Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame Focused on Blocking Out Noise Before Ohio State Game
2023 has provided some colossal matchups this month, but none will be larger than Saturday night when No. 6 Ohio State travels to No. 9 Notre Dame.
It’s a rare game despite countless ties between the programs as we discovered a year ago. This year has been different. The storylines aren’t on Marcus Freeman playing his alma mater or Lorenzo Styles transferring to Ohio State.
The focus has been on what a win would do for each program as the Buckeyes and Irish have sights set on the College Football Playoff.
And that’s more than fine with Freeman.
“I think it's just a different approach for everybody,” stated Freeman. “We're going in week five for us and week four for them. You got two good teams and that's the focus, right? It's not about where I was or where I went to school or you know anybody else.
“It's about preparing your team to face a really good Ohio State team and I'm sure on the other hand Ohio State has the same mentality. That's where the focus should be and that's why I think it'll stay.”
Several Ohio State players noted the practice intensity turned up a few levels this week as the Buckeyes aren’t playing Indiana, Youngstown State or Western Kentucky this weekend.
”Each and every week, we try to be consistent,” explained Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson. “The intensity of practice this week definitely turned up a notch. We’re playing Notre Dame. I think they’re a top 10 team. It’s going to be a battle, so the intensity has turned up.”
In South Bend, Freeman hasn’t observed a change in his team or at least one he’d admit as he hopes his players approach their preparation the same for every opponent.
”No, not really,” Freeman said when asked if there was more energy this week. “I hope that practices every week are spirited. We've had really good Tuesday and Wednesday practice. I told them the hardest thing to do as we get closer to the game, the noise gets louder. You start thinking about things that are outcome-driven that have nothing to do with us preparing for this game.”
Freeman’s experience as a player at a blue blood likely pays off in certain situations and preparing for a big game could very well be one of those instances.
In fact, the second-year head coach has made small changes in practice to make sure his team stays focused as he looks to make every rep intentional.
“I've tried to have a couple of periods in practice where the music is really loud and we're going fast just to get them to be able to lock in on this play,” explained Freeman. “Get the call, get lined up and execute. I've been really pleased with the Tuesday and Wednesday practice. We're gonna have a great Thursday practice too.”
NO ISSUE WITH SIGNALS
Ohio State graduate assistant James Laurinaitis and defensive back Lorenzo Styles were with the Notre Dame program a year ago, so it naturally brings up the question of how much they can help Ryan Day and his coordinators with signals, signs and other operational details.
Freeman has no concerns as it’s an area Notre Dame prepares for every week.
“We try to change weekly,” stated Freeman. “We always look at our signals. We look at some of the communication and each week it changes. So that would be no different this week. You have to continue to change things up. All your games are on TV. They can hear the checks on TV. You can see signals on TV.
“Small changes to keep teams off balance that might be hearing our checks or seeing our signals. So it has less to do with Laurinaitis being on their staff and more to do with us continuously trying to keep our opponents off balance in terms of what we're signaling and what our checks are.”
Now, every team will try to steal signals but it’s also not like Notre Dame is playing Clemson this week either.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Notre Dame’s offense might have Sam Hartman at quarterback, but Saturday night’s outcome will be decided by the offensive line. The Irish were unable to run the ball on Ohio State a year ago, but Freeman is hopeful the outcome will be better this weekend.
”I've been extremely pleased with the play of our offensive line,” said Freeman. “I know we had high expectations coming into the season, but I think they've really done a good job of gelling as a unit. You got two guys on the inside between, Pat (Coogan) and Rocco (Spindler), who were first-time starters four games ago and who have continuously grown.
“There's always things you fix and you work to improve, but Coach (Joe) Rudolph and that offensive line has done a really good job each week of having a great plan of improving and going out on Saturdays and executing at a high level.”
INJURY NOTES
Tight end Mitchell Evans and defensive lineman Gabe Rubio practiced this week and will be ready to go on Saturday night.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Half-Zip Hoodie
