Quick-hitters: Marcus Freeman on Oklahoma State, Tyler Buchner, hiring a DC

The College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowls tweaked their operations policies Wednesday in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. Among the amendments was giving teams the option of arriving at the bowl site two days before the game.

That meant No. 5 Notre Dame (11-1) could arrive in Arizona on Dec. 30 for the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against No. 9 Oklahoma State (11-2). Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish, though, are sticking to their original plan of arriving on Monday, Dec. 27.

“Let’s get together, get there Monday and make sure we’re in our own bubble and not off in different places,” Freeman said. “We’ll be out there on Monday. We’re looking forward to going. It’s a reward for them. We’re there to win a championship and finish as champions.

“There’s a reward for being able to go to Arizona from Monday to Saturday and spend some time in that warm climate.”

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Notre Dame will break for Christmas Thursday after practice and reconvene on Dec. 26. Freeman’s message for the players on their break and for the week leading up to the bowl is the same.

“You have to be smart,” Freeman said. “COVID is still out there. I don’t care if you’re vaccinated, it’s still out there. We have to be smart with what we expose ourselves too.”

Freeman spoke with reporters Wednesday afternoon for the final time before Notre Dame leaves for the Fiesta Bowl. Here are some other topics he addressed.

“When you talk about at team that’s senior-led and has as many returning starters as they do, you can do all these different things. It’s going to be complicated. It’s a very sophisticated system and a system that has been built over years. The players know the ins and outs of it. It’s not just running around and creating havoc. You can tell these kids know what they’re doing.”

“They want to run the ball. That has been the big challenge for our defense. They want to ball. We want to stop the run. We have to do whatever it takes to make sure they can’t run the ball up and down the field on us and limit the explosive plays.

“It’s going to be a battle. As a team, we’re taking a journey through their season. Right now, they’re 6-1 or 7-1. We finished [watching their Oct. 30 win over] Kansas today. You see explosive plays on offense. There are takeaways on defense. There are moments where the defense stops fourth-down conversions. They don’t give up big plays. There are a lot of three-and-outs for their defense.

“On special teams, they have returns. You see fumbles on muffed punts. Their left-footed punter has to be so unique, because you see a lot of returners muffing punts. You see explosive plays in the kicking game – kickoff return, punt return for touchdowns. What a challenge this is. I want our group to understand we better be ready to go.”

“It’s a work in progress. I’ve been in the preparation phase. That’s the hardest part. I can give you the call sheet and say, ‘Here’s the calls you can make.’

“Calling the plays sometime is overrated. Someone might tell you otherwise and say, ‘You do a great job calling plays.’ I think we do a great job in our preparation. That’s what I’ve been focused on.

“In practice, when we do live calling periods, [defensive line coach Mike] Elston calls it. I’m the referee running up and down the field. I’ll be involved with some other things we do defensively, but we’ll figure it out. Elston has taken that role in practice. ‘Here’s the game plan, call it.’ We’ll work hand-in-hand.”

“The thought of putting him at rover first was he’s going to be able to get on the field faster at rover.

"Our thought process was Kyle [Hamilton] wasn’t coming off the field. [Watts] could play field safety — I’ve seen his ability — but Kyle isn’t coming off the field. Let’s put him at rover and see if he can find a way to play a little more.

"Then, during the bye week, we moved him to safety. Then Kyle goes down. We said, ‘We don’t need to wait until next year to play him at safety.’ He has some natural abilities. He showed it in the Navy game. It’s his ability to make plays, to get off blocks. Not everybody on our team can do that.”

“There is some importance to it. The No. 1 thing I’m looking for is the ability to fit with this staff. That’s my No. 1 focus. When I sit down and figure out who we’re hiring as defensive coordinator, how is that person going to fit with this defensive staff? The defensive staff isn’t changing. These guys helped me get to a point where I could be in this position. We’re going to do it together.

“If you’re asking a person to fit, that person can adjust in terms of the ability to say, ‘There are only so many different ways to play defense.’ There are only so many different coverages you can play, so many different fronts you can play. People try to make it more complicated than it is, but there’s only much you can do.

"I’m going to encourage that defensive coordinator [to keep] as much as we can keep the same. Put it on the defensive coordinator to re-learn names and terminology, but don’t put all that stress on the players.”

“What I see is a dude who can throw the ball. He has a great release. He can put the ball in places I’ve not seen many do. We know he can escape. He has the ability to extend plays with his legs.

"You watch a freshman just grow in decision-making. That’s the biggest part. I listen for that. When I hear Tommy [Rees] talking to Tyler or talking to any of the quarterbacks, I listen for if it’s a physical thing or a decision-making thing. You just want to see that growth in decision-making. But he’s really talented.”

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