? TOMMY REES: Being out on the field with my teammates and parents, a pretty special moment. It hasn't hit me it's the last time playing here, I'm sure it won't hit for a while but right now soaking it in. Q. Standing in the huddle‑‑ TOMMY REES: Oh, man, a lot of emotion, holding in those emotions and just jogging out there and having a moment with my parents, it was awesome. Q. Inaudible. TOMMY REES: It was cool. Definitely just having a game in that kind of weather and that kind of environment, it was awesome. Q. Talk about the balance of the offensive week‑‑ inaudible. TOMMY REES: Yeah, you need good balance to get wins. We did that today on the run and some playaction stuff. Q. Talk about the defensive performance. TOMMY REES: I don't watch much defense‑‑ but for them to play that way and get stops, that was huge. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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