Everything Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said before CFP first-round game vs. Indiana

Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock spoke to local reporters in advance of Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff first-round matchup vs. Indiana. Here’s everything Denbrock had to say.

On Indiana’s run defense and what it does well

“I think a couple things. They’re a veteran group. They do a great job of really, the little nuances that make their scheme so effective and they execute them at a really high level. What I mean by that is like slipping to the edge of blocks and using the stunts and different things that they do up front, plugging linebackers. They do a good job of kind of messing with your combination blocks in the run game and force you to kind of block them one on one. And then they do a good job of getting off blocks and running to the football. So, they’ve been incredible this year with the ability to take the running game away from people. And we know, headed into the game, that’s how we’re built. That’s our foundation. So, we better figure it out before Friday.”

On when the Notre Dame offensive line hit its stride

“I think we’re still growing. I think every snap that those guys take together is an opportunity for it to kind of get a little bit better than it was the rep before. And I think they’ve kind of taken that mindset and attitude about getting better and better. And that’s helped them, I think, continue to grow and improve and play more consistent, which is what we need them to do.” 

On Notre Dame balancing its own proactivity up front while dealing with Indiana’s aggression

“Yeah. I mean, it’s tough. It’s a mix. You have to communicate to the guys around you, and you have to have some awareness to handle the multitude of things that they do to take the run away from you. However, at the same time, you cannot lose your aggressiveness and attack mentality about how you’re going to come off the ball and how you’re going to go about doing that. We want to make sure that we’re trying to play football on their side of the line of scrimmage and not play lateral down the line of scrimmage. And that’s a huge deal when you’re talking about all the different versions of what they do that they give you from snap to snap. So, it’s a challenge to keep them aggressive, but also keep them mindful that they’re working as a unit and have to kind of execute that way.” 

On what Notre Dmae needs from Riley Leonard, the passing quarterback

“I think just the consistency that he has really started to show here towards the middle of the year on, probably after the bye week, and just make the plays that are there to be made. They’re a team that kind of mixes up their zones and plays different versions and will jump into man from time to time. We’ve got to be able to be really decisive. They do a good job of trying to make you indecisive with how they kind of flop their coverages and the different things that they do. We’ve got to know where the ball is going. We’ve got to get it out of our hand, and we’ve got to be confident in doing that. If we do that, we’re going to be in pretty good shape.” 

On if the weather affects him as a play caller

“Any sort of extreme piece of weather affects kind of what you do. Whether it’s really cold or whether it’s really windy, or it’s raining in buckets or it’s in a hurricane. All that has to kind of be taken, obviously, into consideration. If it’s a little bit cold and it’s blowing a little bit but not that bad, I don’t know how much that necessarily changes things. When it gets extreme, you obviously have to have contingencies built into the plan that, ‘Hey, you know, if it’s like this, then we’ve got to get to this stuff a little bit more.’” 

On believing he could win a national championship at Notre Dame and the bumpy road to the CFP

[Laughs] “Oh, it was bumpy at times, for sure, as we all know. I mean, I’m just so proud of the players. In as much as winning a national championship and coming back here and helping Notre Dame win a national championship is the goal and will always be the goal, I think as much as anything I’ve enjoyed just being back around the players that choose Notre Dame. And the reasons that they choose them are far-reaching and multiple, and it just reminded me really clearly what a great individual that’s attracted to a great university like Notre Dame and how fun it is to be around those guys every day and work with them.” 

On Marcus Freeman’s contract extension

“Yeah, I’ll be 100% honest with you, I think today, led by the leadership of Marcus Freeman, was what we call around here, ‘bloody Tuesday.’ We went back to work and dug in. And that’s the way I know he wants it to be, and wants the focus to be on the players and on what we’ve got to get done and accomplished as a football team to achieve team glory on Friday.

“I’m very happy for him. I mean, well-deserved. Obviously, he’s done a really, really nice job. And I think that there’s great things lying ahead that are in the works, and he’s been incredible at kind of the stewardship of the program and where this whole thing is driving.” 

On what version of Jeremiyah Love he expects

“Absolutely, my expectation is always for the best of the best to play their best.” 

On if he’s going to have enough work leading up to Friday

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. From a conditioning standpoint, stuff, you mean? He was great out there today, obviously, in bopping around like we expect Jeremiyah Love to, and happy to see him kind of back in the flow. I know he’s excited for the opportunity on Friday.” 

On whether he needs to recalibrate the offense entering the CFP or just hone in on what Notre Dame is good at

“I think you’ve got to be careful in all of these scenarios about getting too far away from what you know you do really well. So, that’s always got to be a nice little piece of it. The extra time can be a little bit interesting. I mean, last night, I kicked the staff out, and it was just me and the board. I have a board in my office that is basically the call sheet, and there was way too much stuff on there. And that’s the danger of this extra time to prepare. It’s like, you know, ‘That’s a great idea. Well, that’s a really good idea. Well, I like that idea too. OK.’ 

“Well, before you know it, it’s like, how do we manage all this? So, there was a nice little purge last night. I’m comfortable where we’re at from that standpoint of not having too much, but having enough that’s different, that it’s going to allow us, hopefully, to not tip what our plans are and how we’re trying to get done what we’re trying to get done.” 

On deciding what stays on the board and what doesn’t

“What hits what’s left of my brain the right way, and kind of what I feel like our kids know best and what I feel like we could execute at a really high level, because that’s what it’s going to take to beat Indiana.” 

On if Notre Dame will have OL Charles Jagusah (pec) available for the CFP

“Charles, obviously, is coming back from injury, and he’s on a progression. I don’t know what that is. That’s for somebody else to kind of answer to. It’s great to have him back out there. I know he’s been champing at the bit for anything that we’re willing to let him do, based on what the medical team says that might be. I just love seeing him back out there, because I know how much he loves playing.” 

On which younger players impressed him in the early stages of playoff prep

“I like [Logan] Saldate. I think he did a nice job. I like our young receivers. I mean, I think there’s some opportunity to really develop those guys over the offseason to get us in a position. I love the quarterback room. I think those guys are going to do a really nice job as we move forward. So, all of our offensive linemen. That’s probably the most inspiring thing that we’ve got going for us. I think there’s a really, really quality nucleus of young football players that are going to get developed as we go.” 

On if he was told in August that Notre Dame had to play nine offensive linemen, would he have thought it would be a Joe Moore Award semifinalist

“I mean, you see this [takes off his hat and shows his gray hair]. Yeah, I certainly would not have, but it’s a credit, obviously, to those players, and then it’s a credit to [O-line] coach [Joe] Rudolph in the way he develops and works with those guys, doing a hell of a job.” 

On if he’s doing anything special to prepare for the game

“Yeah, know, it’s kind of an ongoing process. Listen, it’s a work in progress, like right up until — for me, sometimes — like five minutes before the game starts, believe it or not. But what I like to do is try to get the call sheet as settled as I can by Thursday of game week or so. And then that’s with all the bells and whistles — and this over here — ‘we’re going to do this and make sure we do this and we’re going to present this this way. And I didn’t like this. Let’s change this. Let’s move this over here.’ And that’s a constant ongoing, flowing chart, basically, as the week goes along. 

“And then, when it settles in on Thursday, then it’s time to kind of double back to exactly what you’re talking about, where I’ll throw a game on and call the game. You know what I mean? And see what they line up in and see whether — ‘Ooooh, eeeee, I didn’t like that. OK, well, that was pretty good. Oh, I must know what I’m talking about. Well, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.’ You know what I mean? So, and then kind of double back and just see:  Are we on the right track? Are we in good position? Are we giving them a chance, based on what they’re doing defensively, to be successful? And so, and then it’s a recalibration again, and then the final version kind of gets spit out.” 

On Indiana defensive end Mikail Kamara

“Well, they’ve got more than one really good defensive lineman, but he’s obviously when you get into must-throw situations, when you get into two-minute, when you get into fourth-quarter games on the line, he’s been their guy who’s made plays for them — and big plays. And put people behind the chains with the way he’s been able to kind of get off blocks and manipulate linemen. And we’re going to have to control him. I mean, we’re going to have to find a way to limit his access, not only to third-and-long opportunities if at all possible, but nudge him and chip him and do some different things to try to help our guys out.”