Everything Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said before Week 2 vs. NIU

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to reporters about the Week 1 win over Texas A&M and the upcoming Week 2 game against Northern Illinois. Here’s what Golden had to say.

On playing single-high man coverage for much of Week 1 at Texas A&M

“Honestly, it was the way the game unfolded, and then [A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein] did a lot of different things than he did at Kansas State. So it was, ‘Okay, how do we make this picture calm for our guys and let them play fast.’ So that was the impetus for playing more of that. But as you guys know, we like to mix it up and it just got to the point where we just weren’t mixing it up as much as we wanted to, and a couple times, it hurt us. So I’ve got to do a better job of mixing it up.”

On the young defensive backs and linebackers playing fast

“It means a lot to them. If you’re around those guys, like, Adon Shuler is a football guy. Jaiden Ausberry is a football guy. Kyngstonn [Viliamu-Asa is] a football guy. Do you know what I mean by football guy? They’re hanging around, they’re watching film, they’re asking questions during games, they’re pulling up the iPad when they’re in their dorm. That’s who they are. The challenge is different every week so that would be the biggest challenge for those young guys.

“You just had two cycles to get ready for the opening game. Now you have one cycle and a whole different scheme coming in. That is the challenge for those young guys you just mentioned.”

On Christian Gray’s fourth-down pass breakup to seal the game

“It was a big play. It wasn’t even a good call, to be honest with you. Christian just read it really well, had great vision. We always say, ‘Break through the junction point’ and he did that. He wasn’t lateral. He broke exactly how we would want him to break and he has every much entitlement to that ball as the offensive player, and that’s what he did. He stepped in front of it.”

On throwing Texas A&M quarterback Connor Weigman off his game

“It was the marriage of rush and coverage. We didn’t get sacks, per se, but we got him to scramble five or six times, which was big. We were good on third and fourth down. So if you win those downs, you’ve got a good chance in the game. 

“The offense putting pressure on them at the end of the game made a big difference for the Notre Dame defense, just because of what has to transpire now with three minutes to go in the game or two minutes to go in the game as opposed to being 13 all. When we talk about complementary football, that’s it right there. The offense goes down, makes some big plays, gets a run, block, score. And we go out, four-and0out, we get the ball, kick a field goal and then we go three-and-out to end the game. That was a good ending for us as a team.”

On playing nickel to stop the pass and not being as concerned about yards per carry

“I want to stop the run as much as anybody, but not at the expense of giving up explosive plays. We didn’t really give up many explosive plays in that game. A couple.”

On Texas A&M’s first play, a 15-yard completion

“I was thinking about that call for three days. Terrible call. Break it down. Third-and-long three or four times and they ran the ball. That’s a function of — two carries at the end of the game for 12 or 13 yards. Three carries during the game on third-and-9, third-and-10. Okay, go ahead, if you want to run it for three yards, go ahead. Punt it. 

“It’s really not a function of …like, we couldn’t just go down there and blitz and stop that run but now we’re a jump ball down the field. Every game is different. if you go into this game [Northern Illinois] and so, ‘Don’t worry about the run,’ they’re going to run the ball for 300 yards. It’s like playing Navy. They have a lot of great running schemes.”

On the evolution of his defensive philosophy

“It’s about points, it’s about eliminating explosives. What causes you to lose? Who and what causes you to lose? No. 3 [NIU wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph] can cause you to lose on that team. The running back [Antario Brown] can cause you to lose.”

On if there was a point in his career where this philosophy took hold

“Oh, I don’t know. That’s just the way — I’ve probably taken a lot of [expletive] for it over the years, but that’s it. I’m just saying it’s about total points at the end of the day. There are certain categories you have to win. I would love to win the rushing one in addition to those other ones but not at the expense [of winning the game].”

On Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills being a vocal leader

“No doubt. I sense more confidence, more of a vocal element to him. Just comfortable in who he is. That’s the biggest thing about leadership. Rylie is comfortable in his own skin and knows who is, and the guys respect that.”

On if Notre Dame had any helmet communication issues or glitches

“Yeah, there is. It’s hard at times. We’ve just got to keep refining it and getting better. I’ve got to do a better job with the linebackers at times. We’ve just got to keep getting better at it.”

On if the technology stayed online the whole time

“Yeah, it did. It’s always a concern but yeah.”

On Jordan Botelho’s growth and Notre Dame’s desire to bring him back for 2024

“Arguably the best performance the other night. He played really well. He played with high energy. Here’s the thing about Jordan right now: He’s playing fast. He’s not making errors. So he’s eliminated all the distractions from his game and he’s just playing really hard. He’s playing with energy and he’s playing smarter football. It’s resulting in a lot of really good plays.”