Notebook: In a week of hype, Freeman directs Notre Dame to the fundamentals
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maybe Marcus Freeman’s favorite question in his Monday press conference previewing the fifth Top 10 opponent he’ll have faced in the first 19 games of his head coaching career was the one he wasn’t allowed to answer.
It was about 2025 four-star quarterback Deuce Knight verbally committing Monday and making it public right about the time Freeman was making his opening statement.
“The day started off pretty well, you know,” Freeman offered without referencing exactly why. “It’s good. It’s good.”
Only to be later to be asked about specifics, to which responding in detail would have constituted an NCAA no-no.
It’s safe to say that the second year Irish head coach, facing alma mater Ohio State for the second time in less than 13 months, is hopeful that it serves as a tone-setter for a week that concludes Saturday night with his ninth-ranked Irish (4-0) clashing with the sixth-ranked Buckeyes (3-0) at Notre Dame Stadium.
It’s also a good bet Freeman isn’t the same coach in game No. 19 that he was in game 2 of his reign at the top of the coaching hierarchy at ND and his first regular-season game in that role. That helped the 37-year-old navigate a press conference nudging him toward superlatives and hyperbole by focusing more on the nuts and bolts of a game that could truly alter Notre Dame’s postseason destination.
Manage privacy settings
Related content
► Meet Obi, the shirtless junior student who fired up Notre Dame Stadium
► Notre Dame football lands Deuce Knight, top 2025 dual-threat quarterback
► Notre Dame football injury report: JD Bertrand, DJ Brown cleared to return
► Notre Dame football depth chart projection for Ohio State game
► Analysis: Notre Dame's 8 most compelling players in the Ohio State clash
---------------------------------------------------------------
Like the missed tackles and plentiful penalties in a slow-starting 41-17 home win over Central Michigan on Saturday, the latter pushing the Irish down to 66th nationally among 130 FBS teams in fewest penalties per game (5.8).
That included roughing-the-passer penalties assessed to defensive tackle Rylie Mills and vyper end Josh Burnham among the eight infraction for 72 yards the Irish incurred.
“As I said after the game, is it a selfish penalty, or is it a fundamental penalty?” Freeman responded, “Rylie's penalty can't happen. He's got to be smart. He is. He knew right after he did it. He was smart enough, but Josh Burnham, he turned and ran to the ball. He was like, ‘Coach, I was just turning to run to the ball, and I didn't know that was the quarterback. I just hit whoever I saw, running to the ball.’
“The holding [penalties] on the offense, those are fundamentals that we’ve got to keep working. When you have bad technique, that can lead to a penalty. And so, we just have to continue to keep working on the fundamentals of playing with good technique, and that should eliminate some of those penalties.”
And the remedy for the sloppy tackling? Perhaps the return of missing defensive starters JD Bertrand at middle linebacker (concussion) and DJ Brown at safety (tight hamstring) will help. Notre Dame also might get back key defensive line rotational player Gabe Rubio for the first time since the Aug. 26 season opener with Navy (arthroscopic knee surgery). He’s set to resume practicing on Tuesday.
“We've worked [a] tremendous [amount] on tackling, and there's an element of safety that you can't tackle live in practice,” Freeman said. “You can do drills, and we'll do drills. The reality is we missed three tackles on that one drive that they [Central Michigan] scored a touchdown. Really, for the rest of the game, they did a good job. I think we had one or two missed tackles after that.
“But the three missed tackles on the one drive that leads to a touchdown is what you can't have. And they [Central Michigan’s offensive players] are good too. You're going to miss tackles. It’s part of the game of football, but you have to continue to show them how to improve it and really work on it in practice without going live.”
Also on the injury comeback front, starting tight end Mitchell Evans, who missed the Central Michigan game with a concussion, is on track to be available for Saturday night’s matchup with the Buckeyes.
Manage privacy settings
Cornering the market
Notre Dame’s climb to the No. 1 spot in the national pass-efficiency defense this week will get a formidable test this week from arguably the nation’s best wide receiver corps led by Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.
But the evolution is, nonetheless, intriguing after the Irish cornerbacks struggled in the 21-10 season-opening loss to former Ohio State star QB C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes in the 2022 season opener in Columbus.
The day after, Notre Dame debuted at No. 95 in the pass-efficiency defense ratings. Stroud’s modest 150.1 mark was well below his nation’s leading 177.7 mark at season’s end. But it took a while for the Irish to build momentum to finish the 2022 season 41st.
A fully healthy grad senior Cam Hart, the evolution of sophomores Ben Morrison and Jaden Mickey, the addition of freshman Christian Gray and transfer portal nickel Thomas Harper, the resurgence of Clarence Lewis, and a safety group playing above expectations have all contributed to the continued statistical rise this season.
“You look back to that game and the playmakers Ohio State had at wideout,” said Freeman, who will face Stroud’s successor Saturday night, first-year QB starter Kyle McCord. “A lot of them are back, and so that was a way for our guys in the first game of the year to measure themselves versus some of the best in the country.
“To where they are now, they've continued to grow and get better and better because of experience, because of the opportunity to continue to practice, continue to build skill. And that's something that we have to continue to do, and it will never stop.”
Sea or red or green or something in between?
In 2000 visiting Nebraska fans took over Notre Dame Stadium with their “sea of red”, the degree to which shocked and angered then-ND athletic director Kevin White. In 2017 Georgia, to a lesser but still-disturbing extent, made their red splash.
For 2023, Notre Dame got strategic in the way it distributed tickets to try to mitigate “scarlet fever” in the stadium.
“We want to see a lot of green in here,” Freeman said when asked about the optics of a potentially large road team presence in the stands. “That’s the cool thing about Saturday. We have green jerseys. I don’t know if they’re calling it a green-out, but we want to see a lot of green.”
Another strategy is distributing green, light-up LED wristbands. Here are the details from fightingirish.com:
This weekend’s game atmosphere will be enhanced by LED wristbands, which will be positioned at each attending fans’ seat in Notre Dame Stadium. Sponsored by the Rockne Athletics Fund, each wristband will have a QR code that by scanning it with your phone’s camera provides a 20% discount code at Shop.FightingIrish.com.
To make sure everyone enjoys the incredible sights at the game, fans are asked:
ONLY TAKE ONE. There will be one LED wristband per seat for everyone in the stadium to enjoy. Please be considerate of your neighbors and only take one.
BE READY. When instructed by the public address announcer, be sure you are at your seat and proudly displaying your LED wristband. Special light shows will occur when the team runs out, at the start of the fourth quarter and throughout the game.
DON’T TRADE. Your unique wristband has been programmed to light up in your section and row when the time comes. Don’t swap wristbands with friends or family seated in other locations throughout the stadium.
“Our players notice it and appreciate that, especially pregame,” Freeman added of a strong home-team, color-coordinated presence. “We want to make sure there’s as many Notre Dame fans as we can [get].”
Switching sides
Former Ohio State backup defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste is now a starting defensive end for his new team, Notre Dame.
In 45 games for the Buckeyes, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Bergen (N.J.) Catholic High product collected 53 tackles, including 11 for loss with eight sacks. So far for the Irish, he’s the fourth-leading tackler, with 15, is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (2), leads the team in QB hurries (4) but has yet to record his first sack.
What’s going through his mind this week?
“I can’t jump into his brain and know what’s going on,” Freeman said. “My message to him will be the same thing really to everybody else: Don’t worry about Saturday. Worry about today. And when we get to Saturday, worry about doing your job and winning the interval every single play.
“That’s all that really matters. It does. Nothing else truly matters if we want to have success and if he wants to have a successful game. You have a great Monday, and you stay in the moment. Then on Saturday, you win the interval. If you want to have a great outcome, that’s what it’s going to take, Javontae. He was there last year. He knows a lot of those guys. And so, the ability to continue to remind him: This is what you need to keep telling yourself and this is what you need to do to have success.”
Meanwhile, the player who helped produce the longest Notre Dame offensive play in last year’s 21-10 Irish loss at OSU (54 yards), former ND wide receiver Lorenzo Styles, is now listed as a cornerback for the Buckeyes after transferring in the spring.
So far, the junior has yet to see a snap on defense. He’s seen special teams action in two games, totaling 13 plays.
Squibs
• Saturday night will mark the 37th clash between Top 10 teams to take place at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are 23-12-1 in such games and 11-9 as the lower-ranked team in them.
• An early peek at Saturday’s weather calls for a high of 86 degrees, a low of 62 with a 5% chance of rain.
• NBC will switch up its announcing team for ND-Ohio State with Noah Eagle doing play-by-play, Todd Blackledge serving in the analyst role and Kathryn Tappen doing sideline reporting duties.
Manage privacy settings
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @cbowles01.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports