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BATTLEFROG FIESTA BOWL: NOTRE DAME VS OHIO STATE

December 29, 2015

J.T. Barrett

Glendale, Arizona

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. As you reflect on the season, you earned the job later in the season, you were developing timing with your teammates at a later point in the season? How did it affect your overall performance in the year?
J.T. BARRETT: There were some highs and lows. I wouldn't say that being that I earned the job later in the year that that affected my performance early on in the year. It's the simple fact that I feel like guys were getting open, I wasn't giving them the ball. I'm not going to blame it on the situation we were in as quarterbacks, not getting the timing with the receivers. I could have done a better job of doing all that.

So I think there were definitely some highs and lows, but that's any season. But I think there were more highs than lows, for sure.

Q. At the end of the year you played arguably one of the best games that Ohio State has played in a while against Michigan. How good were you all, in particular in the second half?
J.T. BARRETT: Yeah, we were on a little roll in the second half, being that I feel like we kept it real simple, knowing they were going to give us basic things when we got tempo. Guys were able to play fast, just play their game at a high level, playing fast, knowing you're going to get a certain look to whatever we were doing.

That put a lot of confidence in us. We went out there and performed well with that confidence.

Q. How critical is tempo in this game?
J.T. BARRETT: It's definitely going to be a part of our game. That's definitely who we are as an offense. I think it's going to hopefully be good for us. I mean, it's part of it. It's crucial in any game we play in because that's who we are.

Q. You're probably going to play your last game with Zeke. Just thoughts on him as a football player overall. How good a player is he from your perspective.
J.T. BARRETT: Zeke does a lot of things well. Not just running the ball, but blocking, run blocking, pass blocking.

Obviously, playing with a lot of runningbacks, I don't know if I've seen people chop down people in the open field like Zeke does. That just goes to him being selfless. As a runningback, that's kind of hard to do because you want the ball, you want to make the plays.

For him to lead block for me on a run, or one of our H's on a run, that shows he cares about winning, speaks more about him as a person than carrying the ball for 200-some yards.

Q. How difficult has it been to regain the momentum after five weeks?
J.T. BARRETT: I don't think it's that bad. I think our practices have gone well. I think we've done a good job of being focused. I don't think our momentum is going to be thrown off. I think we're going to be ready to go for this game.

It's not like we're not playing a good opponent. We're playing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. We're going to be ready to go, for sure.

Q. How do you feel about the practice yesterday?
J.T. BARRETT: I feel good going into the game. I think we're confident in where we're at as an offense, what we're trying to do. I feel, like I said, confident. I feel at ease about everything, confident in what we're doing as an offense.

I think we're playing well right now. That's where you want to play well, at the end of the year where games count the most. Right now we're at a good place offensively, which is very good.

Q. When you're getting ready to play this last game with 18 seniors, a bunch of guys that might be going pro as well, what does it mean to you all to send those guys out not only as winners, but the seniors with 50 wins?
J.T. BARRETT: That's who you want to play for, you want to play for the seniors, because those are guys that stayed here, been through the ups and downs of the team.

With that, you play hard for those guys, knowing some of those guys might never play football again. You want to have them go out with a win. You play hard for those guys.

Yeah, that's the crazy thing about 50 wins. I'm pretty sure a lot of people can't say that. We're going to try to make sure our guys go out with that 50th win for sure.

Q. One of those guys is potentially Cardale. How supportive are you of him as a friend, given an opportunity in the game, that he ends his career the way you would want to see him end his career?
J.T. BARRETT: Cardale is my guy. Even throughout this year, it's more encouraging for both of us. Do we want to play as individuals? Yes. That's part of being a competitor. But then, too, when the other person was in, we want him to do well in order for the team to do well, if that makes sense.

If he was coming into the game, it would be all support. Like I say, that's my guy. I'm going to wish him the best. Have him go out on a good note, too, with a win, for sure.

Q. How do you view the way that the competition affected the performance of both players?
J.T. BARRETT: I think it was one of those deals where you didn't want to mess up. It was one of those type of deals where you're playing not to mess up, instead of playing with confidence, if something bad happens... Because in the game, things are going to happen that are unfortunate, bad things are going to happen. So really with that, it's the next play, how you go about that.

When you do mess up, it's more like you put so much more on that mess-up, if that makes sense.

I know for myself, not speaking for Cardale, but for myself, that's how I felt at times, that I was trying to play perfect and not mess up. Then realizing that, J.T., you're going to mess up. It's how you play after that, not trying to mess up.

I know that was how it was for me. I can't speak for Cardale. For me, that was kind of my thoughts as the year was going on, especially in camp.

Q. Do you feel that the stress you felt throughout the season is gone?
J.T. BARRETT: I feel like it's gone. For the teams that have been No. 1 in the country, they can say it's not easy being No. 1. When it comes to the media or fans, you're supposed to beat everybody by a thousand points, have 2500 yards of total offense.

It was like we couldn't do anything right almost. We would win a game, and we would fight ourselves to enjoy winning that game.

That's a good thing, too, to know if you can get better throughout the year. That's not a problem. But it was almost like we had to fight ourselves to enjoy a win, which I don't think that's the way you should go about it.

If we could go back, I think that would be one of the things we would probably change, is enjoying the fact that we're out there playing with each other, good dudes around us, we're out there winning football games.

At times we didn't really focus on that. We were trying to, like I said, be perfect as a team, do so well that it did stress us out.

Q. What do you think the strength of Notre Dame's defense is?
J.T. BARRETT: I would probably say their front seven. Good linebackers, D-line. Play fast. Good at reading things out. They play well on the run. If they see a play, react, stop the play, that's what they're good at.

Q. (Question regarding Notre Dame quarterback.)
J.T. BARRETT: I was asked that earlier. I was telling them Malik is one of my friends. I met him at the elite 11 quarterbacks in 2012 when we were in high school. We talked about it a little bit.

I was telling him, at the end of the day, you only control what you can control. I think I tend to not focus on that as much. I started to later in the year. If I could be my best, then that's all I could be at the end of the day. Just have trust in the coaches that they're going to do their job well, that's evaluating the players and deciding who is going to be the best person to play.

That's one of the things I focused on later in the year in order to help me play well. That's what I told him. At the end of the day, that's all you can do. You can't do anything outside yourself. That's part of it.

I think the main thing is to control what you can control, then leave it in the coaches' hands, have faith they're going to do their job and you're going to be the starting quarterback.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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