What Notre Dame Said About Penn State Ahead of the Orange Bowl

The Fighting Irish discuss Penn State's run game, how to defend Tyler Warren and the significance of the Orange Bowl.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard celebrates with fans in the stands after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

FORT LAUDERDALE | The Notre Dame football team arrived Tuesday in south Florida to finish preparations to face Penn State in the Orange Bowl. The Fighting Irish are pursuing its first national championship since 1988 and will need to beat Penn State to claim it — just as they did that season.

Before putting a bow on their local work, the Fighting Irish met with the media to discuss the Orange Bowl matchup with the Nittany Lions. Here's a sampling of what they said.

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock

On Notre Dame's offense: I think we're very confident with what we can do offensively. It doesn't always appear as a well-oiled machine, but I think the players have a lot of confidence in each other. They have a lot of confidence in what we do. We've got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot and execute a little bit better, but we're fully capable of doing that. And then some of it's on me. I think I gotta cut loose and let these guys play football a little bit too. We are a true, balanced offensive unit. There's a lot of talk, and obviously about our run game has been kind of what leads us and should be, but the improvement that we've made throughout the year in the passing game, and our ability to do that when we've needed to, has what has really kind of helped us become more consistent overall offensively. And there's a lot more there in the tank that hopefully we can tap into here down the stretch.

On how running back Jeremiyah Love is doing: Very well. I mean, he practiced the last couple days. Obviously, we want to get him to the game so we weren't running his wheels off the last couple days. But every day it gets a little bit better, moves a little bit better. I know he feels like he's gonna be ready to go.

Penn State defensive coordinator Al Golden

On what it means to be playing for a chance at the national championship game: It means everything. I mean, that's why you do it. It's hard to get here. People think, when you get here, you'll be back next year. I don't take anything for granted at my age. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and just staying focused, just staying humble, just staying in the moment, not worrying about anything, whether it's the fact that I went to Penn State, or anything on the outside, just concentrating and just being really, really focused on the moment and being the best I can for these players. They deserve that.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard

On the team's focus: I think we're all ready to go. Luckily, being in a 12-team football playoff, we have been able to experience a bowl game already. We hosted one at home, and then we went to the Sugar Bowl, and now we're here. So, we've been through this once already, and we kind of get how things work, which helps us out a lot.

On staying focused: Yeah, Coach [Marcus] Freeman said it the other day. He said that there's only four teams with the opportunity to practice even in college football right now, and we're one of those four. So everything that we do, just remember the opportunity that you have right in front of you. We're one game away from the national championship, but we're treating this game like it is the national championship. And we're putting all the marbles into this game, not on any hypothetical outcomes. But it's definitely a cool feeling to be here.

On how the team is different than it was after the loss to Northern Illinois: I can't even recognize that team, specifically me as a player and as a person. I think my head was in so many different directions. I didn't really understand the magnitude of being a Notre Dame quarterback. I always tell people, I thought I knew what it meant to play quarterback here. We don't really know what it's like to play quarterback at Notre Dame until things go bad and there's like a lot of weight on your shoulder here. But I was able to take all that with a grain of salt and just focus on the work, because I always say the secret is there is no secret: Put your head down, go to work and good things will happen too.

Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts

On whether he has seen a player like Penn State tight end Tyler Warren: Definitely not. For a player that big, he moves pretty well. He has pretty good feet, and like I said, he's a physical guy. But no, we haven't played a tight end like him at all.”

On defensive coordinator Al Golden's impact: I think it starts with his level of care. You've got to have coaches that obviously really care about you and really buy in to the way what he's trying to coach us in this game. I just think that care factor and who he is as a person just inspires everybody in the team. And we all go out there just play for him, because of the type of energy he provides.

On Penn State running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton: I'd say they're both really good backs. They are a little bit different and they both run really hard. I'd say I think Singleton is more speedy. I think he is a little more of a speed-type guy. And then Allen is more of a downhill type of back. I think it's a little bit similar to our running backs. Jeremiyah Love is more like a speed type of guy, and Jadarian Price, he's a downhill guy, but he's not as downhill as Allen. I think [Allen] really, like really wants contact. So, I think that there is contrast between the two.

Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser

On Penn State's running backs: They're really good backs: big, physical, fast and don't go down with one hit. They're really good all-around backs, and they complement each other really well. And so as a defense, you'v just got to make sure you don't give them a lane. But then when you get there you've got to bring your shoulder pads, you've got to bring your feet with you, and all the boys have got to hunt together, and everybody has to have that pack mindset.

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