Notre Dame Intensity Showing, Blake Grupe Shining
Ohio State will host Notre Dame in just over two weeks in one of college football’s biggest games of the year.
First-year head coach Marcus Freeman has downplayed much of the talk about the game since he took over for Brian Kelly in December, but he’s also made sure to push his team during the offseason and now fall camp.
Freeman and his staff have made it a point to stress the importance of practicing with a sense of urgency, which starts by having the first team take reps against the first team.
“I think it's the intensity,” Freeman said. “It's the good on good. We've done more good on good probably than I've ever done. I think it's what's necessary in terms of developing an identity, developing a confidence in the things that you're good at. That's probably the biggest thing is that, 'We're not gonna do a whole bunch of scout work right now. We're gonna go ones on ones, twos on twos, and we're gonna be competitive.'”
Notre Dame’s physical practices have been noted by the players and anyone who has watched the Irish go live. It also has a downside as the Irish has had a few players banged up over the course of the month.
And following Thursday’s scrimmage, Freeman will dial back the live tackling as Notre Dame is 16 days from game day.
“Injuries can be a result of that,” explained Freeman. “It's called training camp. I just told them. It's supposed to be hard. You're battling against each other. Now, as we are about two weeks out, we have to be really smart in terms of how we'll prepare for Ohio State as we move forward.
“But I was really pleased with the 11 practices or 12 practices that we've had. This group's competitive, man. They really don't care how they feel. They go out there and work. You challenge them and they always rise to a challenge. I'm excited to coach this group and was really happy with what I saw today.”
Freeman also has looked at the run of Notre Dame’s injuries over the course of the summer and doesn’t feel there is a correlation, but rather the unfortunate luck of playing a physical game.
“It's just what happens, I guess with working out and practice,” stated Freeman. “The foot injury to Jadarian Price, that's an Achilles injury that is going to happen no matter what. I know we had a Lisfranc early in the summer, but those are injuries that happen across College Football. Every year, you see a guy with a Lisfranc or a foot injury. It's a part of this game. It's a tough, grueling game. The only way to prepare your team is to make it hard and to work at it.”
The good news is Freeman has learned quite a bit about his team, including starting quarterback Tyler Buchner.
“There's that consistency amongst, who's the voice in that huddle and who's the voice on the field with the ones,” Freeman said of Buchner since being named the starter. “I think that's important, that cohesiveness, that consistency in terms of who's making the calls, who's making the checks and knowing who's at quarterback. We thought it was really important to do it. I've been pleased with what I've seen in the two or three practices since we've named a starter named him the starter.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Freeman has seen the defensive grow under Al Golden despite it being the third coordinator in three years. Golden has been able to teach some of the finer points of the game while making sure there is some carry over from the past.
“The thing we've tried to do since Al has gotten here is to keep some consistency in what we've done defensively,” Freeman said. “What I don't want to do, I don't care how long you've been here, if you can't play fast because you're thinking about what you've got to do, then you're going to be slow on defense. You're not going to be really good.
“We're trying to keep some consistency in what we're doing and what we've done in the past. There's obviously been some enhancements in terms of Coach Golden's experience, his years of being a defensive coordinator, being in NFL, but the basics of what we're going to do is not going to change.”
When it comes to special teams, the kicking game is starting to take shape. A pair of graduate transfers seem to be in the lead for special teams coordinator Brian Mason as camp inches to a close.
“We haven't really decided on a punter,” said Freeman. “I know (Jon) Sot's been probably taking more reps with the ones. (Blake) Grupe is the number one kicker. He was awesome today. 3-for-4 I wrote down, made a 53-yarder. He made a 53-yarder and missed a 53-yarder. And that's right in that fringe area. Do you go for it? Do you punt it? But it was really good to see. He's been really consistent over the last few practices when we've been kicking field goals and it's been really good to see.”
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