JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Notre Dame prepared for South Carolina’s best.
Even if the No. 21 Irish (8-4) don’t get the No. 19 Gamecocks (8-4) in peak condition, head coach Marcus Freeman wants Notre Dame to know what South Carolina is capable of in Friday’s Gator Bowl (3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN).
“When you prepare to play a team, you want to prepare to play the best, what you've seen them put on film being their best,” Freeman said. “The last two games they've shown they can beat any team in the country.
“That's our challenge. That's the team we're going to face. We'll see what happens (Friday), but that's what our mental preparation has to be.”
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South Carolina showed it could take down top-10 teams Tennessee, 63-38, and Clemson, 31-10, in the final two games of its regular season. However, the Gator Bowl Gamecocks will be without 10 starters due to NFL Draft opt-outs, transfer portal departures or injuries.
“Players improve, injuries, opt outs, transfers, things like that happen,” said Notre Dame left guard Jarrett Patterson. “... This team played really good football. They beat two top-10 teams, and they play with that swagger. It shows on film. We're going to have to come out ready to play (Friday).”
South Carolina’s Gator Bowl depth chart is missing five starters on offense and five starters on defense from its pregame depth chart prior to the Clemson game. That many players will also get an opportunity to prove themselves in expanded roles, which could lead to a motivated effort.
Freeman made sure his team’s practices featured a lot “good-on-good,” meaning ND’s offensive starters went against its defensive starters. It created extra challenges beyond preparing for South Carolina solely through scout team work.
“That forces you really to be able to execute off of your fundamentals, off of your basic schemes, basic concepts, and not just always try to attack a different opponent's tendencies,” Freeman said.
That’s because those tendencies could be thrown off by different personnel.
“You don't know what you're going to see,” Freeman said. “We don't know what we'll see (Friday). We'll have an idea. We'll have the base concepts that they do on offense and defense and special teams, but we obviously have to prepare for some different wrinkles and things we haven't seen.”
That shouldn’t be new to Notre Dame’s offensive line, which routinely faces adjustments in an effort to counter a unit that can be dominant when everyone’s on the same page. The Gamecocks will be without starters Gilber Edmond, a defensive end, and Zacch Pickens, a defensive tackle.
“With certain opt-outs, especially on their defensive line, you expect wrinkles, guys moving positions," Patterson said. "At the end of the day, we still have 12 games of film to watch to understand their running schemes, pass rush moves, third down schematically.
“At the end of the day, it's go out the first couple series, figure out their game plan is going to be, and just making the adjustments on the sideline.”
South Carolina can’t have too good of a grasp on what Notre Dame’s passing game will look like either. Sophomore Tyler Buchner did play most of the first two games of the season before suffering a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for the rest of the regular season, but he did so in a passing offense built around consensus All-American tight end Michael Mayer.
Mayer led the Irish with 67 catches, 809 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches. No other Notre Dame player had more than 30 catches and 340 receiving yards (wide receiver Lorenzo Styles) or three touchdowns catches (wide receiver Jayden Thomas).
“You lose that crutch, right? At some points, when in doubt, you throw the ball to 87,” Freeman said of Mayer. “Well, he's not out there.
“It's been excellent to see what coach (Chansi) Stuckey has done with that wide receiver room, see those guys elevate, take advantage of those opportunities. You never know on a pass concept or pass call if your number is going to be called. You have to make sure you're running your routes precise, expect to get the ball. It's been good to see those guys in practice.”
As for the one delivering them the football? Freeman didn’t exactly temper expectations. Buchner might not need to carry Notre Dame’s offense against a suspect South Carolina run defense, but you never know. This Gator Bowl blind date might be unpredictable.
“He's been magnificent in practice,” Freeman said. “He's done a great job of leading the offense, which to me it's not just throwing the ball, right? When you're the quarterback at Notre Dame, it's gaining the confidence of those guys around you. You're the leader of that group."
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