Al Golden transcript: What Notre Dame defensive coordinator said about preparing for Georgia

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to local reporters Friday afternoon, in advance of the Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

Here’s everything Golden had to say.

On preparing for a quarterback without much game film on him

“There’s 80 plays this year, so that’s a sufficient amount. More importantly, when he came into the game, did they change their structure or did he execute the system that’s there? That’s usually pretty telling that they believe he can execute the system as it exists. Certainly, there’s things that every quarterback when compared to another does differently or has strengths compared to another, so we’re looking at what he did in those 80 plays, and then obviously what he’s done in his past.”

On the offense around Stockton

“The system is a great system. They have talent around him: three running backs, three or four tight ends, excellent wide receivers that can beat you down field vertically. There’s a lot of weapons there.”

On overcoming personnel losses like Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills

“We just don’t flinch at the end of the day. We feel badly for whoever has been injured, in this case Rylie. Rylie’s meant a lot to this program, and the Coach [Marcus] Freeman Era — not just necessarily our defense, but the era itself. Just being a leader. He’s improved so much this past year. Really just in about every category he’s improved. We feel badly for him, but at the same time, we just don’t flinch. We move forward. It’s time for somebody else to have an opportunity, and I know they’ll be ready.”

On Gabriel Rubio’s evolution this season, from missing spring ball to his injury in fall camp to now

“He’s done a great job. First of all, Gabe plays with a ruggedness and a high motor. The screen play that he made the other day on the perimeter that forced a third-and-3, that’s kind of emblematic of who he is as a player. High-motor guy, will turn and dig it out hoping to get to the ball and make a play. In that particular instance he did. We love Gabe. He represents a lot of what we’re looking for: just tough, rugged, fighter, competitor and has great size, too. We’re excited for his opportunity.”

On how he graded Notre Dame defensive tackle Howard Cross III in his first game back from injury

“Good. We’ll look at this like game one to game two for Howard. We expect a big jump for him in conditioning and really just about every aspect. He looks so much better right now. He’s more comfortable. I can’t speak for him, but it looks like he’s not in pain anymore. We appreciate him gutting that out the other night. He’s markedly better now. We just can’t wait to let him go.”

On if he’s ever been a part of a team as aggressive on fourth downs as this Notre Dame team is

“I don’t think. It’s not just that he goes for it. It’s the timing and the structure of it. It’s the execution of it. Because anybody can go for it, but if you don’t execute, you’re getting booed off the field. He’s got a lot of trust in all three phases, and obviously that comes to fruition in his choices on fourth down.”

On if Freeman checks in with him regarding field position on fourth down

“No. I wish he would check with me once in a while [laughs]. No, we have those conversations during the week, and really on game day he makes the call. And you don’t want to have that discussion at that time, because people are always looking or it’s on the jumbotron and you’re having a discussion and all that. I don’t know what’s the best way to say it. Everything he calls is measured. It’s not superfluous to the situation. It’s not just because I want to cause a stir. There’s a measured discipline behind it. It’s great to see.”

On if he called many fakes as a head coach

“I called a few. He definitely has called a bunch.”

On what he’s seen from Notre Dame defensive tackle Armel Mukam

“First of all, good size. He’s gained a lot of weight since he’s been here. You’re talking about a guy who was a really good athlete at 255 pounds as a freshman that’s grown into whatever he is now, 290. Just playing hard, has learned the defense, playing with more confidence and being comfortable. He’s gonna have to give us meaningful reps on whatever day the game is, on Jan. 1.”

On Georgia’s run game having untapped potential despite not being statistically dominant

“Balance. I just think they’re balanced. It’s all about winning the game. I always say on defense there’s a lot of stats that people want to discuss, but it really has nothing to do with points, getting off the field on third down, creating takeaways or being good in the red zone. At the of the day, that’s what matters. From their standpoint, whatever they’re averaging a game pointwise, it’s a great number. The reality is it’s all of those components coming together. It’s not just running. It’s running that sets up the playaction that creates a shot for a tight end or a receiver. It’s a third-down back coming out of the backfield. They just have a lot of different ways to get to it. I’m sure they look at some of their screens as runs, even though they go in as passes. Or some of the different little ways they get the ball to the back. That’s just a different way of getting to a run. I don’t look at it like that. I look at it like they have explosive potential at running back and obviously three good ones.”

On Notre Dame and Texas having the top two pass defenses this year, and looking at what Texas did to Georgia in their two games

“We look at everything, to be honest with you, and just decide what fits our system and what’s a step too far for us. Ahh, that’s just going to cause us to slow down. Let’s do this instead. Let’s tweak X, Y, and Z. Let’s put so-and-so here instead of there. That’s kind of more like how we look at it. Everything starts with who and what. Who? The players, in this case a number of really good tight ends, backs out of the backfield, wide receivers. And then the what. The what is the challenges that their offense and their offensive coordinator and play-caller present, which is significant.”

On determining Stockton’s weaknesses despite limited reps

“I don’t really look at so much what they struggle with. I just look at what we have to defend really well. I don’t see any decrease in terms of what they’re going to ask him to do relative to the offense. He has the skill set to do everything that they’ve done all year.”

On where he’s seen growth in Drayk Bowen’s game this season

“Just steady. Consistent and continuous improvement. Really, really hard concept for young people. Really hard concept. Easy to talk about, but really hard to do. To be the same guy every day, and to continue to progress and make the journey. He’s a big linebacker. Most people don’t realize how big he is. He’s probably closing in on 240 pounds as a second-year player. So, he’s got strength. He’s got lateral quickness. He’s calling it better when he does have the green dot. He’s so much better with his hands and getting off blocks and seeing it. Just really excited about him and for him, because he’s put a lot into it. But I would just say consistent growth and continuous improvement. It’s really, really hard to do, and he’s achieving that right now.”

On Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray bouncing back against Indiana after struggling against USC

“He bounced back. Again, most of that was my fault, to be honest with you. I keep saying it. You keep asking it. So, I’m going to keep saying it. Most of it was. It was my fault. I put him in a bad position given the circumstance, and I had to rethink some things. I put him in better position the other night and put him in better position for a lot of games this year. Didn’t do a good job against USC. I’m sorry it manifested on his plate. It should not have. But at the end of the day, he showed his mettle when he made an interception and saved the day for us. God bless him. Great kid. Fighter.”