📅 Published on: 2024-12-01 13:09:56

⏱ Duration: 00:33:57 (2037 seconds)

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The postgame show from insideNDsports.com, where former Notre Dame offensive lineman Bob Morton and Inside ND Sports columnist Eric Hansen break down the Notre Dame-USC football game, beginning five minutes after the final whistle. And they’ll take viewer questions live.

Thumbnail Photo by Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sport Network.

🎙 Channel: Notre Dame football on Inside ND Sports

🌍 Channel Country: United States

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

[Music] all right we’re here and we’re ready to do into the end zone my name is Eric Hansen I’m with inside ND Sports he’s Bob Morton he’s with inside Indie Sports and his wife and all his kids and we’re here to talk Notre Dame’s 4935 play college football playoff clinching Victory I feel like I need new deodorant at this point so we’re going to break down the game we’re going to take your questions some of you have already started to submit them so fill up the question Q we love it um and we’ll get to those in just a few minutes but we’re going to start with breaking down the game and getting into some big picture stuff and then we’ll get to the questions so Bob uh let let’s set the stage first Notre Dame ends up finishing 11 and one they will make the college football playoff barring uh tequila Party by the uh selection committee they will host a game it right before Christmas in Notre Dame stadium and with Ohio State losing today there’s a chance Notre Dame could end up all the way to the number five seed now I think realistically the six yeah but it could end up being the five just depending how things play out in the conference Championship games and what happens with Penn State Penn State will probably stay ahead of Notre Dame but maybe not uh and then they’ll play Oregon in the in the Big 10 championship game and that will also perhaps affect the seatings um this was the highest scoring game in the 95 that USC and Notre Dame have ever played and um what just curious what was your season prediction what did you pick as Notre Dame’s record did you have them 11 and one so I did so I actually um I I thought that we were a talented team talented enough to go 12 and0 um but I hedged my bets on the fact that nutre Dame always lays one egg I didn’t expect it to be week two of the Season uh but yeah so 11 and one is exactly where I thought they were uh I’ll have some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups delivered to my desk on Monday from some colleagues but uh but yeah so that that uh again didn’t expect it at NIU but sure sure I’m happy it didn’t happen at USC one thing that we we may or may not get some detail on in the Press conferences and that’ll be on our postgame takeaway show Tyler and I will be talking about that Jeremiah Love did leave the game in the middle of the third quarter looked like a lower leg injury didn’t look super serious I mean he was actually trying to see if he could come back to the game uh but what we might get a little bit of detail on that Xavier Watts did come back in the game and then made a 100 yard interception return after he went to the injury tent so there must have been some magic in the injury tent so Bob let’s get your main take away from the game today yeah you know I think that uh bottom line I knew what I needed to know about our team and our growth from how we started the game I just think um defensively having that fourth down stop early offensively just having a really dominating effort early I’ve never seen Jeremiah Love run as hard as he was early in the game um my answers about the quality of our team was uh was this this is a team that um I’m thankful to be able to watch and to cheer for and uh I’m I’m glad to be Irish um the answers for what kind of season we can have came later on uh you know we’re up 14 we give up uh seemingly another uh touchdown we can’t seem to stop this kind of jump ball on the outside that USC was running um with frequency uh and I I looked to a friend of mine I said you know it feels like this game is slipping away from us but we haven’t trailed and I don’t remember a game recently where an entire game has gone by and our DBS haven’t like stood their ground and so despite it being a game that for a lot of reasons Christian Gray will want to forget he has 99 yards that he’s going to want to remember Xavier Watts uh making sure to fill up the stat sheet for somebody who didn’t make the finalist list for the Thorp award 100 yard interception return finalist for any of the awards that’s stunning I think he had a better year this year he didn’t have the number of interceptions but I think he’s been better this year 100% and last year I felt that he was good but a lot of it there were overthrows and he was just in the right spot at the right time his coverage his Pursuit his play has been better this year a massive step up so while he may not be on the award lists I believe that his stock has only risen for what comes next for him so uh having those you know those two interceptions the way Riley played throughout the entire game with the exception of one throw which was a little baffling to me um was just so impressive his play is why we wanted him to be our quarterback at the beginning of the year and then just uh I mean how many how many heads does the monster of our offense have you can say two you can say it’s love and price but then you have to think Riley Leonard was running for 60 plus yards you’ve got two tight ends with touchdown catches today um you know the receivers weren’t used used as much today but I think somebody complained about that last week we were using them more than the tight ends there was just a lot to be really excited about we’ve got some things to clean up which we can talk about um but man I think an 11 And1 Irish team is not somebody I’d want to be facing over the next couple months let let’s talk about the offense a little bit I know the defense made some big plays and we’ll also get into their play uh but my first question does Billy need to Chang his last name to shru he was Billy shru throughout the game today well well Greg Danielson or Gary Danielson like it was Shu and then Shu and then Shu and he just kept changing it over and over again um you know I gotta be honest with you I um I could not as an offensive lineman be happier like listen I’m glad this game came Thanksgiving weekend I am thankful for Anthony knp Billy however you say shra uh I’m I’m thankful for uh uh uh Anil Wagner and Roco Spindler and Pat kouan like those guys had an amazing game today Anthony knp was run blocking like we haven’t seen since you know first second game of the year entire offensive line was assignment sound for the most part um anytime that Riley had pressure you know in his face it was because they brought a blitz and and he was able to escape it more times than not but I think in the Run game like I think at one point we were up like 239 to 75 and I was just thinking the game shouldn’t be this close because we were so dominant up front right so I I also want to ask you about Mitchel Evans I thought we saw as close to the Mitchell Evans as we saw the 2023 version today with the five catches and I just want to get your thoughts of him both blocking and catching yep yep felt like last week we were starting to see a little bit of it um I would say we saw a very complete tight end package today just from him and Eli RAR and Cooper Flanigan was out there as well but those two guys I love how um you know they mentioned USC bringing the tight end in motion I feel like we’ve done that more this year than anybody else with Eli raren coming and blocking um Mitch Evans is just such a great guy to plan outside a tackle to set the edge but also just the sh hands that he has um we had a third and 10 I think he got nine and allowed us to get a first down shortly thereafter the other thing that I’ll say is you know two things that I saw from him uh he was a little fiery you know when the play was over kind of pushing and shelvin a little bit I love to see that from my tight end and then uh early in the game he caught the ball and tried that spin move back inside which is kind of like the Mitch Evans I shake my head just duck your head and hit somebody don’t try and spin out from every tackle but I think he’s feeling better he’s looking good again peing at the right time he’s not a guy that I would want to try and Tackle one-on-one okay now the defense gave up 35 points today that’s by far the most they’ve given up and they and USC believe at 557 total yards now they went 0 for three on fourth down they were about five of 12 on third down what went right with the defense besides the interceptions what went wrong with the defense do you think yeah I think what went right for the defense is a guy by the name of Drake Bowen another guy by the name of Jack Kaiser those inside linebackers were lot of fun to watch today I think they caught it on camera one time um but Drake Bowen looked like you know Luke Keeley playing for the uh the Carolina Panthers calling out the offensive play before an audible he just saw something in the formation literally told everybody what the play was and then went in and was a part of making the tackle they were just really good and Drake was great in coverage today too um was was just a really great job from the linebackers I didn’t hear myself you know saying Osberry or sneed’s name near as much as I have the last few weeks U and I think some of that could be just the coverage that we were in more times than not because ultimately while our linebackers did really well I think Riley uh Mills had a really good game I’m glad he did not get thrown out um after the the one touchdown he threw a punch that was listen I USC boys can say some things that make you want to throw a punch but you got to have more self-control and that was a big one um and but but I think everybody knows right like Dave you you do have to be better than that because if Riley Mills gets thrown out that’s a huge loss for that front not yeah I mean you’re already playing with really somebody come off the bench and do that yeah I mean you really you’re already playing without Howard cross for any meaningful minutes to then lose your you know your second in inside lineman and the depth that you have you had you know Rubio and hinish playing so many snaps today it would have been devastating for that interior offensive line to try and keep going and they were able to get pressure and stop up the run on some of those short yardage situations a lot of the Run game that we gave up was in longer yardage situations in terms of what went horribly off the rails today it was definitely uh our defensive backfield and more than that it was obviously um Christian Gray didn’t have a good day Jordan Clark didn’t have a good day um I think what we saw with USC and and USC is not just the some of the best skill position of the teams that we’ played so far I think that they have just a really unique ability with Lincoln Riley as their coach this quarterback doesn’t mind getting the ball uh downfield and they’ve got a at least one six foot six receiver and then the other receivers is kind of a jump ball specialist they are able to throw the ball open down the sideline more than any team that I’ve seen repeatedly in college football and so for the most part for Christian Gray or Lenard Moore or Jordan Clark or whoever’s in coverage they know that they just have to stay with the receiver for a certain length of time and then that chaos that constricting pressure of the defensive line the front seven is going to get there today Jaden mava basically dropped back looked right then threw left and the ball was out in sub two seconds and the USC wide receivers were able to get a step on the DBS pretty consistently now I don’t know if that’s something they saw in Gray’s coverage or if that’s something that they just saw he was having an off day and they really started attacking him trying to draw penalties but once they saw they could really get on you know they could stack him on their back hip they just attacked and attacked and attacked I am not scared that that is going to be a regular thing I feel like if that’s going to be a regular thing we would have seen that weeks and weeks earlier uh but it is something that he’s got to find a way to shake that off and kind of get back in the groove of of being the stud Corner that’s locked down half of the field for the entire season yeah a couple thoughts from me on that I I thought Leonard Moore actually played pretty well he had five pass breakups today I’m not sure when I’ve seen that stat given to one player in a game it it’s been a long time if I’ve seen that before and Eric I’ll just say this they were true pbus man like they were him breaking on the ball getting his hand on the ball it wasn’t like he was just pulling on the Jersey and just throwing his hands up you know I mean it was like him breaking up the pass so the receiver couldn’t complete the catch continue I um I want to tell the viewers We Appreciate You loading up the question Q we are going to get to them I have been starring them here’s a couple of uh tips if you’re humorous in your question that’s bonus point and if you don’t make me do more math than my brain will allow I I may consider your question as well there’s a couple more things I want to talk to Bob about before we get to the questions one is do you feel like this game in a weird way helped get Notre Dame playoff ready because they haven’t been playing NFL type Personnel you know USC doesn’t have it everywhere on the field but they have high talent in cluster do you think this was a blessing in a weird high-scoring disguise yeah I do I I think so I I don’t even think it’s in disguise right they were going against an offensive line who’s not great run blocking but they’re pretty solid in pass protection and we were able to get pressure they were going against NFL type wide receivers which they’re going to see maybe uh you know uh mava is not the best quarterback they’re going to face but he played with nothing to lose right I I to be honest I’d rather play an Ohio State’s will Howard who struggles to throw the ball 10 yards down field even though he’s got Elite wide receivers then I would Jordan mava who’s got nothing to lose and is just throwing the ball up you know knowing that his guys can go get it um and so I think that um in terms of personnel it was good for us to play this game I also think it’s really good to be in the fourth quarter and clench and clench pretty tight because you feel like this game might be slipping away I felt it as a fan I know players on that team felt like oh my gosh what do we have to do to get our offense moving to get our defense off the field how are we going to win this game if USC scores are they gonna go for two like all of those things start to come into play from coaches to players they all felt it they all experienced it and they overcame It to Win by 20 14 uh 21 if you don’t include the last second there and so I just I feel as though you have to be ready for that we’ve blown out so many teams that were not up to level when we’re in the final 12 teams we have to assume that 10 out of those 12 or are on our level and so being able to be ready for those tight games in the second half is really important today gave us a step in that direction okay we are going to go to questions now and we’re are going to start with Scott Fagan Scott wants to know what unit played the best today you know I think I could go really easy Scott and say the running backs played the best but I think the running back is such a dependent position so let me say in my opinion the offensive line dominated today I mean you’re talking you know it felt like we we could have had over 350 rush yards if uh Jeremiah Love didn’t go out and obviously jaran price did a phenomenal job when when his number was called as well one yard for Jeremiah Love Away from two 200 yard rushers and Jeremiah Love looked even better in the passing game and so I just think the offensive line um did better on the edges than I’ve really seen them do recently it gives me some hope that we’ve seen some growth from O’Neal Wagner and from Anthony nap but I just love those three veterans inside none of them playing in the original position that they started the year in uh they’ve just done some really really good things creating some creases I I would dare anybody to go back and look at the last five six games of Jeremiah Love hitting the hole um and tell me of a game that you saw him hit the hole harder than he did today he was through these big creases in the defensive line and it wasn’t just his speed it was the fact that the oine parted the Red Sea and he was just Moses and so he just did a fantastic job of doing of of taking what the offensive line gave him so long answer to your short question Scott o line Takes the Cake today D mull has done a marvelous job of rotating these guys throughout the year Jeremiah Love had 121 carries uh going into today Ashton Jenny from Boise had over 250 going into today so he’s obviously fresh at showed up today we got a question from Mike devoy how many snaps did Howard cross play seem like we were getting gashed a lot inside I didn’t see Howard go into the game he warmed up and he was still listed as questionable they didn’t move him off that status I know he practiced a little bit last week my sense when I said this on football never sleeps on Monday was that unless they really needed him and there was no risk of further injury then they would play him but if there was risk of injuring him for the playoff I thought they would hold him out tonight did you see him in there at all Bob no I didn’t and I and I think you know to the second part of your your I guess your comment of your question Mike you know I think that I’ve been really high on Donovan heines you know all year as he’s played in the backup role I think an undersized nose that’s strong enough to hold up in there does really really well but Donovan heines is much more of a gap player than Howard crosses Howard don’t get me wrong can hit a gap in the pass rush but he does so good at being able to take on blocks and make the inside linebackers even more effective and there were three or four times today that the running back hit that defensive front from the USC running back hit the defensive front and then was able to spin out and get nine to 15 yards out to the outside that just doesn’t happen when Howard cross is playing inside he and Riley Mills have some of the strongest grip strength that I’ve seen uh from an interior D lineman and I just feel like that’s where we really missed him Donovan hinish did a great job was causing chaos in the middle there but when you make contact with Howard cross you don’t get away and the running back got away a few times more than we would have liked to have seen okay this isn’t a question this is I need a little Eric and Bob in my life to calm down so before we get to the next question I’ll tell you what I do with my grandkids and Bob Morton to tell you what he does with his kids I take this line from uh an old Saturday Live skit and I go you need a s and they start laughing and they forget why they were all hyper and mad or whatever and that works every time how about you Bob how would you down Brian I well I I don’t I I don’t know this would calm down Brian but my my my daughter K uh used to get really really worked up and not be able to sleep and of course just you know young girl huge huge Taylor Swift fan who has a song called you need to calm down and so that’s what I would tell her to do I’d go say hey go downstairs tell your speaker you know hey Google Play you need to calm down and then all of a sudden Taylor Swift will just sing you to bed and so that worked for her Brian maybe you need a little bit of that in your life too yeah I’ll tell you I uh one time I wanted to punish my grandkids and I started singing it to them and they thought it was good so it didn’t work it backfired okay kicking issues remain that’s kind of a question we’ll say it with we’ll do it kicking issues remain um so Mitch Jeter made all of his extra points today he did miss a pretty short field goal hit the upright and it bounced out um so now Notre Dame is three of 11 including one of five from Jeter since Mitch Jeter had the injury so what’s your level of concern Bob as Notre Dame goes into the playoff with basic Ally you know three weeks be before the playoff game yeah I mean listen it feels like kicking issues remain everywhere all over the country right I mean you just watched the what number two team in the country missed two field goals today that helped them you know drop in the game with the team up north and I I I think that um uh when it comes down to it games will be won and lost in special teams and um Mitch Jeter is not looked the same uh since pre-injury I think it’s something that we have to note I think that um if there’s you know there’s always kind of the the grid The Matrix of when do you go for it and when do you kick it and how close do you need to get in order to kick one at the end of the game I think that we need to adjust the math to understand that maybe we’re not as confident as we were at the beginning of the year um but at the same time I’ve also watched Mitch Jeter you know be able to kick from 50 plus and and put points on the board and so um I jokingly have always said I’m just not a fan of kickers uh because uh I feel like when I’ve done my job to get us to 35 yards you should just be able to split the uprights but uh you know truth be told like we’ve as a team the offense needs to do their job to try and put sevens on the board and all we can do is just ask Mitch and the the kicking unit special teams unit to do everything in their power to get healthy and to be ready to go it’s such a momentary position and I wish you know for you Joe and for everybody else I wish for myself that I could give you some really really like you know uh comforting words uh I wish I could sing you a little song that would calm you down but I just think that we have the type of special teams that can win more games for us then they will lose and I restr on that fact okay I I thought this was funny that’s why we’ve talked about Christian Gray thoughts on Gary gray I mean Christian Gray what a way to bounce back now Gary was after you right or did he overlap you Gary no Gary was after me uh the very next class I think yeah he was he was yeah so um listen this was going around in my text threads during the game too right and the Gary gray reference the Gary gray reference wow Gary gray got beat in uh at Michigan Stadium uh for for the game and so that’s that kind of sticks in the the old the lore of of former players um no this is what I’ll say right like the there are going to be bad games right your left tackle is going to get four holding penalties or give up two sacks or your quarterback’s going to throw a couple interceptions you’re going to have somebody who gets the Yips and fumbles or can’t catch the ball and as a DB sometimes you’re just not going to have it and you’re going to get called for a couple of pis early and then you’re going to be in your own head and you’re gonna get picked on and he did there’s no there’s no way to talk about I think it was the the the touchdown that would that he thought was going to be a back corner throw that ended up being a slant right in front of him you could see him ready to bail try and run with that guy to the corner he was just in his own head he’s um he’s an outstanding young defensive back he’s outstanding in man coverage um he’s got fundamentals to kind of get back to let’s get him you know three weeks of rest get healthy and film study on whomever he’s going to go against and and he’s going to be able to really bounce back listen that 999 yard touchdown interception was a gift for him to take something from this game and USC tried to take that from him by going right back at him the next series I just think that you take this win you take it as a team win you get some rest and you start to get your Swagger back as an individual player and three weeks is the perfect amount of time to do that so bounce back ing game but but I think the next game is going to be the big bounceback for Christian Gray here’s what I think also is key as Notre Dame gets into the playoff they’ve been trying to get Carson Hobs ready to to take some snaps during a game obviously today wasn’t the day to do that tay Johnson as well maybe the extra three weeks will help them but USC threw it 49 times today and they they bring those receivers at you in waves it’s not just the same guys every play they have a deep rotation and somebody brought that up in football never sleeps they wondered if that should be a concern and I think you know that that’s a lot to ask I I don’t remember gray or Leonard Moore coming out of the game today that was a lot of snaps for them to take agreed agreed so okay we will go to this Eric I need a drink or three look um we do not have a rule a no drinking rule on into the end zone so you have our permission to have the drink we not provide it for you because I don’t think we are in the same location as you but you do have our permission and our blessing to drink um Ryan asked about love and price and Ryan is a regular in my live chat on Wednesday and he always asks very good questions about he always picks out who the best players are so I don’t if I have to give out game balls I just go to whatever Ryan says um we’ve talked about Jeremiah Love a little bit already but jadarian price do you think if let’s say if that had been a long-term injury and we don’t think it is that the lower leg injury do you think jarian price is a number one type back do you think he could handle the volume and also handle the all the high stress situations I’m sure they would rotate anas Williamson but what do you think about jadarian if he had to carry more of a load yeah listen I’ve been no I i’ I’ve been uh very loud on my love for Jeremiah Love right I think that um the puns reign supreme when Jeremiah is is When Love Is in the Air or he’s running with tough love but but jaran price is a starting running back not here at Notre Dame this year uh hopefully they’ll find a way to name him a starter with Jeremiah Love in years to come um but the dude’s a stud that there are times that he has looked faster than Jeremiah and he’s not but just the way he hits the hole so angry he just he is so much faster than he looks until he’s running you know out running a corner or a safety from across the field um he has the ability to be an every down type of back in terms of running the football and I haven’t really seen him catch the ball that doesn’t mean he can’t um but it might just be that he’s kind of a first and and second down back I think if this by some I mean again we both saw Jeremiah love trying to see how stable the knee was it looked like it felt like it was a little Wiggly and he didn’t want to test it today which I I totally understand part of the reason why Jeremiah Love didn’t feel like he needed to come back is because he knows that he’s got a brother who can go ahead and take that ball too I think when you look at jaran Price anas Williams kedrin young like you’ve got a Back Field that is a complete backfield I would argue that very easily Jeremiah Love and jarian price are up there in terms of the best onew punch in the country and the only reason that they don’t get called the best onew punch in the country is because we’ve been almost careful about how we have utilized them because they could get 125 each every single game if we designed our offense around that and yet we don’t um but I think that backfield we have is as complete as any backfield I think Del McCulla has done a phenomenal job of making sure that everybody buys into what their role is no matter how big or small and understanding that we’re a part of something bigger and protecting the future of these football players because they’re not carrying the ball 250 to 300 times they’ve got some some uh they’ve got some legs left in them after their Notre Dame careers as well I thought this was kind of amusing so that’s why Jim made the show after the game do you think Notre Dame and US USC should start playing for a trophy called the golden turnover listen I I I think the golden turnover either has to be the Christian Gray interception or uh you’ve got to give it to the Jaden Thomas fumble because I literally was like what the hell just happened I mean like he catches the ball sure as sure-handed receiver as we get and then all of a sudden that thing’s 15 feet in the air so if you’re gonna say there’s a golden turnover today it’s definitely one of those two for two different reasons I’ll I’ll stick with the juls chele which I think is the one they still play for uh but I’m excited that me two years from now they’re going to be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first game in 1926 you know five years from now they’ll be playing the 100th game uh this is a a rivalry that needs to stick around the Big 10 needs to you know figure its stuff out and uh I think listen I want call it this is my this is something from earlier in the in the match you were earlier in the match the show you were talking about what happens with the uh college football playoff I I would be shocked to see us in the five seed I think we deserve it but I do think the college football playoff and college football in general really wants to drive home the point that they want us to be in a conference and so I would be shocked if even if Penn State loses by half a hundred they don’t stay in fifth and keep us in Sixth and uh I hope the Big 10 can figure out this um rivalry between USC and Notre Dame because it’s going to be good for Big 10 as well as it is for college football you know the the six seed isn’t bad you get the 11 which is still going to be a pretty good team then you would probably play the ACC Champion which would be now either SMU or Clemson Clemson lost today yeah but they had finished their ACC schedule they had the tiebreaker with Miami Miami loses so it’s Clemson versus SMU so that’s a possibility there uh yeah just real quick thought on Ohio State losing to Michigan yeah listen I I I’m kind of shocked on that one I feel like the entire year has felt kind of like game for Ohio State they are uh they’ve they’ve got the better Talent on paper they should win every single game they’ve got a guy that I would have dreamt of playing for as an offensive coordinator um they’ve got talent everywhere a little weaker on the offensive line maybe than everywhere else but they just don’t seem to have the Killer Instinct to really get the ball downfield they they kind of play a really conservative game reminds me of a lot of years that Brian Kelly was kind of running things um uh uh you know here at Notre Dame where we didn’t really get the ball downfield a whole lot and we could stay in every game but we weren’t really capable of winning the big one and you know Michigan just they played the Michigan brand of football it’s ugly it’s gross I don’t like to watch it even but defensively they kept the ball in front of them and you know two Miss kicks and and Ohio State drops I I’d be shocked unless Ohio State can win the national title if if Ryan day isn’t moving on some time in the offseason okay well with that I need to remind myself that Bob lives close enough to me that he can put me in a headlock so if you like Bob’s commentary on here you’ll want to read him on Facebook Bob tell us about your column on Facebook and where people can find that yeah it’s Notre Dame strong and true just my kind of my Insider thoughts to Notre Dame football facebook.com strong ND cre and we need to cut this off now because we’ve gone into overtime and I do not want Heather Morton to come after me with a rolling pin so thanks everybody for the great questions and the great comments Tyler James and I will be back later tonight with postgame takeaways everybody have a great time and we’ll see you after the uh playoff game if Bob will join us then of course go Irish [Music]

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