Nov. 17, 2001

Final Stats?|? Quotes?|? Notes?|? Photo Gallery

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Sophomore quarterback Carlyle Holiday
On the three first-half Irish turnovers
“I feel we can correct those mistakes. But we just cannot turn the ball over, especially in the red zone.”

On winning today for the seniors
“We really wanted to go out and win for the seniors today since it was the last game in Notre Dame Stadium for them.”

Sophomore tailback Julius Jones
On the significance of the victory
“Any time you play Navy, you know it is going to be tough, but today we earned a victory. If we hadn’t win today, it would have been a big disappointment for us because we had two weeks to prepare for this game. We really needed this win.”

Senior tailback Terrence Howard
On his performance this season
“It’s been a rocky season. The highs have been as high as they can be and the lows as low as they can be, but I’ve just tried to listen to the coaches and take advantage of my opportunities.”

Senior defensive end Anthony Weaver
On the team’s halftime demeanor
“We were pretty quiet and confident. We knew what we had to do. In the first half, we had some busts on defense, which are going to turn into big plays against a team like Navy. Their quarterback is a talented guy and if you give him a little bit of a crease, he is going to break one.”

Senior defensive end Grant Irons
On playing his last game in Notre Dame Stadium
“It was really emotional out there at times. I really enjoyed my time here. I enjoyed playing with a lot of great players and coaches.”

Navy Head Coach Rick Lantz

On the game…
“Our kids fought as hard as they could for a long, long time. Obviously, the Irish kids played hard, too. We wish we could have some plays back. I know I am being optimistic, but I really thought we would win this game. I know I am the only person who thought this, but I felt we were going to come in and win. This was the first game all year that I got a sense from the kids that they were ready and felt good about going into a game.”

On potential game turning points…
“Anytime you make a stop down there (deep in your own territory), those are turning points. Defense wins games. They simply took advantage of the times they came up with those types of stops more than we did.”

On field goal at the end of the first half…
“I really think momentum was on our side at that point. I wanted the kids to get something out of that drive. We thought very seriously about going for the touchdown, but we wanted to make sure we got something. I did not feel confident that we could take another shot at the endzone and possibly come away with nothing. The thinking was the same for the field goal when we were down 11. We needed to get a field goal at some point and we had to get points there.”

On the game’s significance…
“This is a big time atmosphere. Any time you come to South Bend to play it is big and you have to get up for it. I wanted the kids to pay attention as we were driving in and sense it all. I wanted them to absorb all the sights, smells, and sounds. I wanted them to realize how special this was. It is special and when Navy beats Notre Dame again, it will be special for these kids.”