Everything Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said before facing Army

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to the media Tuesday night before the No. 6 Fighting Irish (9-1) face No. 19 Army (9-0). Here’s everything he said.

On the differences between Army and Navy

“That’s the first thing we cautioned the staff and the players about on Sunday is to think there’s going to be a continuation. There’s not. This is a clean break. This is a different DNA — how they formation, how they are structured, where they want to attack the ball. So, it’s different.

“There’s certainly some crossover. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying overall the MO is different than Navy. That’s what our guys are trying to get used to right now; that speed, that tempo and where they’re trying to place the ball.”

On Army’s speed

“They’re executing really, really at a high level irrespective of the opponent. Their efficiency right now is through the roof, positive yards, everybody’s targeted correctly. Obviously, the whole thing goes through the quarterback. He’s making great decisions with the ball. The fullback’s a tough out — two of them. They have the components where they need. And more than anything, they’re utilizing their strengths.”

On Notre Dame preparing for Army’s triple-option

“No. There is elements of that for sure. But there’s also a lot of elements of like single wing, if you will, where the quarterback is the runner. He does a very effective job. He plays with poise. He knows how to hit the hole. He allows his blockers to set up. Then he’s a tough out if you’re one-on-one. You gotta wrap him up, and you gotta get multiple hats to the ball.

“To put it in perspective, you’re talking about three different realms. We got the traditional option that you’re talking about, you got the single wing run game that he’s basically the ball carrier and they have a lot of hats in front of him, and then they have the gun stuff that Navy was doing. It’s just formationed a little bit different. They want to accentuate what they do best, and I think they do that. That’s why they won 13 in a row.”

On Notre Dame’s approach to stopping Army QB Bryson Daily

“We gotta wrap him up. We gotta find ways to get him on the ground. We need multiple hats there. It all starts up front. We gotta direct the ball where our extra hat is and not allow them to gain an advantage at the point of attack. That’s what we’re working through right now.”

On the health of Notre Dame’s defensive line

“I’m gonna be honest with you, I don’t really comment on the health of the guys. All I can say is everybody was rotating in today. We’ll see how the week [goes]. But if there’s health questions, usually Coach will address those on Thursday, I think. There’s no update there other than who we practiced with today is who we think is playing in the game.”

On playing at Yankee Stadium

“Growing up in the shadow of New York City, my dad worked there at 2 World Trade for a long time. So visiting up there as a young kid and going to a Yankee game or those type of things. All that’s great. None of that’s gonna matter at 7 o’clock Saturday night at the end of the day. We had a good start today. We love that we get to play in venues like this. But the opponent is our chief concern right now, and it’s a really good Army team.”

On evaluating Virginia film with this being a triple-option week

“We moved quickly. UVA had a bow on it at about 9 a.m. Sunday. You gotta transition quickly. We sent our notes to the players on Sunday, and basically Monday was Army. That’s just what it takes. In the transition the coaches did a really good job, worked really hard to get the plane off the ground, if you will, today. We’ll go in and grade it right now and see where we’re at. What do we like? What do we don’t like? What do we gotta fix? Then we’ll plot a course from there.”

On the Notre Dame secondary creating turnovers

“They’re really well coached. There’s a standard there, and there’s leadership, which is really important. Even a guy like Ben Morrison, who’s not playing for is, is always around. He’s out at practice. Hopefully, there’s a tradition starting to boil there, starting to brim, if you will. I’m hopeful of that. But the standards are high. They practice at a really high level. They’re communicating, and they’re playing together. It’s really hard to do to get four or five guys playing together consistently, but right now they’re doing that.”

On the Notre Dame secondary’s mindset and play being contagious

“You used the word contagious. It’s a standard. There’s a standard, and [Xavier Watts] sets the standard every day. There’s other guys. We talked about Ben earlier. But now it’s Adon [Shuler] and hopefully they’re passing the torch to the next group. But if you’re a young guy here, there’s nowhere to hide. You have to understand what it takes and the preparation that’s required to play at a really high level.

“You guys do all the PFF and all that. I don’t do any of that. You guys know we don’t play one coverage for 80 snaps. We just don’t. We’ve never done that. To do that, you have to be really smart, you have to work at it and you have to communicate, because you’re going in and out of different things. Coach [Mike Mickens] does a great job with those guys, which is awesome.”

On how Xavier Watts sets the standard

“Just look at his availability, his durability, the way he prepares, the way he practices, the communication. His walk-throughs right now are phenomenal. Most of our Thursdays are walk-throughs. It’s hard to discern if it’s walk-through or is this a real rep because of how animated he is and his communication. All of that, it’s easy to look at him. He doesn’t talk very much. But he just plays at a really, really high level.

“The great players, everybody says, make plays. The great players are in the right position and they cash it in. That’s what he’s doing. He’s always in the right position. When the opportunity avails itself, he cashes in on it. He’s not chasing an interception and it goes for 50 because he’s in the wrong spot. When he’s in the right place, he capitalizes on it. That’s a great lesson for young guys.”

On scoring average including an offset for points the defense scored

“Have you watched Army yet? You guys gotta have a beer and talk about that. I’m trying to stop this quarterback.”

On the Notre Dame defense’s mentality to put points on the board

“Obviously, we always talk about taking the ball away, score or set up a score. That’s really important. Any time we can get a short field or by virtue of special teams get a short field for Coach [Denbrock] and that crew, they’re going to capitalize on it. We would be silly not to have that as part of our goals every week: score, set up a score and take the ball away.”

On Notre Dame safety Rod Heard II

“You used the word reserve. We’re going to play him in two or three spots in the game and collectively the aggregate of that is gonna equal a starter. Those reps are going to equal a starter. He’s been selfless in terms of that. He’s bought into what we’re doing. He’s improving. He’s improved over the last month. I told him his practice, his keys, his vision, his break on the ball, all of those things have improved. And we do ask him to do a lot. He’s a nickel. He’s a safety. We played him at corner a little bit. There’s a lot of different things that we do with him. He’s just, ‘Yes sir,’ and gets better. I don’t know where we would be without him right now to be honest with you.”

On if having Watts influences the way he calls a game

“Oh yeah. For sure. He’s an eraser. He sees the field really well. He reads the quarterback really well. I also know that if there’s a hard call versus a hard look, he’s gonna get us in the best possible situation. That’s the biggest thing. We were just talking downstairs about empowerment. Just empowering those guys to make a decision on the field, because you can’t always be right on the sideline. But if you empower them to make a decision — Hey, let’s check here. Let’s check X, Y and Z instead of A, B and C — all right, great. That really saved it. Sometimes that’s what people can’t see.

“I think of the fourth-and-2 last week. If you go back and look at it, it was Rod and Jack [Kiser]. They decided that they were gonna do a combo on the Y halfback, because of the presentation. We couldn’t tell them that before the snap. We didn’t know what the presentation was gonna be. They both matched it, knocked the ball down. Those are the little things — the unit strength, the working together, the collaboration — that’s what makes a powerful defense. I think our guys are learning.”

On Jack Kiser fighting off a cut block for a sack

“Impressive. I told him. I grabbed him yesterday and said — I don’t want to say the exact way I phrased it, but that’s big time. Big time. The flexibility, the agility, the suddenness to get back on your feet and then to close that space and finish it, that was an impressive play.”

On Army’s Noah Short

“They’re very — I don’t want to say sharpshooter mentality with their pass game, but they are. They’d rather wait for the right look or right moment and make you pay. They do a really good job. That’s the challenge on the eye discipline. He’s a big part of that. 87’s (Casey Reynolds’) a big part of that. Then the lateral game, whether he’s the pitch phase or he’s running some kind of reverse, same thing. They wait for the look, and then they get him in space or they get him on the look that they want. He’s explosive. We’re definitely aware of him. He’s part of that group of guys that we have to stop, for sure.”