The Top 10-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish are preparing to take on the Top 25-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers this Saturday afternoon inside of Acrisure Stadium at 12:00 PM. This is their first trip out to Pittsburgh since 2020 and only their second time facing Pitt under head coach Marcus Freeman. In Freeman's first matchup in 2023, the Irish won 58-7 in South Bend. Notre Dame is currently riding a seven-game win streak and looks to keep that alive against their final ranked opponent of the regular season.
In order to do so, you'll need your dudes to step up on this business trip. Today, we heard from Notre Dame's offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, linebacker and captain Drayk Bowen, left tackle Anthonie Knapp, star running back Jeremiyah Love and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. They all talked about their improvements throughout the season and the outlook on their matchup with the Panthers.
You can watch the full press conference here:
Here are some of the quotes from today's post-practice press conference:
Joe Rudolph On Overcoming Injuries
"I think, no matter who's in, you're training them with the same expectations," Rudolph explained. "If you're in, you're on. Your job, if you're working as a second teamer or a third teamer, you're trying to better your best and set the tone for the whole group if you can. I think our guys embrace that. Our older guys coach the heck out of the younger guys. Guys have been forced to learn multiple spots; you just appreciate them for those things. Hats off to the guys that have worked while they waited so when they stepped in, they had a chance to match the performance levels."
Anthonie Knapp On What Makes Pittsburgh Good
"I have a lot of respect for them," Knapp stated. "I'm excited to play them this Saturday. I think they do a great job of being physical. I think that's something their head coach really instills in them and I think they take a lot of pride in that. They do a good job of taking advantage of offensive lineman that aren't disciplined. That's why practice and our preparation here is so important. We're busting our butts Tuesday and Wednesdays to be ready for those guys. Like I said, I have a lot of respect for them and I think they play aggressive, fast and they play that way all the way through the board."
Drayk Bowen On Blocking Out The Rankings As A Captain
"For me, it doesn't really matter because if you lose, you're done," Bowen explained. "We just have to get better today, tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. You go out and perform on Saturday. That's been the way that I have been thinking and I know a lot of our team has as well. We have to get better today and keep getting better as we go."
Jeremiyah Love On Pittsburgh's Rushing Defense
"They have a great group of players that want to compete," Love said. "I heard their head coach preaches to be violent and so on and so forth. It's a great group of players; they're just a great team in general. I'm looking forward to competing with them and taking some shots with them. But they're a great group of guys and they have a great mindset. I'm ready to compete."
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