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DISCOVER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: ALABAMA v NOTRE DAMEJanuary 5, 2013Zach MartinMIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA ZACK MARTIN: You don't have a season at 12‑0 and not go through‑‑ you have some kind of point like that where you get a little lucky. It's hard to go 12‑0 as it is. Yeah, definitely heard it a couple times this season, we had some close games, but we don't really pay attention to that. Pittsburgh was the biggest game. Q. When you walked out of that game did you really think you guys could do it? And also when you win game like that do you think, hey, maybe this is meant to be? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, every year when you play a close game like that and kind of‑‑ yeah, like you say, dodge a bullet almost, you kind of think‑‑ you kind of rethink the season and kind of like we've got to come out and play our best against everyone, and that's what we did the rest of the year. We focused on being the same team every week and not playing different two opponents. Q. I spoke to a few of your teammates yesterday and just asked them about a turning point in the year, the moment things clicked. It may have been in the off‑season, may have been during the year. Some guys said Stanford, some guys said Oklahoma. Was there a moment where you thought this team, maybe on the field, locker room, we're starting to get it down? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, coming into the season there was a lot of question marks because coming off two 8‑5 seasons we knew we've always had the talent. We just didn't know what was missing. Obviously with the group of guys this year, the attitude, it's Coach Kelly's third year, it obviously takes a couple years to get everything going, and this is the year kind of everything started clicking. When you beat a team like Stanford, who's pretty much beaten us up the last couple years, and to go in there and have a win like that, that was a big moment in the season. Q. What was different on the offensive line this year? ZACK MARTIN: I think just playing‑‑ everyone on the offensive line thinks it's‑‑ you've got one good guy, two good guys, even four good guys to have a good offensive line, but to have the consistency of five offensive linemen playing together, and I think that's the reason it's changed is we're on the same page more and more. We're still not there yet, but we're getting there, and Coach has done a great job of coaching us there. Q. Anything quirky or different with Coach Kelly that people don't know about, anything he does in practice or just in general? ZACK MARTIN: No, I mean, he's a real personal guy. I know when people think of head coaches, they sometimes think of someone they're scared of or can't talk to. But he always has his door open and is joking in practice and is serious when he needs to be, but he's fun to play for. Q. What kind of jokes does he have? ZACK MARTIN: You make relationships with him, and he tells a lot of personal jokes, and it's good. Q. Can you describe the physicality it's going to take to win this one in the trenches. ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, there's no secret it's going to be a very physical game. Alabama likes to run the ball and they're known for stopping the run, and that's been our MO this year on our defense is to stop the run. It's going to be two teams going out there and hitting each other in the mouth, and luckily that's one of the things we've improved on this year is kind of bringing more of a physical game. I know our guys are up for it, and we know Alabama is going to be up for it. So it should be a fun one. Q. What's the glue for this team? Obviously undefeated, and that comes with what you did on the field, but also there's got to be something more there? ZACK MARTIN: I think just the togetherness of the team. I've been here four years now, and I think this is definitely the closest team I've been a part of, guys being with each other outside of football, always hanging around each other and talking football and having fun outside of football. So the closeness of this group is something special. Q. What's the relationship like between the defense and the offense? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, that's the thing. They've been so good all year, and we know that they've kind of been the rock of the team. They were pulling for us always. They're coming out to the huddle and letting us go down. When people get injured they go out there and are checking on them. In practice we're trying to beat each other up, but like I said before, the closeness of this group is special. Q. Over the last handful of games the way the offense has really progressed and Everett in particular, what can you say about just the progress that you've seen, and how fired up are you to see him go out there? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, that's what we've talked about from the season. We want to be better week 4 than we were week 1, week 8 than we were week 4. We've done that, we've been better every week, and I think we're playing our best football now. To see the development of Everett, we all knew he had the potential to be great, and he's showing that. Q. Just the tradition that is Notre Dame football, just to have the opportunity‑‑ you've put them back on the map, but the opportunity to go out there‑‑ ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, it's great. At Notre Dame you play for some more than yourself. You play for your guys in the locker room but you play for the tradition and the players before you, and they do a great job of keeping us connected to the alumni. It's really something special. If you're not a part of the Notre Dame family, you don't really know unless you're a part of it that it's something special. Q. Talk about all the SEC talk, seventh straight title. ZACK MARTIN: Everyone says that, but you can't argue with it, they've won six titles in a row. They deserve everything they've got, obviously great football teams down there. So we're going to do our best to try to break that, but they've been great the last six, seven years. Q. Would it add to it just a little bit if you could knock off the SEC? ZACK MARTIN: I think winning a title either way would just be something special. Q. Walking into the stadium does it make it a little more real to you when you look around? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, I didn't know‑‑ this is pretty sweet, and everyone on the team is looking forward to coming here Monday night, and apparently the locker room is awesome. So we're looking forward to it. Q. What was your first thought when you looked around? ZACK MARTIN: The field looks great. The field looks awesome, just being here a few days ago. It looks great. So looking forward to playing on that. Q. I heard one guy say, geez, this is orange. ZACK MARTIN: Yeah. We've been lucky, we've been able to practice at the Dolphins' facility this week, so we've seen plenty of orange. Q. Everybody talks about Alabama's defense and how tough they are, but everybody also talks about how tough your defense is, too. How are you better because you've gone up against your defense? ZACK MARTIN: Right, and everyone has asked me what do you compare Alabama's defense to, and I've said our defense is very similar. They run a 3‑4, they've got a big talented nose guard, physical defensive linemen and guys who can run. It's helped. We did a lot of ones versus ones this last month versus our defense to try to get ready, and hopefully it's going to pay off. Q. Do you play better more disciplined assignment football because of it? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, definitely. Going against guys like Manti and Tuitt and Louis and those guys, you have to be on your assignments, you have to be on your technique or you're going to get beat. Q. How much confidence does that give you heading into this game? ZACK MARTIN: Yeah, you know, you're going against great players, it's going to make you better. But Alabama has different wrinkles than our defense, but the big thing is to play against a caliber opponent on Monday, and the coaches tried to do that in practice. Q. Media Day is a little crazy. When you look over at what Manti is dealing with, I take it you don't envy him? ZACK MARTIN: No, I don't, and I know he's been through every interview known to man, and I'm sure he doesn't wish he was over there right now. But he's a great player, and with that comes the media. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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