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UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE


November 30, 2013


Zach Martin


Stanford – 27
Notre Dame – 20


ZACK MARTIN:  It's tough.  Chris is a tough competitor.  A very good friend, as you all know.  Again, we had guys step up and they were ready when their number was called.

Q.  Big matchup today for you.  How do you think you held up?
ZACK MARTIN:  I thought we did okay.  But we didn't make enough plays when we needed to.  We were a play or two short.

Q.  What are your emotions, some of the things going through your head?
ZACK MARTIN:  It's tough to play a team like this, which we love playing this team, I know they like playing us.
To lose a close one, it's tough.  We wanted to come out here and win, so it's very tough.

Q.  Given all the guys you're missing, how does 8‑4 sit with you?
ZACK MARTIN:  Not good.  The whole country is dealing with injuries, it's not just us.  We've never used that as an excuse and we never will.
We got to deal with it, play with the guys we got.  I know no one came here to be 8‑4, so we got some work to do.

Q.  What do you think the seniors' attitude will be in terms of bowl destination?
ZACK MARTIN:  I mean, we want to go and win our last one.  We got one more game together.  This team has worked too hard to not go out and play the right way our last game.  We'll go where they send us.  But we like to go where it's sunny out.

Q.  How do you think the new starters did?
ZACK MARTIN:  To have four guys in the O‑line, first‑year guys, on the road, speaks volumes to them, the way they prepared.
I'm very proud of those guys for stepping in.

Q.  How important was Tommy in getting them the right looks?
ZACK MARTIN:  I think he was unbelievable tonight.  A lot of our big plays were checks.  It's a chess match out there, especially with these guys.  Tommy was up to the task.

Q.  As far as playing that chess match, was tonight above and beyond what Tommy normally does, one of his better performances?
ZACK MARTIN:  I mean, he's been great all season.  But, yeah, tonight you really saw.  Hats off to Stanford, they're a great team, well‑coached.  You have to bring your A game, especially at Tommy's position.  Very proud of him.

Q.  Not happy with 8‑4.  What do you think went wrong big picture‑wise?
ZACK MARTIN:  Just execution.  You look at the games we lost, it was stupid mistakes.  It comes down to execution.  We preach that.  It sounds cliché, but we preach that.  At the end of the day you have to take care of the football, score when you're in the red zone, little things like that.

Q.  One more game left in the program.  How do you think the state of the program is going forward?
ZACK MARTIN:  I think that's one thing that's good.  The senior class did a great job in leading them in the right direction.  We're very confident in the younger guys.  We know Coach Kelly has this thing going in the right direction.

Q.  8‑4 is not a disastrous season; there's certain things you can take away?
ZACK MARTIN:  Obviously you're never happy at 8‑4.  Disappointed with the season.  But, you know, we got the right guys here and the right guys that bought into Coach Kelly's system.  As long as they do that, they'll be fine.

Q.  Previous losses this season you guys have felt like you left something out there.  Did this feel different?
ZACK MARTIN:  No.  We left plays out there.  At the end of the day, we didn't expect to come out here and get beat.  We expected to win against a good football team.
At the end of the day, Stanford made more plays than us.  Executing a situation here and there, may be different.  But hats off to them.

Q.  How much better were you tonight than last time you were out here?
ZACK MARTIN:  Very proud of our young guys.  When you're out there in the third and fourth quarter, we have four guys who never started this season, on the road against an opponent like this, speaks volumes to the way they prepare.
To see what they did, it's very good.

Q.  Where do you want to play a bowl game?
ZACK MARTIN:  Wherever they send us really.  Like most people, don't want to play in the snow.  But if we play there, we'll be happy for it.

Q.  Did you talk to Watt after the injury?
ZACK MARTIN:  Definitely.  Don't know his diagnosis.  Hopefully he'll be better.  He's a great competitor.  I know he would have been going if he would have been healthy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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