UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 12, 2024

Marcus Freeman

Press Conference

Notre Dame 49, Stanford 7

MARCUS FREEMAN: It's a rivalry game, so you have to prepare for your opponent's best. You have to be at your best when you want to win a rivalry game. It's so important.

Our guys were prepared. Coaches did a great job getting them prepared, and they went out there and they executed. I was really proud of the way we responded after that first series. Terrible first series on all three phases.

To come out and have a holding where -- we're moving the ball. We have a holding penalty, a bad punt, and they go down and score. I said, Okay, let's see how this group responds.

From the second series on, man, they played lights-out. Really did a great job taking care of the ball. Defensively really stepping up and making good plays in the pass game, the run game, and special teams-wise. Obviously wasn't many opportunities special times-wise, but they capitalized off the opportunities we had.

So really proud of this group. Enjoy tonight. Enjoy earning that Legends Trophy, which is a reflection, as I told them, of team glory. That's what that trophy represents is a bunch of people committing to something bigger than themselves. Proud of them for that.

We'll get back to work on Sunday and start preparing for our next opponent. With that, I'll open it up to questions.

Q. I think you guys finished 9 of 14 on third and fourth downs, held them maybe to 5 of 16. Specifically offensively almost 500 yards of offense. How much more was today reflective of what you have been expecting, and how do you make sure you harness it and build on it moving forward?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I thought their performance on both sides of the ball, especially offense. What I challenged them to be, I wanted it to be unrecognizable. I wanted you all to watch and say, Man, that's an offense that we haven't seen.

Our players have seen it. It's just them at their best on every play. That was what a reflection of what you guys saw. That's what you saw today.

I thought it was really good, man. They did a really good job... run game, pass game, making good decisions and taking care of the football.

Q. Then maybe when did you know you wouldn't have Jason Onye, and when did you know you would have Gabe, and what did you think about his play today?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I knew we wouldn't have Jason yesterday. He was out for personal reasons. Then we knew all week we were expecting Gabe to play. I haven't watched it, but I'm just glad he's out there and, you know, he's going to help this football program.

Q. You had nine different guys catch passes from Riley including Pat Coogan. Is this what you envisioned from the passing game? Is this what you envisioned from the passing game going forward, and how do you evaluate Riley's performance?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I think every game is different, and you just have to take advantage of what is in front of you. There might be a game where somebody catches ten passes, and there might be a game that, as it was tonight, where you have nine different guys catch the ball, including an O-lineman.

What we focus on is, what can we do to have success? That's just not one thing. That's not running the ball, passing the ball, throwing it to one person, or passing it nine people. It's what can we do to help this team win? We'll see what next week presents.

Q. Mitch Jeter didn't play most of that game. Did he suffer an injury? What's his status?

MARCUS FREEMAN: He's had a tight groin, but I think on that kickoff, I don't know if he -- it didn't feel great, so they told me we were going to hold him, and that's all I know right now.

Q. Defensively you had a lot of pressure up front today. What was going so right up front?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I challenged those two seniors, Rylie and Howard. I wanted them to be great because they're great football players, and those two specifically stood out to me just on the field.

I'm sure I'll go back and watch film. They dominated the game. Those two big guys, we needed them to be dominant, and he this played dominant. That helps everybody around them.

So really proud of those two guys.

Q. Then Jadarian Price started the game kind of getting a lot of carries. Jeremiyah Love worked his way in. How do you balance those two in the back field?

MARCUS FREEMAN: It's a reflection of Coach McCullough and the way he leads that room, the unselfishness that they have, selfless. They just capitalize off of opportunities presented in front of them.

As I told the group, there's no guarantees in life. I don't know what next week will entail, but you continue to trust your coaches, trust each other, trust what we're doing, and good things are going to happen.

Those guys are selfless. They're playmakers. They do a lot when we get the ball in our hands, and we have to continue to find ways to do that.

Q. You spoke to the success of the passing offense, but I'm curious when you thought about the intent and Mike Denbrock. There was a big emphasis to throw early and often, and Riley really seemed to settle in because of that. Just the game plan to have it that way.

MARCUS FREEMAN: They're one of the top defenses in the country at stopping the run. That's something that you look at the last two years, they've done a really good job at stopping the run. Their defense is built to stop the run.

We felt like to have some success we're going to have to stretch the field 53 and a third, do some things vertically that try to take advantage of that they do defensively. It was an aggressive game plan that really just attacked what we thought we could exploit because that's their defense. I don't know what next week will present.

We thought that was going to be something that we could be able to do, and we had a line of success doing it.

Q. Three fourth down stops for your side. How big were those? Especially you get the ball at midfield after a couple of them, and then the offense takes advantage of that.

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, it was huge. It was huge. They were one for four, and we were three for three on fourth down. You have to have confidence on both sides of the ball to make those calls.

Offensively right before half it's fourth and one. Made the decision. Let's run it; let's go for it. Also had a lot of confidence in our defense. You know, I think defense played big. They played and did a really good job in really difficult situations at times. Offense did a great job converting on fourth down.

Q. If you wanted the offense to be unrecognizable to us, I'm sure you saw bits of this in practice sort of building to this. Could you give us some insight of what you have seen from Louisville to today that made you feel like something like this could come?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, just the consistency. I think we're practicing with more consistency. The execution in practice has been really at a high level. I just challenge them. If we execute in the game the way you guys have been doing it in practice, you know, we'll recognize it, but a lot of people won't.

I think that's what you saw today is that it's still a reflection of preparation. I'm going to say after wins and losses that we're preparing at a higher level. The execution is at a higher level. I think that's helping us out a lot, a lot of confidence, a lot of success.

Q. We've asked you about Bryce Young a lot. He continues to flash in there. What did you sort of sense from him today or see from him today? Where can the second half of the season go for him?

MARCUS FREEMAN: He's a really talented football player. I have to remind myself and the coaches that he's young because at times we can just put so much on his plate in terms of defense, the early downs, third downs, special teams. I had a meeting with our coaching staff. Like, where can we take some stuff off his plate?

Man, he is really performing at a high level. He prepares the right way. He's in there when he has free time. He wants to be the best. Man, he's a special, special individual.

Q. It looked like the three touchdown passes from Riley were RPO plays. Is that a reflection of him seeing the field better and his willingness to pull and throw in those situations?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, that was just a reflection of, yeah, I think what their defense kind of gave us and also what we felt like Riley could execute well. It's both.

You have to look at where you think you can have success, but also look at what do you think your guys can do well? I think that's a reflection of both of them.

Really good decision-making, and put the ball exactly where it needed to be, and had some great catches.

Q. When did you think of the performance that Josh Burnham had today and specifically that play he made in the fumble recovery?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, he's an athlete. Caught the ball. That goes back to his offensive days. It's a gutsy performance because there are times in the week that you watch him, and it's like he is practicing on one leg. Just has to continue to get confidence in that left ankle.

He is tough, man. He's tough. I remember asking him, Are you going to be able to go? He said, Coach, there's no way I'm not going to be able to play. He really did some good things and made a huge interception.

But just take your hat off to him just because, man, some people maybe wouldn't have played with the pain that he goes through, but he's a tough individual. I'm glad we have him out there.

Q. Stanford really attacked your perimeter on the opening drive. What kind of adjustments did you and Al make?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I think one is just the ability to let our guys know, this is what we think we're getting. It was a unique game to prepare for because they do so many different things. We weren't for sure if 14 was going to play. They did some different formations out of different personnels.

It was really just get our guys calmed down. Hey, right now they're trying to get us on the edges. Let's make sure we keep edges to our defense, but also stop letting 14 scramble. They had two big scrambles in that first drive that were unacceptable. So we had to make sure that we made corrections there. Our guys did a good job.

Q. Mechanically was there any change with Riley over the last two weeks? Did Gino or Mike work with him on some mechanics because he had talked about kind of being rusty in some areas before?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I just think it's time. It takes time. It takes time. So there's not, like, one thing we did to change. To get the results that you ultimately desire, it takes time.

It is what it is. I think the time, the ability to practice and have game reps has really helped him build his confidence, his mechanics, and his execution.

Q. You mentioned being frustrated with the way the first early part of the game started. I guess five of the six games now you've trailed at some point in the first half. With as much as you emphasize getting out of the blocks fast, can you put your finger on any common thread on why you guys keep facing it, and how concerning is it as the year goes on that you would kind of ease your way into these games?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, starting fast is a result of execution. Starting fast is a result of winning that play over and over and over.

So I have no concern about a big picture. Hey, you didn't start fast; you got behind in the game. I have more concern about, Hey, what happened on that play? Why didn't we executes? What do we have to do to make sure we fix it?

I hate the thought of starting fast, finishing, you got to win the middle. No, you got to win this play, and you got to win it over and over and over and over. Guess what, they'll say you start fast, you played good in the middle, and you finish.

That's my concern is that, hey, evaluate what we have to do on every single play to make sure we're having success and then attacking.

Q. Then maybe a little lighter topic, but how did this delay compare to the NC State thing in terms of what they were eating and just later in the game, big lead versus that was early on? What was it like, that hour?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I guess we didn't have to go get hot dogs like they said at NC State. It wasn't that long. It was really -- I mean, we always have food. We always have nutritional things for our players to put in their body, but the biggest thing was to be able to just get them to relax, take a couple of minutes, and then when I knew exactly when we were going to go out, that's when you started making a timeline from when you'll bring them up, put their shoulder pads on, and take the field.

They were ready. That's a credit to everybody that works in our football program and our players to make sure that they had the right mentality, the right food, the right mindset to go out there and get the job done.

Q. A couple of days ago you said the mission for the season is to fulfill your potential. What did this game represent on that journey?

MARCUS FREEMAN: We're getting closer. We're getting closer. I told the team before the game, I know we're getting closer because, you know, little things, man, are becoming big things.

It's not about winning. It's about making sure that we improve as much as we can, but I got a feeling this group is getting closer and closer to reaching our full potential. Today was a big step in that, and we've got to continue to make sure we're taking steps forward.

Q. How do you balance that mission with the ultimate goal of winning it all?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Winning it all is a reflection of winning the interval. It's a reflection of staying in the moment. You don't control the journey. You've got to trust the journey. That's what I tell these guys.

There's one guarantee. That's the future is uncertain. Why spend time daydreaming about it? Why sit here and think about what's going to happen in the future when it's uncertain? Why don't you spend time focusing on the things that you have to do that gives you a chance to get that desired result?

We'll worry about what the result is at the end of the season. We just have to continue to stay is in the moment and focus on getting better.