Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman met with the media after the Blue's 76-31 victory over the Gold in Saturday's 94th Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium in an intrasquad scrimmage that used a concocted scoring system.
Here's everything the fourth-year Irish head coach had to say. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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OPENING STATEMENT
“Really pleased. A lot of good from that scrimmage. We had close to 100 plays between both groups, including some of the 7-on-7. For the most, it looks like no injuries. I’m sure there’s some bumps and bruises, but it’s good. There’s a lot of good on both sides of the ball. I told them in the locker room, I need to fix the scoring system a little bit and find a way to get the defense some more points. Both sides of the ball did a lot of good.
“Offensively, the ability to the run the ball, drive. Early in the scrimmage, every drive that didn’t result in points, there was some type of negative play. It was a penalty. It was a tackle for loss. Great teaching opportunities to understand how to continue to sustain those drives offensively.
“Defensively, did a great job of stepping up in plus-territory. There was a fourth-down stop on the one-yard line. You want the offense to score, and the defense to stop them. It’s a lot of good, a lot of good teaching. I’m really pleased with everybody that was on the field, the effort and the execution that they played with today.”
Q: What do you hope to get out of the next three practices after the Blue-Gold Game? What are the benefits of that?
Marcus Freeman: “The spring game fell where it fell. Usually, it’s obviously the end of spring. The reason why it was earlier is just because of pushing the start of spring back with the length of the season. We’ll go, and we’ll look.
“I have some ideas of what I want to see these next two and three practices. I’ll talk with the coaches about what else we want to see. A lot of it’s be some play situations, two-minute situations where you gotta make your guys think and execute. But also there’s going to be great teaching opportunities from those situations in practice.”
Q: What do the next two weeks look like for you with the portal opening and handling your roster management? How much time will you spend with Mike Denbrock, Chris Ash and Mike Martin evaluating everything?
MF: “We spend time every day together. If a guy on our current roster is interested in getting in the portal, I’m sure we’ll have those conversations. At the end of the day, we’ll figure out what’s best for them, for us. The same thing is we’re not actively seeking to add to our roster. We’re really happy with what we got. If something comes to our attention that we see adds value to our roster and our program, then we have a conversation about it.
“There’s nothing intentional right now about these upcoming weeks. We’re going to practice. We’re going to be together. We’re going to work. If somebody decides to go into the portal, then we’ll adapt and adjust.”
Q: What are your first impressions of what you saw from the quarterbacks today?
MF: “A lot of good. A lot of good. A lot of teaching opportunities, I’m sure. I’m not truly outcome driven. I know CJ, we had one turnover. I don’t know if it was the route, the throw. But it was a lot of good from all three guys and a lot of teaching opportunities. We’ll go back and watch.
“It was a reflection of how the first 11 practices have been. Those guys have been battling. They’ve all improved. They’re all doing some really good things. It’s crazy to think that you got three guys that all can lead your program to a victory and be your starting quarterback. We’ll evaluate it. We’ll talk about it and have discussions moving forward.
“You would like to be able to go in the fall with a two-quarterback battle. It’s really hard with truly having a three-quarterback battle. We’ve got to sit down and have conversations about what’s best for our program, what’s best for our quarterbacks. We’ll make those decisions in the future.”
Q: Offensive linemen Anthonie Knapp and Billy Schrauth were limited this spring and played some today. What has the spring looked like for them?
MF: “That was a progression. Those guys were both postseason or at the end of the season surgical guys. It was a progression for them to get back. We knew that at some point in the spring we were going to get them out there and get some work in. They played a lot of plays this season.
“It was important to us getting the physical strength and conditioning aspect of the development for those guys. It was more important to do that than it was to just get them back in practice. They got out there this week and competed and did some really good things. We limited their number, just because it’s early for them in the spring. It’s good to see those guys out there.
“We got a lot of good work for the young guys who have been practicing most of the spring. But it’s a little bit different when you have Aamil [Wagner] and Billy and Knapp and some of those guys in there with the ones. It’s different for our offense.”
Q: Luke Talich was all over the place defensively. What’s the future look like for him?
MF: “He’s really done a good job. That’s a reflection of how he’s been this spring. A guy that’s taken advantage of his opportunities and has really been focused on improvement. Some of that improvement is production as you saw today. Some are areas that we’ve got to continue to attack and improve.
“He’s been really consistent. That’s been a challenge for him and our entire team. It’s really good to see a guy out there performing consistently. Today was a reflection of Luke’s performance all spring.”
Q: You didn’t have a lot of healthy bodies this spring at tight end, but they showed up today. What did you learn about that position group this spring?
MF: “Kevin [Bauman]’s a guy who played a lot of ball for us two years ago and has battled some injuries. To have him back this spring in some type of role has been good. Eli [Raridon], we’ve held him in certain areas of spring ball. He’s a guy you know what you’re going to get out of Eli Raridon. He showed today and did some good things.
“It was good to see Jack [Larsen] make a huge catch today. Jack and Kevin. But Jack, it was good to see that throw and catch in that critical situation. That group as a whole: [Henry] Garrity’s done some good things, Justin Fisher’s done some good things. It’s good to see with Cooper [Flanagan] being down, Eli being limited at times, Kevin early in the spring was limited, guys are stepping up. It’s a reflection of the leadership in the room. But also the depth of that room. They’ve done some really good things. I’m really pleased with that room.”
Q: You guys are high on Jalen Stroman, and your young safeties have had good springs. How deep can you go with that group? Did that group surprise you this spring?
MF: “Not surprised. But it’s a group that I believe is deep and talented, just experienced in game reps. I know Luke Talich and what he can do, and Brauntae Johnson and the talent he has. Stroman, you’ve obviously seen it on film. You haven’t seen it much in person with injury. But you know you have a room that’s talented and can get the job done. They just don’t have a whole bunch of in-game experience doing it here at Notre Dame. There’s a strong confidence that we have in that safeties room. I’m looking forward to seeing those guys improve. But go do it when it matters the most.”
Q: Sullivan Absher’s been moved around a bit with playing center and guard today. What have you liked about the way he’s attacked doing what he’s asked?
MF: “You’re going to have to have a couple of those guys that can go in at any position. Sully’s a guy that’s played tackle for us, guard and center. The more value you have, the more opportunity you’re going to have to play. That’s what we’ve been trying to do with Sully and some other guys. Hey, is he the next best guy? If you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re practicing center, guard or tackle. You’re going to be the guy that goes in. He’s done a wonderful job at all three positions.
“We’ve got to continue to get reps at snapping the ball. That’s the one thing that we’ve got to — with all of our new snappers — continue to get valuable reps doing that. But really pleased with Sullivan Absher.”
Q: There were three guys on defense who weren’t dressed today that we don’t have updates on: Loghan Thomas, Brenan Vernon and Teddy Rezac. Can you let us know about those guys?
MF: “Loghan Thomas is a hamstring, I think. He pulled his hamstring, I think. You’re trying to put me on the spot. Teddy was an ankle sprain. He sprained his ankle the other day in practice. Brenan Vernon, knee sprain. He had a knee sprain actually Wednesday in practice. So had to keep those guys out.”
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