Aug. 15, 2002

Yesterday und.com had a chance to catch up with Irish junior quarterback Carlyle Holiday after the first day of practice in pads.

Q. Is there a difference for you when you put the pads on?

A. It is pretty much the same deal. You have pants on, but you cannot really tell you have pads on. You are wearing laser tag-type pads on your shoulders, but there really is not that big of a difference.

Q. When throwing the football in pads, is there much of an adjustment to make?

A. You have to put more of your shoulder into it when you have pads on and try to get your hips around a little bit more. Besides that, it is pretty much the same as throwing without pads.

Q. Coach (Bill) Diedrick mentioned that you worked on your footwork over the summer. Technically, what did you have to work on in that area?

A. I needed to work on opening my hips and legs, making sure I am in good position to first take the snap and then move around in the pocket if I need to. It really helps you to drop back and to step into a throw.

Q. Is that more of a mental thing?

A. I think so. When you get tired, your footwork is one of the first things to slack off. You have concentrate more in those situations. It pretty much is a mental thing.

Q. Do you feel you have improved in the footwork area?

A. I think so. I came into camp looking at film on how I was doing with my footwork. I think it has been pretty good thus far.

Q. How do you see the offense coming together thus far?

A. I think we are looking good. We are able to execute against our defense, which is always a good and positive sign. We worked hard over the summer running drills. I think so far, we are being really efficient.

Q. How much does seven-on-seven work in the spring translate into the fall?

A. It helps out a lot. We probably did more seven-on-seven work this year than we did since most of the guys have been here. You can really tell now as we are completing a higher percentage of passes in drills. That carries over into teamwork and game situations.

Q. When it comes to the passing game, how comfortable are you in terms of throwing the deep ball?

A. I am comfortable with it. I have worked really hard on ball placement and the receivers have worked hard on running the proper routes.

Q. When it comes to the deep passes, how much of it is on you and how much is on the receivers?

A. Most it weighs on us (the quarterbacks) to put the ball where it needs to be.