CFP SEMIFINAL AT THE ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE: ALABAMA VS NOTRE DAME

December 29, 2020

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Q. When Clark Lea presents the game plan, and I'm not asking you to give the game plan, how does he go about breaking it down when you go into a game like this?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: First and foremost, all praise to the most high. Just blessed to have another compete with my brothers and at the highest level.

In reference to your question, it really just starts by breaking down just the personnel we're going against, the type of players we're going to see and basically just finding their strengths and their weaknesses and how we can attack their strengths using our own strengths, and also finding opportunities to capitalize off little tendencies and weaknesses that they present on film.

Q. I know your cousin is Tua and Taulia as well, so I can only imagine what those Thanksgiving football games were like. Tua has definitely played in a few of these big games. What advice has he given you for games like this?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: He's definitely just always told us in like little moments just really have trust and have faith in ourselves, have faith in our teammates and above all just don't let the moment be too big for you.

Everybody's human. Everybody playing this game brings different traits to the table, and it's all just about trusting in your craft and just really being in the moment, appreciating the moment that I have to compete. And now we're looking to the next phase.

Q. Just a quick scouting-report question for you. As you've broken down film of Alabama, just kind of what you see from them, what makes them effective and what kind of problems or matchup problems do they present teams? Just kind of in general scouting report way?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: I mean, when you turn to film, you're probably going to see plays from guys like No. 6. No. 17 and No. 8. But obviously as defensive linemen we just pay attention to the line of scrimmage. I think that's really the point of emphasis of why their offense has been so successful.

You turn on film you see that front five playing bully ball, really just dominating the line of scrimmage up front and having their way game in and game out. Coming into this game we understood they definitely have talent all around, but we understand the biggest challenge is going to be up front, we setting the line of scrimmage and just dominating up front.

Q. Have you had any communication with Tua and any talk from that side of the family about this game and kind of the dynamic and play?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: I haven't talked to him about the game in general, but I'm sure he has bigger things to worry about, seeing that he's trying to get into the playoffs. I think they clinched the playoffs, not too sure. But definitely hope and pray that they do well.

Q. On the Alabama offensive line and their also extremely large linemen, Notre Dame has a more athletic defensive linemen, maybe not huge in terms of weight. Does that pose any particular challenges? And on the flip side, does it also maybe offer some advantages there?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: I think for me, personally, I like going against bigger offensive linemen only because for me, with my size, it's all about point of attack. If I have the lower leverage, I'm always going to win.

It's really come down to using our technique, having low pad level. And we definitely see big O linemen against our O line, and we go against them every day. We have Liam Eichenberg, Aaron Banks, Robert Hainsey. These guys are probably not your average O linemen, but they're big in size.

So I think, for me, there's no real fall-off for the level of competition.

Q. Talk about what has it been like playing with Jeremiah, and I know you guys always try to feed off each other. Talk about how he's been able to help you in your game as well.

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: One thing about Wu, he's always the same person every day. He comes in, works hard. And he always -- he's a big motivator. You don't see him talking negatively on the field. He's more of a positive speaker.

He really just has like this aura that beams off of him and people just -- when you're around him, you just want to jump in and you're just energized by his presence because the way he flies around to the ball, the way he takes leadership on the field, those are the intangibles that some players -- that you can't really train to have but some people are just born with it.

And I'm just blessed to have him as a teammate, as a brother, and, yeah.

Q. How do you plan to corral Mac Jones in the pocket?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: Really just dominating the line of scrimmage. Week in, week out, people -- when faced with a tough opponent offensively, we're posed with the question of how can we stop this offense. I'll give you same answer every time: Just dominating the line of scrimmage. Affecting the QB.

If you ever watch, put it in film, like I said, Mac Jones has all day back there. And I don't think there's been a defensive line that has really challenged the pocket.

And so it's just going to be about creating pressure, making opportunities when given the passing situation. So, yes.

Q. What does this game mean to you as a senior? What are your personal goals for this game in your route, your personal matchups, versus Alabama's offensive line?

MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA: For me as a competitor, I love to compete against the best. I love to see where I fall in terms of competing against, like you said, probably one of the best offensive lines we'll probably face this season.

As far as goals go, definitely just want to focus on getting our game plan down. Really just honing in on just little tendencies that this offensive line can give us and just capitalize off those opportunities. So, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.