April 27, 2002
73rd Annual Blue-Gold Game
April 27, 2002 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Notre Dame Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Head Coach Tyrone Willingham
On the game:
“I was pleased with what I saw today. All the young men competed and played very hard. I was very happy with that.”
On the QB race:
“Today had little to do with a quarterback competition. I was surprised with the way two former option quarterbacks threw the ball considering the weather conditions. Both of the young men are still learning the system and I was happy with the way the ‘D’ pressured them all afternoon, helping further their progress in the offense.”
On what the coaching staff takes from today’s game:
“We will examine the tapes and work with what we saw. I was very pleased with their progress in the system, which, right now, we only have 20% installed.”
On Jared Clark:
“He will be a good addition to the tight end position. He will add a new aspect to the offensive system.”
On Ryan Grant:
“Along with Julius Jones, he has had an outstanding camp, but we have a lot of young men that we can work with and like all position players they have to prove themselves.”
On Arnaz Battle:
“People have asked whether we were going to move him to the quarterback position due to his prevous experience with the West Coast offense. But, I believed Battle needs an opportunity to find a home and I think he did that today.”
On the upcoming autumn:
“We came out of spring in good, healthy condition and I will pray a lot that everyone returns healthy in the fall.”
Notre Dame tailback Ryan Grant
On the game…
“The offense was pretty basic. We didn’t really go into too much detail … that is what Coach [Tyrone Willingham] was trying to emphasize all Spring … It was a good game, guys were getting after it.”
On the team’s attitude…
“Its one of the things that Coach talks about, it’s a part of getting better … going all out everyday. It has to be in practice and it will show in games … Everyone has been really positive. We have been doing a great job learning the system, the tempo of the game, the practices, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Notre Dame offensive tackle Jordan Black
On the game…
“I thought it was kind of sloppy at some points, but that is to be expected when you have a new offense. Overall we played hard and I think people could see that and that is what is most important factor in being successful. We will get it and we will be ready to go by the beginning of the season.”
On the upcoming season…
“The same thing I look forward to in the spring. The thing that stands out is that we will have the offense in and the mistakes will go away as people start to feel comfortable with it. We just open it up a bit more because we have that confidence with it.”
Notre Dame quarterback Matt LoVecchio
On the quarterback situation…
“You just have to go in and attack it. You have to go in and work hard in the weight room and running, out on the field throwing. Just try to get yourself into a position to help the team.”
On today’s weather conditions…
“Due to the conditions, it was hard to move the ball, I think for the most part with the execution, we were just trying to do our best.”
Notre Dame quarterback Carlyle Holiday
On adjusting to the offensive system…
“The hardest part is just getting in there and learning so many plays in such a short period of time. We have been taking things slowly, though, as a team and I think everyone has been handling the adjustment process fairly well. I think I have personally been steadily progressing throughout spring practice.”
On how he played today…
“I don’t think I was able to do some things today because of the weather, but I felt comfortable today. I think the key for me was to be able to feel comfortable in the huddle and I did. Despite the weather, I still felt good being out there and playing today.”