Northern Illinois | Player Postgame Press Conference (9.7.24) | Notre Dame Football

again please raise your hand so you can acknowled and get you a microphone we'll start with on your right Riley to your right seven or eight rushes on that first drive including the touchdown did did you get were you Limited at all the rest of the game I think you only had about maybe three or four more designed runs no I don't think I was limited uh that's just kind of how the game worked out but I was feeling I was feeling just fine the rest of the game and that last Drive they brought pressure was it something you expecting they bring pressure were you looking for perhaps a little bit more of a prevent defense on their part um on the on the very last field attempt Drive yes um they they bluffed a zero look one time but I was expecting them to bail out like they did so um yeah it it was as expected right um that's that second interception today what did you see on that play yeah just completely bad read uh that that single high safety was attaching to the to the inside post um thought he would attach again bad eyes bad feet bad ball it's going to result in a pick so uh can't happen completely my fault uh I got to fix it and it starts at practice I got I got to have better practices all week got to be more disciplined with my eyes um and yeah I got to clean up my game all around if we want to win win win football games and then you left the pocket a couple times today was that the pressure you were feeling or just lack of options downfield no I don't think it was a lack of options downfield I just got to be more disciplined with my eyes and my re and my my progressions as a whole um you know obviously I have full faith in my offensive line they I thought they play really well I just got to be you know do a much better job of sitting in that pocket and going through my whole reads Riley I'm curious how do you how are you feeling after that game and um I guess what do you see that went wrong in your preparation or could have gone better for you yeah um you know how I'm feeling obviously you guys could probably imagine so I dive you know into that too much but uh I think it's it's a motivation so so you know you can mob around for a while but tomorrow you got to wake up and go on to the next day uh so that's what we're going to do Riley when you have the highs that you guys had last week to the low of this week how do you rally the troops to to get ready to go for next week yeah uh you know I think everybody's going to be looking at me so uh you know how how I approach today how I approach tomorrow how I approach this afternoon uh is going to be indicative and and hopefully people will follow how how I approach things obviously all all the eyes are on me so um I got to lead by example right now thank you thank you guys how we doing on the left Howard Howard I what did you feel how did you feel like you guys prepared for this game and and what did you feel like was the issue in the first half for the defense um um I mean I was already telling them like I've specifically uh damage control I've been up here from Marshall I've been up here for Cincinnati and I say the same thing right we need to prepare like they're one of the one of the best teams in the nation I don't care if we go against them I don't care if we go against Alabama that's how we need to prepare and we did prepare we need to really lock in on what we need to focus on from the top down we all need to really want know what we want and I think we do and I'm going to say the same thing I say every time we know we're a good team and we can be a good team and I I full confidence in that building off that Howard obviously come back for for an additional year a lot of you guys came back for an additional year to have a special season and here you are one and one how frustrated is that locker room considering all that I mean what we're one in one all we still got 10 games left or bad at math four games we make the playoffs right this isn't the end of our season and we know that yeah this sucks right we know that everybody knows all our fans know that we know that like we all of our coaches and everybody top down knows that but I told I'm going to tell yall what I told everybody use that use what everybody's telling you everybody's going to you're going to be hearing it all week like we suck all right use that because all due respect seven days we're on the field again so are we going to be like all right d I guess it's over game two or are we just going to keep rolling and I think that's what we're going to do is keep moving also on your right third row back Howard ni was able to rush for 190 yards today what were they doing so well up front to kind of get those uh that production sorry say again sorry NIU was rush for 190 yards today what were they doing up front to get that kind of production um I don't know stretches trick plays like not a mean way like we we knew we're more physical uh like physical strength uh speed of them so they needed to use something to try and you know catch us off our guard uh trick us or uh get under routes and everything like that and again and was a good team and was a really good team they got they got a good front they have a really good running back that's also really that's also he's definitely going to be playing on Sunday I'm just saying that right now but they're a good team with any good team we need to make sure we're we're ready for them on your left Howard you mentioned you know you've been here before whether it was Cincinnati or Marshall as this game was progressing was there anything you were sensing on the field comparable to those games you and did you do anything to try to change the outcome oh yeah no when when this I think the earliest one yeah I've been here for a minute uh the earliest one maybe Marshall I think when we had this sort of deal uh no it was Toledo which oh jeez uh four years ago five years ago we were playing Toledo and like the game was on line and like uh they were they were driving down we were supposed to stop them or they could have won um and like I I'll never forget like it was a hey we're in a dog fight like oh yeah no like they're keeping up with this oh yeah no like they're be like that that doesn't do anything for us like all right we're in a dog fight that's how that's how we have to roll and that's honestly how we started to feel uh towards the end of the game and I was making sure all the older guys who have been in this spot are making sure all the younger guys and we have we have a young Team all the younger guys were in that sort of mindset so and as one of the leaders on this team and as upper classman who do you lean on this week to try to get everything to come back back together um again I I I lean on the leaders like I'm a leader but the leaders I lean on Riley I lean on I lean on Freeman like I I told Riley I told all like the other guys I told I talked Freeman outside like yeah this is awful but like game two we got 10 games left at least like we we got to move because this is we literally just started the season so if we're if we're done then that's it but that's not us and I know that's not us so we're going to come out strong next next week and I'm I'm honestly I'm excited I really am excited for next week so thank you Xavier what did you see from niu's offense that was giving you guys trouble um they just outplayed us I mean uh I don't know we just you know miss hackles you know some Miss assignments uh you know they popped a couple explo posive plays on us that hurt us uh so you know kind of just how played us in that aspect and then the the final drive where niu's going down there what what's the message to the team how are you guys trying to Rally to to stop them there yeah you they a tough situation you know they're in filo range just fourth down you know obviously he's just trying to get a stop you know just trying to grab the ball try to attack the ball as much as we can you know like I said it's a hard position so just try to make the best out of the situation like you said just get a stop and you know give offense a chance zavier similar question they asked Howard a lot of you guys came back for for another year when many of you could have decided to go go pro how much does that yourself included how much does that add to the frustration of being one inone at this point uh it's not like entire I mean obviously it's frustrating we lost but it's not like I don't know if you're asking me if I'm like regretting it or anything but it's not like I'm regretting the decision at all you know I I came back cuz I I know I believe in this team you know we're going to come back and you know bounce back from this at the end of the day you know we lost we're one And1 but we got to figure out what the problem is and we'll come back stronger what do you do as a leader as a captain to get this team ready for next week to make sure that this doesn't spiral yeah just bring the young guys up older guys uh just bring the whole team together like I said we're one one we have to accept that fact but we still have 10 more games uh long season ahead of us so just get ready for the next week and just continue to improve Xavier and what point did you realize that this game was not going to uh be the same from what you might expect against opponent like this was it when they scored their first touchdown or what point you realize that this game you know might not be might not have the best outcome uh I really didn't have that thought necessarily I didn't you know wasn't like all right we're going to lose this game or anything I mean obviously they came out and they scored and you were kind of like all right These Guys these guys are ready to play so you know kind of opened up our eyes uh took us a minute to get going but um you know it wasn't anything negative in my my eyes or our team teammate's eyes you know we just wanted to find a way to win and we didn't find that way to win so and obviously Northern Illinois got the better of you so how do you expect to strategize for a more talented offense like Purdue yeah like I said just come back in the film film room uh clean up watch this game clean up our mistakes figure out what we did wrong and then you know start preparing for Purdue uh obviously they're going to try to exploit some of the things that happen this game so just get ready for anything that can come at us sa thank you thank