	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 13, 2010

Tommy Rees

UTAH Â– 3
NOTRE DAME - 28

Q. How does it feel to get a win in your first standard?
TOMMY REES: Awesome giving the seniors one last win here at Notre Dame Stadium.

Q. How important was that as a freshman to send the seniors off like this?
TOMMY REES: That was our number one goal. Seniors have done an unbelievable job all year. Whether it be preparing us, keeping us focused, especially in the past two weeks. You know, to send them off with a win is truly special.

Q. Tell us about the approach to the game? What was your mindset during the game?
TOMMY REES: Just prepare, you work hard in the week coming up, and you just want to make plays for your team and not put your teams in costly situations.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, you know in the beginning running out there you get some, but all positive butterflies. You're anxious to play, and once the first series comes, they're all gone.

Q. Did the bye week help to give you more preparation?
TOMMY REES: Absolutely. Having that extra week to watch film, study, and just trying to get some rapport with the receivers helped tremendously.

Q. Talk about the senior leadership in the bye week coming in, because coach talked about they set the foundation. Behind the walls they knew something good was going to happen. Talk about what they've done to make this moment happen?
TOMMY REES: Absolutely. They stayed positive throughout the two weeks. They kept pushing us and pushing everyone to work hard and stay focused and stay locked in, and I think that showed today.

Q. Any one particular senior or some of them that can you share with us how they helped?
TOMMY REES: Practices were physical. The guy that stands out to me is Chris Stewart. He's been here a long time, and he keeps pushing. Me being a freshman, he really took me under his arm and really supported me a lot, especially the O-lineman protecting me, so he's really stood out.

Q. Coach said it seemed like you guys were able to go out and just play today. Have you kind of lifted that burden off your shoulder. Has it been a feeling of pressure or stress and how does it feel now?
TOMMY REES: Not too much. Everyone on the team has your back, and everyone's there to support you. So you don't really feel it all that much. Obviously, you put expectations on yourself and you want to meet those goals, but not too bad now.

Q. Well, like you said, it felt like you guys were able to go out there and play and get back to that. Do you feel like that's how you played today?
TOMMY REES: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It was a blast out there.

Q. That blocked punt started a 28-0 run, basically. Can you talk about the emotional swing when that happened?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, the offense wasn't exactly clicking early on. To get some help from our special teams, you know, Blanton made a great play. He got 7 points, really jump started us. From that point on things started clicking, and it really energized the team.

Q. How much did the package that you guys ran help at all?
TOMMY REES: That was great. We knew we could run the ball, and we did a lot of that today between the line and the backs. Tyler played great. It was great having a nice running game like that. They did a great job.

Q. Talk about the game over two weeks you were over 400 yards and now you're over 100 to get the win?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, absolutely. You'll take a win over stats any day. Taking what the defense gives you and not trying to force anything, just being patient and staying within the game plan.

Q. Did you feel the pressure this being your first start at all?
TOMMY REES: I would be lying if I said a little bit. But everyone supports you when you go out there and it starts to go away.

Q. When did you start to feel comfortable? I think you had a tipped pass early.
TOMMY REES: Yeah, probably right around after the second drive Coach Kelly talked to me and he was reassuring me.

Q. How do you keep this going? You have such a big win today, how do you turn this into a streak rather than kind of an event?
TOMMY REES: You just do what you've been doing all year. Keep working hard and keep pushing forward, just enjoy this week for the next 24 hours.

Q. Can you put into words how big of a win this is for your team? When you factor everything together?
TOMMY REES: Probably not. Put the seniors out with a win, to be a ranked opponent for the first time in a while and being here at Notre Dame, it's just really special.

Q. Did the game plan help relax you a little bit? Coach said at some point we're going to have to run the football, did that help you? You knew what the game plan was going to be, did that help you settle in?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, having that running game there and like I said before, they did a great job. Really took some of the pressure off the quarterback. Yeah, absolutely.

Q. What was more pressure today, from Utah or trying to get out from underneath all the student when's they came out on the field?
TOMMY REES: Utah did a great job and brought pressure and all that. But once the fans storm the field you see how special Notre Dame is and how great the fans are. It really shows a lot.

Q. Anything you want to work on for next week that you saw in this game?
TOMMY REES: There are always things to work on. Once I watch the film and dissect it, we'll go from there. But absolutely, there's always something.

Q. Did you need to ease into it?
TOMMY REES: Obviously the first couple of drives weren't that great for us offensively, so kind of just happened that way. Just going with the pace of the game, and things started clicking there. After that it was good.

Q. Were you surprised to go for it on fourth down in the first series?
TOMMY REES: Not really, you know. Coach is aggressive and he has a lot of confidence in us, so, no, I wasn't too surprised. The whole offense wanted to. We wanted to keep going.

Q. How did your captains kind of -- as the game went on it seemed like you got momentum. Can you talk about your perspective how the game went in that regard for you personally?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, starting off slow and then things started rolling. Threw a first touchdown and you're feeling pretty good from there on.
From there on out you just keep working and everybody is supporting you and has your back. Things start going well.

Q. Was there a play you made in this game that really just kind of told you that you're getting the hang of the offense? That the things are starting to click?
TOMMY REES: Probably the first touchdown to Duval. It was a great play call, and all the receivers and the line did a great job. Little bit of a different readout there and to get him open and make the throw from that point on, I felt pretty confident.

Q. You've got to tell me about those signs?
TOMMY REES: You know it's something that we put in this week.

Q. What are they, are they like defensive personnel?
TOMMY REES: I don't know if I'm going to get into that, but they help us a lot. They're fun, but also very helpful.

Q. What are they? We can't really see them from the press box?
TOMMY REES: It's a basic sign with about four different pictures on it. It will be anything from a six pack of Coke to Doublemint gum, I think there is a picture of Rex Ryan on there, some funny things, a turkey. Yeah, there are some pretty random stuff. Alex Flanagan's on there, so, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible)?
TOMMY REES: Throughout the bulk of the season I've been working with the ball. So we have a good chemistry and connection, and he's worked extremely hard to put himself in this position. As a senior he deserves everything he's got today. I kind even put into words how great he played.

Q. Did you get a sense that you can kind of crescendoed into it?
TOMMY REES: I don't know if I went that far thinking about it. But, for me, just keep working hard and keep building rapport with receivers.

Q. Just overall when you look at the game, how do you feel about the way the whole day went for you?
TOMMY REES: I couldn't be happier. Getting the win is the most important thing. To send the seniors off I'm ecstatic.

Q. Can you talk about your offensive line? It seemed that you had plenty of time?
TOMMY REES: Absolutely. They did a great job up there. They get a lot less credit than they should. They deserve everything and more that they get said about them, and they did a great job out there.

Q. One thing I'm curious about, the offense seemed to be clicking until the defense is absent. So basically did you feel it on the sidelines saying I need to --
TOMMY REES: Yeah, that blocked punt for touchdown really helped the offense out because we were struggling, and jump started the whole sideline and the team. From that point on we started rolling, so...

Q. How important was it to get the extra win?
TOMMY REES: Tremendous. Watching the film, being with coach and all the guys, just working on timing and all that it was extremely helpful.

Q. Is there any particular part of this game where you know that kickoff really shows it?
TOMMY REES: There are a lot of different situations in the red zone especially, we had a good idea what they were going to do and we looked to exploit that and things like that down there.

Q. Can you prepare for something all week?
TOMMY REES: Absolutely. You do that all year. The bonus week is good to get your legs back and a little relaxation time and to stay focused on football. Now we've got to come ready to work on Monday and prepare.

Q. Key block, Michael Floyd, is that what really got your offense going?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, that long run by Jonas set us up for that touchdown pass. Mike threw a block for him. And that just shows he's willing to do the little things to help your team. And that goes a long way when one of your best players is making his best plays.

Q. Up to that point, the way the game was designed, very low-risk game. Is that how a guy makes it, right?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, he can influence the game in so many different ways, and that block showed his versatility and play-making ability.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
TOMMY REES: I don't think we had any turnovers, as long as you take care of the ball like that, you put yourself in a position to win.

Q. From your perspective, why is a day like this not a surprise?
TOMMY REES: Everything goes on behind closed doors. The guys' morale never went down. People stayed positive and kept working hard. And you see everyone out there every day at practice, and seeing everything they're giving, a win like this doesn't come as a surprise.

Q. Is it important to show it off he though?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, absolutely. You know, we all knew we could do it. And to come out here and make plays and continue to work puts a lot of confidence back into us.

Q. A huge difference throwing 54 times as opposed to throwing 20 times, that was really the game plan? Did it limit some of the pressure on you?
TOMMY REES: Yeah, we wanted to run the ball, and we did that. And throwing was effective down there towards the second half but the tight ends and running backs did a great job within the game plan. We didn't turn the ball over and that was one of our goals, so that was great.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297