UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 9, 2024

Marcus Freeman

Press Conference

Notre Dame 52, Florida State 3

MARCUS FREEMAN: Man, proud of those guys. Proud of the way they prepared. As you watch film, you know you're going against a talented group, but it could have been easy to overlook those guys in terms of preparation because of the record.

But we've got a mature group. We've got a bunch of seniors that are continuing to lead this group in the right way, and I truly believe in my heart, Saturday is a reflection of preparation, and they are preparing the right way. They have the right mentality, and they are really going out and playing well.

I was really proud of the way they played in the second half, being up 21-3, and to come out and defensively, I think the interception, turnover on downs, three-and-out, three-and-out, interception, touchdown.

Offensively it was touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. You know, and that's a pretty dominant half of football, and so I'm really proud of the way they performed.

We know we've got one more opportunity, guaranteed opportunity in this stadium. So we'll celebrate tonight and get back tomorrow and start preparing for Virginia.

With that, I'll open up for questions.

Q. On the defensive side, the sacks, is that something --

MARCUS FREEMAN: You know, I don't think we did anything out of the ordinary. I think our guys are playing with clarity. You know, some of the rush lanes, some of the different stunts we're doing, they are playing with clarity, which equals velocity. That's what we talk about all the time, clarity equals velocity. And when guys are really understanding what to expect, which way the slide is coming, hey, how do I want to attack this guy in protection, you see some good things happen.

But two great teams and great coaches, you're not going to just outscheme them. We've got to make sure we give our guys a chance to play fast, and that's what you saw today.

Q. You kind of alluded to it, but the score at the end of the half and then taking advantage of the interception in the second half, those two touchdowns effectively put it out of reach, 25-point game at that point. How big was it to capitalize in those unique situations?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I think you say it all the time as a coach, but your players have got to believe it; that you can't look at the score.

You know, it's a privilege to play for this place, and I told them, Go out in the second half and play like that. Play like it's a privilege to play for this university, to play for this football program. And if you do that, you'll play the way we played in the second half.

So probably didn't say -- probably should say, our crowd was real special. It's a little different, night game in Notre Dame Stadium, no matter who the opponent; no matter what the record was. It was electric out there tonight. Special shout-out to our crowd, too.

Q. It feels like Riley just decided when Howard went out of the game he was just going to take it over and then Donovan Hinish joined in. Can you talk about the influence those two guys had on your defense, what you were able to do and squeezing them in the second half?

MARCUS FREEMAN: We said you have to be strong up the middle, and it starts up front with those two seniors, those guy that are veterans. They are playing really well. Riley got some individual glory today. He got the sacks, but there's a lot of people that contributed to Riley having the sacks. You talk about coverage, and you talk about some other guys up front.

Individual glory is a part of it, man. When you play well and some things go your way you're going to get recognized but responsibility has been playing at a high level. Howard has been playing at a high level. It's good to see him get some of that production today.

Q. When you see 52 points go up on the board, in that context, you look at the passing numbers, and there were some good moments. I wonder how you process that, what you take way from the passing game, given 52 points and everything that went well.

MARCUS FREEMAN: After the game, you enjoy it, right. You enjoy that feeling you have in the locker room because it's hard to achieve. I've been on the other side when you don't achieve it. So after the game, you enjoy it. We will go back and dissect every single play. We don't talk about the result of the game. It's every single play, what do we have to do to improve.

You've got to enjoy this feeling tonight, but you've got to go back tomorrow with a clear mind and a conscience of trying to improve. You've got to try improve, and you can't let the feeling of winning a game like this cloud your vision when you really dissect the film.

So we'll dive into it, we'll find ways to improve, and we'll attack it in practice.

Q. Did you have kind of update on Howard Cross?

MARCUS FREEMAN: No. Said it was an ankle sprain. I don't know if he could have came back. Didn't even tell me that. Just said he's out right now with an ankle sprain. I think by the time there was a possibility maybe he could have came back, it was over.

Q. Offense obviously scored 21 points in the first half, but a couple drops, a couple missed throws, negative runs. What was the mentality at halftime, and how do you feel the execution improved.

MARCUS FREEMAN: The sign of a great team is consistency. We all can have good plays and bad plays, and good days and bad days, and good games and bad games. But the sign of great teams and great organizations is consistency.

I challenged them a little bit at halftime is lets be consistent. That's who you really are, right. It's not what you do on one day versus what you -- who you are is who you are consistently, and that's in all walks of life.

So that's what I challenged them with at halftime, and they went out and they were pretty consistent in the second half.

Q. You referenced in your opening comments about the maturity of this team. What are the ways over the course of the week leading into Saturday that you're seeing that maturity that gives you a peace of mind that they are preparing the way you want?

MARCUS FREEMAN: I think it starts with the captains. I meet with the captains once a week, sometimes twice a week, and this week we met on Monday and they said, Hey, Coach, we want to say something to the team, about how important this final four stretch is -- but this one, right. Yeah, we know we have four, but this one.

It's one thing as the head coach when you say that but when your captains are the ones driving that message, that's a sign of maturity of your team and that's what I'm really proud of.

Q. When they have that kind of off-the-field maturity or mental maturity, does that then allow them to have the ability to maybe reach higher physically along the practice field because of their approach?

MARCUS FREEMAN: Yeah, I think it's an understanding that you don't get better doing the same thing you have previously done. That's what I drive home to our players, but also to our captains. We can't go out and just reciprocate next week what we did this week, right. Our national gravitational pull is going to make you worse.

So they put a whole bunch of work in this week, and the first thing I'm going to say to them in the meeting on Monday is we have got to elevate. Sometimes that's frustrating. That's frustrating to me as a coach when you feel like you've put everything into it, and you know in order to get better, you've got to do more.

And so that's the challenge. That's what they want because they want to be great and they want reach their full potential, and it's my job to push them to do that.