Oct. 4, 2014

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Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly Quotes

COACH BRIAN KELLY: Well, great football game. Just proud of the way our guys continued to battle and found a way to win right at the very end. We knew it was going to be this kind of back and forth game. Certainly felt like we had some missed opportunities in the first half with some turnovers. Felt like 7 7 at the half could have been a lot different if we had taken care of the football.
Had some misqueues in the special teams. But overall, you know, we did some pretty good things against, again, a very good football team. You know, had a running game that allowed us to throw the football and a defense that limited their running game significantly. So again a lot of positives to take from this game, especially winning the game late and finding a way when Everett certainly is a guy that never quits, just keeps playing and made a great throw in the corner of the end zone to win the football game.
So just a great win for Notre Dame, and let our kids enjoy it and we’ll knit pick on all the other things we’ve got to get better at later. But we’re just going to enjoy the victory.

Q. Take us through the last play of the call, how you felt that shook out?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: We got five out. So if you bring pressure, we’re going to have to get the ball out of our hands quickly. They had shown that they were going to play zone down there. It’s a difficult route to defend, if we can get all five out.
We got all five of them out, flooded the zone. Everett was just patient enough to get the ball out and make a big play.

Q. During the week you felt like your offense was ready to deliver and play winning football against a top defense. How significant is that you won the game on offense against the No. 1 ranked defense in the country?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: Yeah, and I don’t think we played our best. I think we’ve got to play better.
But here’s the one thing: We did a really good job in the last drive of picking up some stunts and blitzes with our offensive line. I was really pleased with that.
And we started to come together on our combinations and our run game, which is very, very important. So we’re getting there, because we saw the kind of defense that we’re playing. We’re consistently playing at a high level.
We’ve got to get our offense there. We’re getting closer. We left a lot of points out there tonight against a very good defense. I think we’re getting closer.

Q. Sticking with the running game you mentioned was it something that you knew going in no matter what to keep them off balance?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: You have to. You have to. If you just abandon the running game, they’re going to drop eight. They’re going to double out. You got no chance.
So we have to keep their backers in the box. We had to have a semblance, and I thought we did a pretty good job of being patient and hanging in there.
And obviously there were some mistakes made but we’re getting better at some of the combination blockings we’ve been trying to get to with the new combination on the offensive line and tonight was a big step for us.

Q. And he’s not on the stat sheet, but Sheldon Day, the effort by the rush defense, seems every week to be the most consistent player?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: No question, he’s separated himself as somebody that’s one of the best in the country for us.

Q. Can you talk about Jaylon Smith stepping up today and also your defense? I don’t think there’s a whole lot of Notre Dame teams that have gone five games into the season allowing 17 points or less.
COACH BRIAN KELLY: Yeah, it’s, first of all, we’re getting great play from the front seven. Joe Schmidt, Jaylon, James Onwualu. I think if you look at the front seven, I think that’s where you start. And then we’re getting aggressive cornerback play. Two interceptions from Cole Luke. We’re playing without KeiVarae Russell who arguably was our best corner.
We’re doing it with guys that are just stepping up and being aggressive on the outside. We talked about the need to clamp down on the perimeter, if you’re going to play great defense you have to clamp down. I think that’s where we’ve really made significant improvement over the course of the year. We’re really starting to clamp down on the outside.

Q. David Shaw thought weather played a lot of havoc with the quarterbacks. How about with special teams and the whole hold/snap field goal?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: For us it was the snapping was a little bit — I mean, we were — clearly the conditions played a role in it, to answer your question.
We’ve got to catch the snap. We’ve got to understand that we’ve got to pace that ball back there a little bit. But we found a revolutionary idea that will probably be now the biggest thing in college football. We’re going to put gloves on the holder and that seemed to be the way to accomplish greatness in this game. Unbelievable. I’ve been in this thing for 25 years and we’re coming up with new things every day.
I said how about we try gloves on the holder, has anybody figured that one out? They thought — we’ll get into it later. But special teams definitely we needed obviously to use the pooch kick. We did that on the kickoff when we’re kicking into the wind.
But other than that, I thought Kyle Brindza punted when we were backed up, he came through with a great punt. So I thought we managed other than the two dropped snaps, I thought we managed the special teams very well. We got our first blocked punt since 2010. I thought we did pretty good things in special teams. It gave us a chance to win today.

Q. When you got the ball the last time, I mean, how did you feel about Everett’s mental toughness and where do you think that comes from?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: You know, he’s a winner. I mean, I don’t know what his numbers are, but he’s like — what is he 15 and — 15 and 1 as a starter. And I don’t know how many games he lost in high school but he didn’t lose many in high school either. So the kid’s a winner and he keeps competing and he keeps playing.
And he has a bunch of winners around him. So you never feel like you’re out of it. You just keep playing and keep giving it a shot, throwing the ball down the field. I thought we did a really good job protecting. I think that was really key for us in that last drive. They knew we were throwing it. And they were bringing their stunts and three man games and we did a pretty good job.

Q. Two years ago, continuing on this thread, this is the type of game where Everett probably would have come out and put Tommy in. Now you don’t have Tommy but what difference have you seen in Everett in this exact situation?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: He’s better. There’s no question. It’s the maturity and the development and he’s the guy that’s gotta do it. We’re not going to the bullpen. Tommy Rees is not coming in. He is our guy and he’s got to come through. When he gets in this situation, I think he’s going to be even better than he was today.
I think he missed a couple of throws on that drive and he knows it. He’s going to be even better. This was really his first this is his first two minute drive, if you really look at it. This was truly his first one. And I think he’s going to be better for it.

Q. Going into this one, did you see a bit more of innate confidence because there was nobody behind him that he knew it had to be him?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: No, not necessarily. This whole thing is his. Right? So there’s nobody to turn to. The whole game’s his. And obviously he was disappointed with the turnovers. But he knew that he’s got to come back and he can’t let that affect him. He’s got to keep playing.

Q. Aside from the revolutionary gloves did you say anything to Hunter going back out there for the third time?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: We had a conversation before he went out the third time. And just said, you know, I didn’t want to put Newsome out there and burn up his redshirt. That’s the last thing I wanted to do, really, in that situation and not know whether we were going to whip that thing through his hands, too, then I’m standing in front of you guys and it’s not going to be pretty.
So we said let’s try the gloves. And we had him work on the sideline with them a little bit. He was taking snaps. And he’s a pretty mature kid, you know? And I looked at him and he didn’t look like he was in the tank, if you know what I mean. You know what I mean?
It seemed like he obviously was disappointed, but I didn’t sense like, if I throw him out there, he’s going to miss another one, to answer your question.

Q. I know you say you don’t get too wrapped up in the rankings, but there were some people around the country questioning the legitimacy of you guys being a top 10 team. How big of a statement do you think it was for you guys today?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: I don’t know. I don’t think we beat a top 10 team did we? They’ll come up with something next week, which is fine, you know.

Q. You’ve been doing this for so long. When you have a team that’s this young, to have a win like this, 3 point win right down to the last second, what does this do for the mentality of the team going forward, in terms of believing that they can pull this off?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: You know, I think they take their cue from me and the coaches and we all believe in them and there’s nobody walking around feeling like we can’t win every game we play. It’s going to be hard. And we said this.
We’re not perfect. We’ve turned the ball over again today and we have a jump ball and two man where we should be picking the ball off. That’s ridiculous. I mean, but that’s who we are. We’re a little inexperienced in those things.
But we have great belief in our kids and they believe in us and we believe in them and we’re going to go play every game and with the thought that we can win every game we play.

Q. I don’t know if breakthrough would be the right word but how would you describe the reaction for Ben Koyack to have that big play there at the end there.
COACH BRIAN KELLY: It was huge. It was huge. We were struggling with some of his blocking assignments. He’s so central and critical to what we’re doing in our read zone option stuff.
And he had a lot going on there today. We made some mistakes. And so it was great to see him get a big catch late.

Q. Probably the last thing on your mind now but the last hearings were yesterday, did you hear anything in the last 24 hours about the five players?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: No, I did not. I’ve talked to most of them. I know they’re over with, and we should know something next week.

Q. Stanford’s offense prides themselves on being so physical. What does it mean for your defense, especially with so many young guys to match them and in some cases defeat them physically?
COACH BRIAN KELLY: We’ve developed our program. We should be here in five years. This is where you evaluate your program in five years where year one we got knocked around. I mean, physically. And so this is where you should be going into year five of your program where, even though you lose Tuitt and you lose Nix and you lose Shembo and you lose Fox and Jackson, all these guys playing on NFL teams, you bring the next batch of guys in and they’re physically able to compete with arguably one of the more physical teams in college football. So that’s where you want your program to be after five years.

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Ben Koyack -Sr. – Tight End

Q. Can you talk about the play, and the catch and what it was?
BEN KOYACK: I had a corner route. And I was just running, I broke my route off. I saw I didn’t have anyone playing me inside/out. I saw a safety inside. I didn’t see anyone underneath me. I had confidence that Everett would see me, and he did.

Q. Did you think the ball would ever get there?
BEN KOYACK: It did seem like the ball was in the air for about an hour, but yes.

Q. Biggest catch of your career?
BEN KOYACK: I’d say so, yeah. The catch we needed to make, whether it was me or anyone else. I was just glad that he threw the ball to me and I was able to make the catch.

Q. What does it mean to win a game like this at the end?
BEN KOYACK: It’s great. They’re a great football team. It means all that much more. They fight four quarters. They’re a team that come out hitting you in the mouth every single play. It’s great to get that victory.

Q. What was the feeling in the huddle coming out of that play?
BEN KOYACK: We were all confident. We knew we could execute. We thought we had a good play on. We had all across the board anybody could score on that play. So I was just lucky it was my side to happen break wide open.

Q. Were you worried your feet were out at all?
BEN KOYACK: I didn’t think so. I was kind of just tiptoeing right along the sideline. I was pretty confident where my feet were. Once they brought us back to the sideline, what are they saying, were my feet in. I was pretty confident they were in.

Q. What was the moment like when your teammates rushed you and you maybe realized this really has happened?
BEN KOYACK: It was pretty crazy. Pretty surreal. Probably got hit on the head by some of these guys a lot harder than I expected to. But it was a great celebration. Great to have the guys behind my back, especially after that game.

Q. No concussion like symptoms?
BEN KOYACK: No.

Q. Could you believe how wide open you were coming in like that?
BEN KOYACK: I didn’t think so. I thought first maybe there was another guy that I didn’t see. But then I took a couple more steps I realized there was a safety in the middle and no one else.
It was kind of surreal again. But I didn’t really believe that I was that wide open.

Q. You were signalling for the ball, were you calling for it? What were you doing? You realized how open you were.
BEN KOYACK: I was trying to stay big and stay in Everett’s vision. I knew he was going to see me. I’m not a guy that’s just going to jump up and down. But I had confidence Everett would see me.

Q. People maybe question whether you guys had any legitimate wins yet. Do you think this maybe shuts up some of the doubters?
BEN KOYACK: We’ve played a bunch of great teams. So Stanford is a great team, no doubt. They played us great four quarters. They always play us great. They’re always a great team.
It’s not like any of the other opponents we’ve played have been are easy teams either. They’ve all been great opponents, too. I think people are starting to see we can execute and play well, do just about as anybody who matches up with us.

Q. How good does it feel to have a challenge like this and come out on top?
BEN KOYACK: It feels great. Coaches preach all week about execution. You know we have the ability and we can do it. So to be able to execute when we need to and come out with a victory is something that’s very good.

Q. When you guys put five receivers out there, how tough is that for a team to defend obviously
BEN KOYACK: It’s very difficult it’s not like we just have one person we can throw to. There’s even — if we could put six or seven guys out there, I mean that would be impossible to cover because we have every guy on our team can contribute and do well. So I think that it does present some problems and we like to do that and see what we can get.

Q. What was your route — how did you get so open? I thought they dropped eight. How does a guy get so open against that?
BEN KOYACK: I just know I had a flag route. All I saw was a safety in the middle. I didn’t see where anyone else was. I just kept running my route looking for the ball.

Q. It took like a minute and a half for the ball to get there?
BEN KOYACK: Yeah, seemed like it.

Q. Because of the dampness, the wetness, I mean it seemed like that was the case with both quarterbacks, took a long time for the ball to get to you guys. Is that what you felt?
BEN KOYACK: I don’t necessarily say so. Especially with Everett, I don’t think any ball has taken too long to get there. He has a pretty good arm. I don’t know, I really didn’t feel like throwing the ball, that it affected the timing of the pass. I felt we were still pretty on rhythm with everything we practiced.

Q. What’s going through your head when you realized you were behind the defense?
BEN KOYACK: I was just wondering when the ball was going to be coming. I figured he’d be throwing it to someone else wide open or the ball would be coming in any second.

Q. Did you make eye contact with them at all or was there any kind of communication between you and Everett to let him know how open you were?
BEN KOYACK: No, I just threw my eyes back, and I’m sure once he saw me, he didn’t hesitate to just rocket it out there.

Q. Coach Kelly talked about as the game was going on, you know your blocking assignments, he said you were having a tough time just with all their, everything they were throwing at you guys and how important it was, how did you deal with that?
BEN KOYACK: They were throwing us some weird looks. I had a couple of missed assignments, couple missed blocks. But at the end of the day, we always talk even if we miss a ball, do it full speed.
They give us a tough assignment, I’ll still stick my nose in there, try to go as hard as I can. It’s just something that we’ll watch on film and just get better.

Q. Do you know where you were in the progression, first, second, third?
BEN KOYACK: I’m not sure. It depends on coverage. I’m not sure where I would be in the progression.

Q. Everett kind of struggled. What did it mean to see him make that play after a rough day for him?
BEN KOYACK: I didn’t see Everett struggling. He was making plays all day. I think it was great. It was great for him and great for me obviously and for our whole team. I was glad we were able to come through especially when we needed it.

Q. Were you nervous at all at any point down in the score?
BEN KOYACK: I don’t feel we can be nervous. We really don’t have time to be in all honesty once we’re out on the field all we can think about is executing doing our job. I don’t really think nervous no. I think we were prepared.

Q. A lot of people have run around that word “Heisman” with Everett, do you think that was a Heisman moment to beat Stanford last minute of the game and throw a touchdown to get the win?
BEN KOYACK: There’s a lot more people qualified than me to answer that question. It was a great play by Everett. Obviously it was the right time and exact thing we needed.

Q. Corey said Everett on that last drive, he was calm in the huddle and just moving you guys upfield. What does that do when you have a quarterback who is kind of like, hey, guys, we’ve got this even though your backs are up against the wall?
BEN KOYACK: It’s always nice to have that. You know he’s confident. You know he’s a aware of his abilities and what he can do. You know he’s going to get his assignment. Helps you out to know I’ve got my assignment too because you know he’s going to get it too. He just helps everyone else focus and do their jobs too.

Q. How did you get so open? Can you explain that?
BEN KOYACK: I don’t know. I just read my route and I saw the safety standing in the middle of the field. I kept running, confident that Everett would see me, and he did.

Q. With a ball coming into your hands like that, what’s going through your mind when you’re trying to reel in that catch?
BEN KOYACK: Don’t drop it. I knew how long the ball was in the air, where I was at. I knew there was at least one or two guys coming there. So it was just focus on it. Obviously no reason to take my eyes off it.

Q. You could have called a fair catch.
BEN KOYACK: (Indiscernible).

Q. At the outset of the play, did you see it happening that way, did you kind of feel like that’s how Stanford was going to cover it and you were going to get in a hole in the zone?
BEN KOYACK: Not really, in all honesty. I saw the safety in the middle of the field. I thought maybe I had a chance. I saw where one of their backers played and I saw no one was covering the corner. I thought the ball has a good chance of going out here.

Q. Corey said — I don’t know if he was exaggerating — but when the ball was in the air, he felt like he almost heard a gasp in the stadium. Were you aware of your surroundings at that point?
BEN KOYACK: I wish I could say I could, like I even focus on things, I can hear when the ball’s in the air. But I honestly can’t. I remember the roar after, but I don’t remember anything while the ball was in the air.

Q. What do you think it does for you guys — you played 2012. You know how that team won games on defense. To win a game on offense against a great defense, what does that do for you guys, big picture moving forward?
BEN KOYACK: It gives us great confidence and it shows everyone else on our team that we can execute when we need to and just exactly what we’re capable of. So that just means that when we go out to practice Monday, Tuesday, we just have to focus that much harder. So that we do have the potential to be a great team.

Q. Do you guys feel like a top 10, top 5 team right now?
BEN KOYACK: Especially when we’re running on all cylinders, I feel like we’re a great team. As long as we’re executing, doing well, I think we’re as good as we want to be.

Everett Golson -Sr. – Quarterback

Q. Walk us through that last play.
Everett Golson: It was probably a form of 38. And they had, really, our routes covered. I went to my first read and he wasn’t there. And I need to be — I began to just improvise a little bit. And I guess they busted the coverage a little bit, and I found Koyack in the back of the end zone.

Q. Were you surprised that he was that open?
Everett Golson: I was. I was. Like I said, just based off their coverage, it probably wasn’t supposed to be there. But just thankful that he was for sure.

Q. What does that do for you after a rough day to have that type of play?
Everett Golson: I think it does a lot for our team. I think I would say to be the quarterback here you have to have a tough skin. So I think for me I never really thought that we were going to lose and things like that. I always try to be resilient through the turnovers and things like that. So I think it did a lot for our team.

Q. A lot of people are questioning whether you’re a top 10 team. What does it mean to get a win like this and beat a team that most people around the country see as a threat?
Everett Golson: It means a lot. From the inside, we’ve just got to try to take care of business every time we step on the field. I think the more we do that, I think the outside will kind of speak for itself.

Q. You’ve had a lot of big moments in your career here, but where does this one rank to take down a Stanford team with a last minute touchdown?
Everett Golson: This is definitely up there for sure. Definitely up there.

Q. Did you see Ben catch it, or did you just have to go with —
Everett Golson: Yeah, I saw him catch it.

Q. Before that happened, you’re scrambling around. Crowd behind Ben, thought he was — did you see the crowd behind him at all or did you —
Everett Golson: No, not at all. Like I said, a scrambled around and kind of just saw kind of a bust in their coverage and saw that Ben was wide open in the back of the end zone. I knew I had to get it to him. Tried to put it on the line and get it there as quick as I could.

Q. Where is Ben in the progression now?
Everett Golson: He’s probably No. 2. Yeah, but given that coverage, probably should have been something check downs whatever it was. So like I said, I think it just goes to — I guess my ability to create plays and things like that and the line doing a great job, too. Just staying with me and Ben doing a great job, too.

Q. I’m sure you’re confident in fourth and 11, but there’s got to be some trepidation, too.
Everett Golson: Not at all. I mean, I live for moments like that, seriously. Just going down. When he had the ball, I was kind of expecting the worse, that they would score and things like that. So I was preparing myself for it. And just ready for the opportunity to get it back out there.

Q. You don’t allow yourself to think what if I don’t accomplish —
Everett Golson: You can’t. Once you do that, once you have doubt set in, you kind of — you know, your competitiveness is taken away a little bit.

Q. Seemed like it took a long time for the ball to get to him.
Everett Golson: It felt like the whole thing happened in slow motion. I distinctly remember just looking at my first read and kind of rolling out and it was like real slow and I’m like, okay, he’s open, why are you not throwing it to him. Things like that. But like I said, I was happy for the play for sure.

Q. How does he get so open on the play, I think they dropped eight.
Everett Golson: Yeah, like I say, it was a bust in coverage. I guess the corner’s eyes got too far inside. And like I say, he was just sitting there open.

Q. You said he was the second guy in your progression. Was there anything he did that made you realize, hey, I’m this wide open in the end zone?
Everett Golson: No. I think he just did a great job of running his route and being patient with it. I think that goes back to him just kind of trusting me after I’m scrambling and things like that. Usually people kind of move and get out of place. He still got there, throw the ball. So I had to do my part in that as well.

Q. Were you nervous that his feet were out after they sent it to review and all?
Everett Golson: No, I didn’t think they were, to be honest.

Q. Both Corey and Nick said there was a sense of calm confidence coming out of that timeout and the huddle. Talk about the feeling getting ready to snap the ball fourth and 11.
Everett Golson: Like I said, I mean I love moments like that. I really do. I think I see it more as an opportunity rather than pressure. It was a great opportunity for us to really just showcase what we have in the kind of very exciting moment right there.

Q. How does it feel different than 2012 for you?
Everett Golson: It feels pretty different. Just because how I guess the way it happened. 2012 was a big moment as well, with the (indiscernible), but this is definitely a really big moment for me.

Q. How does it feel to be 5 0 right now?
Everett Golson: Feels pretty good just knowing where we are, in our progression, we’ve still got a long way to go. But I’m not too I guess upset with being 5 0 while we’re still where we are.

Q. You threw 12 touchdowns in almost 2012. You’ve already thrown 13 this year. What’s that say about your development as a quarterback, only five games in and you matched that already?
Everett Golson: I mean, I think it’s partially me. I think crediting Coach Kelly, those guys doing a great job with me. The offensive line, Coach Heistand doing a great job with them. Wide receivers. I like to say that, but it’s really year two and three for them. They’ve been in and they kind of have a little bit more calmness to themselves now. So I think it’s a compilation of everything.

Q. After today’s game, did you think maybe the biggest win for you guys going forward?
Everett Golson: Still gotta be better all around the board, really. I think we did a decent job running the ball today. As far as wide receivers and things like that, we just gotta fine tune a lot of things. I gotta throw it a little bit more anticipation things like that.

Q. Your first two minute drill type of thing at Notre Dame, what does that mean for you going forward in terms of ownership of the team?
Everett Golson: I mean, I think that’s big boy time. Like I said, I think I try to live for moments like that. To be out — I know people may not realize, but I was kind of happy for the moment. Just facing adversity, having the half we did before and still being in it and having a chance to win it at the end, that was big for me. I just embraced the opportunity.

Q. Your defense has played so well. Gave up that touchdown. How much did you want to get it back for them to win the game?
Everett Golson: Definitely did. Like you said, defense did a great job tonight. Holding those guys to 14 points, it’s pretty hard. And we didn’t always capitalize on the things that we should have, when they gave us the ball and great field position. So I was I definitely felt like I owed it to them a little bit.

Corey Robinson – So. – WR

On his emotions after the big win…
“It feels like a movie. When Ben caught that last one in the end zone, I did not know what to do. I was so excited. I am so happy for Ben and happy for our team that we pulled through the weather and some hard, tough conditions. It feels like this could be on ESPN classics later.”

On the offenses ability to come back against the nation’s top-ranked defense…
“I think that it shows that we are a dynamic offense that can make big plays. That was the number-one defense in the country, and we were able to score in two minutes going almost 70 yards. I think that shows that we are dynamic and that we can make plays in situations like this against a big-time team.”

On his role on the team as a go-to target during late game drives…
“It is a great honor to know that with two minutes to go and the team down three that Everett wants to throw me the ball. It is a big-time privilege and it means a lot that my teammates trust me enough to make those plays. I did not make a couple of those plays today but I made enough to help us get the win.”

Cole Luke – So. – CB

On the opportunities he capitalized on for his two interceptions…
“It is something that I knew was coming during practice when I was watching film, but it really is just all about execution and somebody making plays, so tonight I stepped up.

On the defense’s chemistry…
“People had to step up first of all. Like you said, there are a lot of people that we lost, but it is all about how you step up. It does not really matter how great the players were that we lost. It is all about now, and even if we cannot get them back, we cannot play with one player down, so you just have to step up.”

On the defensive game plan to contain Montgomery…
“One thing that was stressed to me before the game is that you have to have no fear. It does not matter what receiver you are going against or what offense. We knew he was a great player, but when the lights come on and you are on the field, it does not really matter. You just have to make plays and play ball.”

Jaylon Smith – Sophomore – Linebacker

On preparing for this game…
“It started with the beginning of the week. Coach Kelly says it all the time — it’s not about rising to the occasion. We got to sink to the level of our preparation. And we prepared so great this week. We all knew going into the week, Stanford week, it’s going to be physical. They are going to try to hit you in the mouth and we just had to match that intensity and penetration was key.”

On perseverance and the breakdown of Stanford’s drive…
“I contribute it to our attention to detail. It starts in prep… typically on that drive, we really didn’t gamble as much as we like to, as much as you guys see, you know the whole game. And I’m not sure if that was a good or bad thing, but, obviously, they got down to the goal line. We were in a situation where we really weren’t expecting them to run, even though they did the same exact thing last year. And we watched film on it all last week, but, luckily, our offense pulled it together at the end and that just brings it back to the greatest team sport.”

On his vantage point of the end of the game…
“Well, initially, before kickoff return, I got on the field. I was just sitting over on the bench and I was thinking one play. Man, one play, we screwed it. But then Joe Schmidt came over to me and was like ‘You know, let’s cheer our offense on.’ And we just rallied around them. We rallied together. And on that play, it was fourth down I believe, and I was just praying to God that we can’t lose this game.”

On teammate Joe Schmidt…
“Joe held up great. It’s not about his physical traits and things like that. He’s going to beat you with his mind. So, him understanding they’re going to run it up right here, he gets an extra step as far as speed and velocity on the play. You know, he’s the Joe Montana of our defense.”

Zach Hoffpauir – Jr. – FS

On the last play of the game……
“I was on the far side covering underneath, so I didn’t get to see much of it. I just saw that the tight end caught it. It was a good play by Golson to stay alive.”

On Everett Golson……..
“He had good command of the game for the most part and made the throws that he needed to make to come out with a win.”

On the defense……..
“I think we played well, but we could definitely play a lot better. I think we have a lot of room to improve and hopefully next game we can figure some stuff out and get a win. It’s on the defense. We have to stop them no matter who it is. Not one play wins a game or loses a game. As a defense we have to play better.”

On the last timeout……..
“We didn’t discuss anything special. We were told to look for a bubble screen, but nothing really special. Just have good eyes and play top down. We were in a cover-3 defense.”

Remound Wright – Sr. – RB

On the draw play that he scored on…
“That’s just a lead play where we’ve got a pulling guard. He comes and kicks out on one linebacker and the fullback kicks out on the other, and we couldn’t draw it up any better than that…”

On the Notre Dame defense…
“They were about what we expected. I’m not sure they were doing much. I think all the fault lies with our offense. We didn’t execute. We had chances to make plays, and a couple inches here, a couple inches there. We didn’t really do that great a job. We stopped ourselves.”

On being back in his home area to play…
“It was fun. It was exciting. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I went to Stanford. I was trying to control my excitement all week so that I didn’t peak too early, especially close to game time. It’s fun. My body recognizes the weather. It feels like football weather to me. I recognized faces in the crowd, faces on the other team. It was everything I could dream for.”

On Jaylon Smith…
“I think Jaylon is a great player. I noticed they moved him to inside linebacker this year, which is a little bit different. The worst linebackers to play against are the really athletic ones, and Jaylon is really athletic and a great player.”

On handling the loss…
“You handle it the same way you handle anything… Grin and bear it I guess. It is what it is.”

Kevin Anderson – Sr. – Linebacker

On team’s attitude after loss…
“It’s tough coming across the country to lose the game. Come here with one purpose to win the game and you do not do that it is frustrating. It feels a lot like two years ago when it came down to the last play and it’s frustrating not to come out on top.”

On defensive play…
“We have to limit explosives. That is one of our main goals: limit explosives. We have been doing a good job so far. That changed the game. We tried to limit them to any points and we gave up 17 tonight so it is on us. We have to give up zero points. If we give up zero points, we win the game. That’s what it comes down to.”

On impact of penalties…
“We have to play our game and whenever we give them extra yards, it’s a huge deal. A couple of those drives were able to keep going because we had stupid penalties, so we have to limit the mistakes and mental errors like that.”

On Everett Golson…
“That guy’s a good athlete. It is not fun trying to tackle him. If you gang tackle as a defense it makes it easier.”

Nick Martin – Sr. – Offensive Line

On how it felt going back out on the field after Stanford’s touchdown…
“Just exciting. That’s part of the game. I was walking down there and saw Ev, and we both just smiled and go `hey we score, we win.'”

On being 5-0 …
“It’s a great feeling. We just want to keep the ball rolling. There’s nothing better than being undefeated. It’s fun.”

On potential distractions in the coming weeks …
“You just have to avoid the noise. We’re a really tight-knit team and that’s just going to help us and make us better. We just have to keep everyone close and focus on North Carolina.”

Joe Schmidt – Sr. – Linebacker

On being challenged and coming out on top…
“I mean, this is what you dream of as a linebacker, as a defense. They run some fun plays: power, counter, tosses, fun stuff. This is so much fun. I stayed on the field. It was a pretty surreal feeling. I really enjoyed playing this game.”

On being active and getting tackles…
“I tried to play within the defense as much as I could. Whenever I could do something outside of myself, I did. But for the most part, I tried to play within the scheme. Try to see what they were trying to attack us with. I think this is a linebackers’ game. I think Jaylon had the career day. This was a fun game for the two of us.”

On being 5-0…
“I can’t tell you how good it feels. I don’t think there’s a word in the dictionary to describe the feeling that I have right now. It’s pretty nice and we’re going to enjoy for 24 hours and then on to the next.”

Stanford Coach David Shaw Quotes

COACH DAVID SHAW: First of all, congratulations to Brian Kelly and Notre Dame. They fought longer and harder than we did. Our guys fought. It wasn’t necessarily clean. The weather was a factor. But it was a factor for both teams. You saw the ball come out of both quarterback’s hands funny. Saw some missed balls that guys typically don’t miss but once again it was even. Two good teams fought all the way towards the end. We had a chance to seal it and we didn’t. And Notre Dame came back and won the game.

Q. What was the coverage on Notre Dame’s touchdown pass?
COACH DAVID SHAW: There was no coverage on Notre Dame a touchdown pass. That sounds sarcastic but he was wide open but there was nobody on him. I know what you’re trying to say.

Q. (Question off microphone).
COACH DAVID SHAW: We didn’t cover the guy that caught the touchdown pass.

Q. How heartbreaking is it for you guys to lose in that kind of situation?
COACH DAVID SHAW: Losing is losing, and when you’re in sports, you win and you lose. We’ve won more than we lost but every single loss hurts.

Q. They lost a lot off their defense from last year. What did you think of them especially from a physical standpoint in this game?
COACH DAVID SHAW: I think they’ve got an outstanding defensive coordinator. He mixes it up. A lot of pressure. We picked up, not as many as we’d like. Our quarterback got hit a lot today.
Give them a lot of credit for their scheme. We flat out missed some things and some things our guys just got beat. It was a great mix. There were a couple of plays that were there to make but we just didn’t make them. I think the counting for the guys they lost, they did an outstanding scheme on the defensive side, and their guys played hard. They played fast. And you can tell they’re very well coached because they’re running full speed where they’re supposed to be.

Q. Just before Ramon Wright’s draw play for the touchdown you had a timeout. What was going what were the deliberations that play, third and 11?
COACH DAVID SHAW: We called the same play. The play clock was running down on us. We moved down there. Had a substitution issue. We got the right guys in the huddle but the play clock was running out. I took a timeout. But we called the same play, which is an option for the quarterback. He read it correctly. They were showing pressure, but he knew they weren’t coming and we handed the ball off for a touchdown.

Q. You had a challenge on the Robinson catch just before the field goal and the replay upheld what the call on the field, were you surprised? What did you see?
COACH DAVID SHAW: I’m never surprised with replay. Disappointed. I thought the ball was the reason I challenged it I thought the ball hit the ground at the same time that the receiver’s hands got on it. I didn’t see him establish control.
Once again, I don’t have the luxury of replay on the field. So I have to trust the guys up in the box. And I know there are different crews, when we come out of conference, we bring a road game we bring our crews and there’s another crew that does the replay. So it’s not the Pac 12 officiating crew, it’s someone else.
So I don’t know what, if they saw something differently than I saw with my own eyes.

Q. What’s your impressions of Everett Golson and how do you feel that your defense handled him today?
COACH DAVID SHAW: I thought outside of a quarterback draw, which is an outstanding call versus two high, I thought our defense did a good job containing him up until the last play. We didn’t really let him get outside. He got outside.
He does a phenomenal job of keeping plays alive. That’s just what he does. And we kind of let him out and he saw he’s got great vision when he gets outside the pocket. Shorter quarterback sometimes that helps them out when they’re athletic like that they get outside the pocket and they can see the whole field and he found the guy in the back of the end zone. That was one of the few plays in the game where we let him get out.

Stanford Player Quotes

Zach Hoffpauir – Jr. – FS

On the last play of the game……
“I was on the far side covering underneath, so I didn’t get to see much of it. I just saw that the tight end caught it. It was a good play by Golson to stay alive.”

On Everett Golson……..
“He had good command of the game for the most part and made the throws that he needed to make to come out with a win.”

On the defense……..
“I think we played well, but we could definitely play a lot better. I think we have a lot of room to improve and hopefully next game we can figure some stuff out and get a win. It’s on the defense. We have to stop them no matter who it is. Not one play wins a game or loses a game. As a defense we have to play better.”

On the last timeout……..
“We didn’t discuss anything special. We were told to look for a bubble screen, but nothing really special. Just have good eyes and play top down. We were in a cover-3 defense.”

Remound Wright – Sr. – RB

On the draw play that he scored on…
“That’s just a lead play where we’ve got a pulling guard. He comes and kicks out on one linebacker and the fullback kicks out on the other, and we couldn’t draw it up any better than that…”

On the Notre Dame defense…
“They were about what we expected. I’m not sure they were doing much. I think all the fault lies with our offense. We didn’t execute. We had chances to make plays, and a couple inches here, a couple inches there. We didn’t really do that great a job. We stopped ourselves.”

On being back in his home area to play…
“It was fun. It was exciting. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I went to Stanford. I was trying to control my excitement all week so that I didn’t peak too early, especially close to game time. It’s fun. My body recognizes the weather. It feels like football weather to me. I recognized faces in the crowd, faces on the other team. It was everything I could dream for.”

On Jaylon Smith…
“I think Jaylon is a great player. I noticed they moved him to inside linebacker this year, which is a little bit different. The worst linebackers to play against are the really athletic ones, and Jaylon is really athletic and a great player.”

On handling the loss…
“You handle it the same way you handle anything… Grin and bear it I guess. It is what it is.”

Kevin Anderson – Sr. – Linebacker

On team’s attitude after loss…
“It’s tough coming across the country to lose the game. Come here with one purpose to win the game and you do not do that it is frustrating. It feels a lot like two years ago when it came down to the last play and it’s frustrating not to come out on top.”

On defensive play…
“We have to limit explosives. That is one of our main goals: limit explosives. We have been doing a good job so far. That changed the game. We tried to limit them to any points and we gave up 17 tonight so it is on us. We have to give up zero points. If we give up zero points, we win the game. That’s what it comes down to.”

On impact of penalties…
“We have to play our game and whenever we give them extra yards, it’s a huge deal. A couple of those drives were able to keep going because we had stupid penalties, so we have to limit the mistakes and mental errors like that.”

On Everett Golson…
“That guy’s a good athlete. It is not fun trying to tackle him. If you gang tackle as a defense it makes it easier.”