What Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said about Duke
Most of the questions Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker took from reporters Tuesday night at the Irish Athletics Center centered on the Ohio State game. That made sense. If you’re tied to the Fighting Irish football program in any way, you can say you’ve gotten over the last-second loss to the Buckeyes but deep down there are still thoughts and feelings of heartbreak and what if stemming from what happened at Notre Dame Stadium that night.
But, alas, Notre Dame has another game this week, and it’s another big one, too.
The No. 11 Fighting Irish (4-1) go on the road to face No. 17 Duke (4-0) in a 7:30 p.m. ET primetime matchup that will be preceded by the first ever appearance of ESPN’s College GameDay for a football game. Here is everything Parker said about a Duke defense that ranks 16th nationally in yards allowed per game.
On the Duke defense
“It’s a ton of respect for them. It’s right back to attacking a top five defense. They are great at every level of their defense. Up front, second level of backer, their back end, two special players back there to rotate and make fits for them. They show up on tape everywhere coming from the roof in blitz fits and all those things. Tremendous amount of respect. It’s a tough challenge on us again. No rest time for us. We got to get prepared and make sure our guys are ready to go because this is going to be a tough task for us down there.”
On how much Ohio State prepared Notre Dame to face a team like Duke
“I think they all do. NC State made us take a step with physicality and how the fit ya and how aggressive they were to lead to Ohio State and now this one this week with no time to rest and take a breath. They do a great job. [Duke head coach Mike] Elko is familiar with this place and he does a great job. So those games and those fits and those moments and how good and aggressive they are as a defense prepares these guys to let them know, hey, this is a tough task. So it’s going to be a struggle, and we’re going to embrace it and continue to grow and get these guys in positions to maybe be the best versions of themselves.”
On if he heard from former Duke head coach David Cutcliffe after the Ohio State game
“I didn’t. I know he was watching. He’s a football fan. I love him to death. I didn’t hear from him on that one. I think sometimes in tough ones everybody ghosts ya.”
On learning from Cutcliffe when Parker was an assistant at Duke
“When you’re around a guy as offensive-minded as he was and ahead of his time as he was with offensive football, how he treated the relationship of skill players to the quarterback and how the program has to take care of the development of the quarterback, it’s invaluable. Being there around him to see him do that was something that I’ll always keep with me. He was brilliant.”
