Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly addressed the media after a 12-7 win over Louisville.
On the areas in which Notre Dame struggled against Louisville:
"They took care of the football. I think I had commented earlier in the week that I thought they had beaten themselves, quite frankly, and they could very easily have been 4-0. They played like a 4-0 team today. We withstood that. I think the things that we have to do better, obviously, if you watch the game: red zone. Obviously, we've got to score touchdowns and not field goals. Then we got to get off the field on third down.
"So those are the two things that we talked about. We got to be better there. We'll certainly spend time in those two particular areas working to be better and more efficient."
On the play of Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book against Louisville:
"Certainly, there are things that he can get better at but, look, he wins. I get asked the same question each and every week. He's a winner. He wins football games. I said he hasn't lost at home, and when it's time to make plays, he made huge third-down conversions on this last drive. So when the game's on the line, you can count on Ian Book to come up and make big plays for us. That's a good feeling to have."
On where this Notre Dame football team needs to improve going forward:
"It's really early. We're still developing our wide receivers. We're still developing from a defensive standpoint, getting our personnel back. We had a number of defensive players out. I think it's almost game two for us, in a sense, because of our stop and then restart. So it's pretty early in the season for us. We're gonna be a better football team as we continue to grow and develop.
"This team is nowhere near where it can be and where I think it will be. But we know that we're going to have to improve in certain areas on the offensive side of the ball and defensively."
On how the weather impacted the game:
"When there's a 30-mile-an-hour wind, that doesn't necessarily help. No excuse, they had 30-mile-an-hour winds, too, but they weren't as explosive as an offensive as they normally are. The weather conditions weren't great today and conducive for that. But it's like anything else. When you're dealing with a team that loads the box, you got to make some plays on the perimeter. Kevin Austin's got to make more plays for us. Ben Skowronek's got to make more plays for us on the outside. Javon McKinley, he's got to make more plays for us on the outside. Braden Lenzy was limited today with a soft tissue injury. He's got to make more plays."
"Those guys have to be involved. Today wasn't probably the best day for that, but those guys got to make more plays on the perimeter for us. We're running the ball effectively enough, and we're getting some good play from the tight ends. Those guys got to continue to grow."
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