After Abhorrent Start, Notre Dame on Upward Trajectory Heading Into Off Weekend
Notre Dame players screamed and cheered as they met with coach Marcus Freeman in the locker room at Kenan Memorial Stadium.
Sure, the Irish were revealing in their 45-32 win over North Carolina, but this victory felt different than the one against Cal last weekend. After poor series on offense and defense to open the game, Notre Dame took it to a talented Tar Heel team and dominated.
If not for a few sloppy mistakes during garbage time, the Irish likely win by 20 points or more.
“Remember, it’s not about the outcome,” Freeman said in the locker room. “Continue to focus on the things that determine the outcome. That’s why I’m most proud of this team, the way you come every single day to prepare. That’s why we have a chance to have success because you bring your butts to work every day.”
At least publicly, his team’s performance over North Carolina provides Freeman with the validation needed to trust his turnaround plan and press forward.
The Irish started the season with back-to-back losses to No. 2 Ohio State and Marshall and went from a top-five team to unranked.
Following those losses, Freeman harped on a lack of execution and how his team had focused too much on finishing and the end result over the process.
”You [have to] look at those tough situations and say we’re going to be better because of it,” Freeman said. “We had to use it as a positive situation. That’s why I challenged the group. Somehow, some way that Ohio State game has to make us better. The same thing with the loss to Marshall. For each person, it could be different.”
Of course, changing your team’s mindset in-season is easier said than done. And if it doesn’t lead to noticeable on-field improvements, saying such things can sound like pseudo-coachspeak offered to the media by a coach in way over his head.
“We know that’s how we’re judged — wins and losses,” Freeman said. “We get that. Sometimes that can mask the reality of your team getting better. That’s what we have to do: continue to focus on what it takes to get better as a football team.”
Moving forward, the Irish still have plenty of mistakes to clean up, but they can at least hang their hats on promising play from the offensive and defensive lines, which both dominated on Saturday afternoon.
The defensive front created havoc and forced UNC quarterback Drake Maye to barely complete 50 percent of his passes.
Meanwhile, the offensive line consistently generated a strong push up the middle and led the way to 287 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Irish quarterback Drew Pyne was sacked once all game.
Many clamored for the head of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees given Notre Dame’s early-season struggles. After a 45-point performance against North Carolina, the Irish are averaging 25 points per game, which puts the Irish in the middle of the pack in college football.
Does a mediocre scoring average suddenly mask all of Notre Dame’s offensive issues? Certainly not, but now it’s a bit easier to see how Rees’ poor game plan had more to do with his team’s inability to execute than simply bad play design.
Sure, poor offensive execution is also on Rees, but it wasn’t as if he suddenly forgot how to call plays because Brian Kelly left for LSU.
“Coach [Al] Golden and Coach Rees did an unbelievable job of preparing this week,” Freeman said. “I’m really happy with where this team has progressed. That’s what I just told them in the locker room. Sometimes we let the outcome mask some things.
“This a football team that’s getting better. They’re playing better. They’re practicing better. That’s the challenge: continue to get better. It was good to see the performance today.”
The Irish are off next weekend, but Freeman doesn’t want to give his team much of a respite and disrupt their current momentum. His team is improving and missed practices waste precious opportunities for further development.
”I hope after four weeks and four games that we’re not tired,” Freeman said. “I don’t plan to rest them a lot. We have to get better. We have to develop in that week. We’ll have three or four practices during that week to continue to find ways to develop as individuals and as football players. We’ll utilize that.
“It’s not like it’s after week six or towards the end of the year, we’re talking about the first third of your season will be complete as we hit our bye week.”
Looking Forward to BYU
No. 19 BYU defeated a plucky Wyoming squad on Saturday evening, 34-24. The Cougars improve to 3-1.
Early in the game, the Cowboys found success on the ground. They held a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter by rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
But from that point on, BYU took away Wyoming’s ground attack, holding the Cowboys to just 31 yards on their final 18 carries.
The BYU offense is led by quarterback Jaren Hall, who connected on 26 of his 32 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns.
In the first half, the Notre Dame defense will have to slow down Hall without starting middle linebacker JD Bertrand after he drew another fourth-quarter targeting penalty against North Carolina.
”It’s targeting. You can argue all you want, but as I told JD on the field, it’s our job to learn from that situation,” Freeman said. “It’s an entire game wasted now. He missed the first half of this game and will miss the first half of the next game.
“We have to learn and we have to change or you’re going to continue to get targeting calls, no matter if we agree or disagree. We have to understand that’s the way the refs call it.