Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media for about 12 minutes following the Irish’s 25-10 win over Boston College. Here’s everything he said.
Opening statement
“As I told the team, you work really hard to achieve the outcome that we achieved, so you got to remember that. You got to remember it’s really, really difficult to achieve the outcome. That’s the only time we’re outcome-driven — that’s the end of the game.
“We know there’s a lot of things to clean up; most of those things that I challenged them on are things we control, we got to clean up. A lot of the plays we’re beating Notre Dame and play cleaner, but the challenges will get tougher.
“That doesn’t mean the ranking of the opponent makes something tougher; it’s understanding that, again, as you move farther in the month of November, everything is magnified, and we got to continue to play cleaner, execute at a higher level.
“But I’m proud of the way they battled, resilient group and found a way to finish when we needed to.”
Q. Regarding the slow start, especially on offense, do you feel like that was a handling success thing, or what do you feel like went into that?
“No, I don’t think anything today had to do with what has happened in the past. I thought they were ready. The first drive, we drove downfield and did a good job, decided to punt. The second drive was a turnover on downs. So, I don’t know if it’s a start speedy thing; we just didn’t score the first two drives, we scored on the third one, so we didn’t execute enough to get points. But I don’t know if that has to do with what happened in the past. It shouldn’t.”
Q. Then with the kicking game, obviously, there’s a lot to clean up there. What did you feel like were the issues today, and what led to the decision to play all three?
“The issues were every time we kicked the ball, it did not go in between the field goal posts. And so that’s the issue. And we’re going to keep putting guys in there until we consistently have somebody put the ball through the field goal posts.
“We have three kickers, but if you rotate three kickers, you don’t have one. And we’ll figure out physically what it is, with Noah [Burnette], but we’ve got to do what we do in practice better in the game. So that’s the situation. We’ve got to figure this thing out because our team deserves for us to be able to make extra points and field goals.
“So for us to reach the potential that we believe we have, we better fix it with urgency.”
Q. A couple of weeks ago, USC sort of took away the deep shot from CJ [Carr]. Boston College gave it to you. How important was it to do that again?
“Yeah, I mean, you learn quickly in the first two series; they weren’t going to try to let you run the ball. Like they — it was zero coverage or cover one with a low hole guy. Like there was one option: is they were going to have to throw it over best, and that’s what CJ and the offense was able to do, right, on the majority of the times we attempted it.
“You know, there was a couple that were close that we didn’t connect, but we knew in order to get them to loosen up a little bit and find ways to run the ball with zero coverage or a low hole one, like you’re going to have to throw the ball over best. I think the offense did a good job for the most part.”
Q. The defensive penalties, getting away, whether they agree with it or not, the fact that they happen … Did you feel like your team had a full account of that?
“Crucial. … Yeah, like, I mean, the third and, well, Kyng’s (Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa) was, I didn’t get great clarification on that one, but I always say they’re always worth 15 yards, so whatever he did to get 15 yards, we can’t do it.
“Then the second half, the drive I think they scored on, I can’t remember if they scored on that drive, but it was a third and short, we jump offside, and then we get the penalty on the sidelines for a late banger out of bounds. Then we get the defensive delay of game. And it’s like, ‘Those are ones that we have to clean up.’
“We can’t — it’s not a PI (pass interference). Like, PI and aggressive penalties are ones that you live with, but the ones that are undisciplined — jumping offsides is an undisciplined penalty. And pushing a guy out of bounds is undisciplined. And so we’ve got to clean those up.”
Q. We talked a little bit about the game plan for Boston College and how that would affect you offensively. Just overall, until Jeremiyah [Love] rips off that long run, it was pretty difficult to run the ball. How much did that play into not putting as many points on the board?
“Yeah, I mean, this isn’t the first team that tried to load the box. We probably had a different plan coming into this. We can’t fumble the ball on the plus five-yard line, right? We were driving, ready to score points, and then that would have been 14 points, and we fumbled the ball.
“So we’ve got to take care of the football, and (when) we have chances to score touchdowns, we’ve got to score. And we didn’t do that enough. We did it enough to win, but not enough to our standard.”
Q. Maybe on the flip side of that, how much of your ability to stop the run was maybe overshadowed by a closer win margin than expected?
“Yeah, I think they did a good job stopping the run. We just continued to let them get in third-and-short situations, and they kept the drive — I don’t know how many plays that first drive of the second half was, but it was 12 minutes. Twenty-one plays. I mean, it seemed like forever. And I looked up, and I think it was three minutes left in the quarter.
“That’s a long drive, and it’s all because of those little gains. Make it third and short. They convert. We’ve got to clean those things up. But yeah, I’m proud of the way they did stop the run.”
Q. Coach, you mentioned the fumble. That’s one of your best players that has fumbled three times immediately down deep … what is the message to Jadarian [Price] this week from Coach [Ja’Juan Seider] and the offense?
“Protect the football. Continue to focus on it in practice. And then on Saturday, go ball. Go do what you do. He’s earned a lot of confidence and credibility from his coaching staff because of the proof of what he’s done for three years here.
“And so we’re going to play him a lot. We’re going to give him the ball. We’re going to let Jadarian be him. We’ve got to attack it in practice. We can’t be insane and not say anything about it. We’ve got to continue to work on it in practice and focus on ball security. But we’re going to give him the ball and let him go.”
Q. Coach, there’s so much history between these two teams throughout the years. How proud are you of the team for managing the emotions and just coming out with a complete team win?
“Yeah, Coach Wash (defensive line coach Al Washington) did a good job of explaining to us — again, being on the Boston College side because he played here, and the history that they see from the Holy War. It’s the only rivalry where two Catholic universities and FBS play each other.
“And so it means a lot, right? It means a lot between the universities. But for us, it means a lot to the people in that locker room. And that’s what matters at the end of the day. And so I’m proud of the way they went out there and battled and won the game.”
Q. Coach, CJ, two great throws on the touchdown passes, and his decision-making seems to have obviously evolved throughout the course of the year. What have you seen from him, and then what did you like about his performance today?
“He’s ultra talented. He prepares in a way that I don’t know if he can improve it. He prepares to a point that it gives him a chance to have success. He’s been good at making in-game adjustments. He’s got a great arm and great decision-making.
“He’ll be the first one to tell you that the two touchdowns was great, but there’s a couple other ones that he wants back. That he wants to make those four touchdowns instead of two. And that’s why I love him, because he’s a competitor. He’s ultra competitive.
“And he probably reflects a lot of people in that locker room when we look at the ones that we didn’t make instead of just relishing in the ones that we did. And so he’s got a high ceiling, and he’s continued to elevate. He’s got more. He’s got more in there, and I’m excited to just be a part of it as he continues to improve.”
Q. Whether it’s Jeremiyah, (CJ), or Adon (Shuler), how important is it for your program to have guys like that? That continue to want to get better and drive the program?
“That’s got to be a reflection of everybody in our program. The minute you’re satisfied, you get passed up. How do you get better if you’re satisfied? If you’re satisfied, you don’t find the answers to improve.
“And we need everybody in our program to enjoy the victory. That’s number one. You work really, really hard to not enjoy it. But we’re greedy. There’s more. There’s more in terms of reaching our full potential. And so if you understand that, then you go to work and you’re willing to find the answers and get better.
“But if you think you’ve arrived, you’re at that point where it’s the full potential. What’s the motivation to go get better? And that’s what we all got to do is find ways to get better.”
Q. Coach, a couple of guys that have local ties, Boubacar Traore and Guerby Lambert, talk about those guys and their growth this year. As a secondary question, why have you guys recruited this area more in recent years? What have you seen from the players around here?
“There are ultra-talented players in this area. There’s a lot of talent here. There’s a connection with private schools that understand the education. They understand the benefit of Notre Dame beyond football.
“Those two guys you mentioned are great, talented football players. You know, that school’s a school we recruited. And those guys are guys that are really high ceiling guys and continue to improve. Like Boubacar, Guerby, both of those guys are extremely talented, but they’re improving too. And so I’m excited to see how they continue to grow.”
Q. Christian Gray was a game-time decision, obviously, but what’s your concern beyond this week? And how did you miss him most, maybe, in a game like this?
“I mean, you miss Christian because of the experience that he brings, right? He’s a guy that’s been out there a couple years, big game experience. He’s a really good player.
“But that’s why you’ve got to continue to develop other guys. He tried, but we just thought it was best to probably hold him out this game. We just didn’t think he could consistently get his job done with his injury. We’ll see how he feels next week.
“But he practiced. He was getting closer. But as it got to game time, he wasn’t ready to go.”
Q. (Indiscernible) … On how the defenses handled Boston College switching quarterbacks during the game
“Yeah, I’ve got to look at why. I mean, I don’t know if it’s the quarterback as much as, you know, maybe it is. I don’t want to not give him credit. He’s a good player. I mean, as we prepared for him, he’s a good player, right? He’s a dual-threat guy, tough guy. And he did a good job when he came in.
“We probably found out before the game that we were getting that [Dylan] Lonergan guy was going to play, and we had a plan. When they put the other guy in, [Grayson] James in, we just knew there was more running elements to what they would do, running the ball. And so we had to make sure that we got that communicated and executed on the field.
“But he’s a good player, man. He’s going to do good things for this university.”
BOX SCORE: Notre Dame 25, Boston College 10
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