Quick-hitters: Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees on Clemson, play action, Drew Pyne

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees spoke to local South Bend reporters Tuesday night ahead of the Fighting Irish’s game vs. Clemson this Saturday.

Here are some key quotes from Rees’ media session.

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On the Syracuse defensive line vs. that of Clemson

“Syracuse, their challenges were much different. I think going into that game they were No. 6 in the country in total defense. But you look at them, and you’re like, ‘Well…’ But then you watch them play. That nose tackle, he covers two gaps like that. There was so much stunting and moving up front. That’s what created a lot of the issues. Their backers were fast, athletic and could cover some space.

“Now you look at this [Clemson] front, and you’re looking at prototypes across the board. You’re looking at 11, 98, 5, 3, 7, 55 — those guys all walk in the room and, OK, that could be a first-round pick. These guys are a little more, ‘We’re going to move a little bit, but we’re going to line up and put our hand in the ground and play aggressive with you and play through you.'”

On potentially having to throw more vs. Clemson

“We’re prepared week in and week out to play the game the way it needs to be played. If we needed to throw it around last week, we would’ve. That wasn’t the way the game was dictated. We have full belief in our guys’ ability to get open and the ability to get them the ball. It’s all dictated by the flow of the game.”

On Notre Dame right guard Josh Lugg

“The best he’s played. The most consistent he’s played. Lugg is kind of a heartbeat guy nowadays. We’ve been here six years together which is odd for me, but it’s good to have him around. He’s playing his tail off. He’s a leader. I think the one thing about Lugg, I was talking to [Chris] Watt a couple weeks ago about him, and he said he prepares better than any offensive lineman he’s seen. To the point where he will come up to you and go, ‘Oh, that was play 24 from the Boston College game.’ You go, ‘Yeah, I think?’ He’s that prepared. There is a reason why he’s had a time to have success on the field. Obviously the consistency is showing now. He’s been a stalwart.”

On Notre Dame’s propensity to use play action

“You’ve got to pick your spots a little bit. Sometimes what the defense does dictates how much action you can use. Last week, a lot of movement. We’ve had some success with some of the gap-scheme stuff. But with all the movement, you probably stay out of it. You look at the Carolina game, that was probably heavy play action. You look at BYU, probably a little more there too. It’s always something that is in the plan. You want to marry it with what you’re doing in the run game as much as you can.”

On Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne

“We don’t want to drop him back 30 times. That’s not the intent. There are some extension throws and things we got to clean up. We feel like we kind of have the code to get Drew back to playing in the right spots and getting him in the spots he feels most comfortable in to get him going.”

On the INT intended for Michael Mayer

“It’s so important to know where your outlets are. If we get the perfect look and have the right call, great, we know where to go with the ball. But if the defense changes its picture on you, can you adjust? Can you react? My back is here, my outlet is here, the safety is there.

“That’s a two-high throw. We got two high. Him and Mike were on different pages. He threw it high. Mike bent it in. He kind of knew that. If he knew that, that’s when you throw to the back. Or throw it out of bounds. We just had a big play to Deion [Colzie]. We’re plus-50. We’re trying to get in position here. Those are just young quarterback learning moments that are critical to getting him better. Obviously, you’d love for them to happen in practice. But he’ll get better from it.”