Three for Tuesday
Recruiting has been an emphasis under Marcus Freeman from the first day he was hired. In fact, Freeman made it clear there was a new standard for himself and his staff during his introductory press conference in December of 2021.
A few hours later, Freeman flew to Wisconsin and sealed the deal with offensive lineman Billy Schrauth to set a tone.
Notre Dame has landed several key pieces in recruiting, but also the Transfer Portal to put the program in a position to make a run at the College Football Playoff in 2024. Quarterback Riley Leonard, receiver Beaux Collins, running back Jeremiyah Love, safety Adon Shuler and kicker Mitch Jeter were all big wins on the recruiting trail and all made a massive impact on Saturday night in College Station.
In fact, if you break it down, Notre Dame’s talent acquisitions since the “Freeman Era” officially started shined bright at Texas A&M.
77 percent of Notre Dame’s rushing yards came from Love and Leonard. 91 percent of the program's receiving yards came from players signed over the last three seasons, while 61 percent of the tackles came from the same group.
Howard Cross III, Jack Kiser, Rylie Mills, Jordan Botelho, Mitchell Evans, Jadarian Price and Xavier Watts have had a major impact on this team, so this isn’t one of those Freeman’s guys vs. Kelly’s guys pieces, but rather to show that Notre Dame appears to be headed in the right direction in terms of recruiting, development and identifying talent to get the program over the hump it's been stuck on for a few years.
The depth was also a significant piece to the win, as Notre Dame didn’t have cramping issues, and even when a guy like Jordan Faison went down, the Irish didn’t bat an eye. Notre Dame would have been in a tough spot if a starting receiver went down in 2023 as we all witnessed, but that’s where this staff has fixed some of the roster issues - and fixed it quickly.
Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden has upgraded the program’s recruiting in all aspects, including closing and evaluations and pushing the program into areas it simply hadn’t touched under previous regimes.
“We’ve continued to improve the depth of all positions,” stated Freeman. “It’s not very often that you can replace Joe Alt at left tackle, then you lose the (new) starting left tackle and still feel very confident about the left tackle that’s going into the game. And we do.
“I think our coaching staff has done a great job, our recruiting staff, of developing depth at all positions. Each year, it’s different. That’s the great challenge of a coach is that you don’t just reload. You have to start over with this new group of talent and build it the right way and have a process that going to have an output that you want on these 12-guaranteed opportunities.
“I’m really pleased with the depth of this football team how our coaches and staff has recruited.”
Yes, it’s just one game, but it’s also a game Notre Dame has lost countless times in the past. The will to compete and find a way to win is often overlooked in recruiting as the world is focused on athletic testing or stars. This staff has prioritized finding the top athletes who have a desire and will to compete, as well as mentally tough kids, for moments like the final four minutes of what took place in College Station.
Collins, Leonard, Love and Christian Gray all made massive plays to seal the victory and that doesn’t include the offensive line. Saturday was a positive sign for the direction of the program and Notre Dame needs to build on it.
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In December, Freeman wanted to upgrade the offensive coordinator position and was able to bring back Mike Denbrock. The veteran coach has seen just about everything one can see in the college game, but isn’t overly stubborn in his scheme.
What you saw Notre Dame run on Saturday night wasn’t overly similar to what he ran LSU, but he still came out victorious in both contests.
In 2023, Jayden Daniels passed for 235 yards and four touchdowns, while adding 120 rushing yards. Daniels completed 3-of-5 passes over 20 yards and 5-of-6 passes 10 yards or more. Over the weekend, Leonard didn’t attempt a pass over 20 yards and completed 4-of-9 passes over 10 yards.
It’s the reason Freeman wanted Denbrock as he can find a way to win in multiple ways. Notre Dame’s offense looked far from pretty for most of the game, but Denbrock kept chipping away and broke the Aggies defense. And yes, the playcalling was likely different than LSU’s 42-30 win last fall and Notre Dame’s defense likely played a significant hand in his decisions because Denbrock knew the Irish weren’t going to give up 20 points.
I also believe Denbrock isn’t afraid to do what he needs to do to win, so one week you could see him throw it 40 times and then the next week keep it on the ground the whole game. That’s what Notre Dame needs in its offensive coordinator more than anything, as some of the best offensive coordinators can’t adapt week to week, and it costs them at the end of the day.
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It’s easy to tell Marcus Freeman was paying attention to how Jim Tressel coached when he played and worked for him. In Monday’s press conference, Freeman talked about winning the battle of field position, and that was always a major emphasis for Tressel.
“We won the battle of field position, which was a major key for us and then we won the turnover margin,” said Freeman. “Those two things were vital for us to have success on Saturday.”
Now, Tressel had a reputation for being too conservative at times, which is where Freeman is a little different. Notre Dame went for it on fourth down twice in its own territory and that’s not something Tressel would have done.
The Irish also had another staple of what folks saw under Tressel during his time at Ohio State. Notre Dame dominated the second half.
Over the final two quarters, Notre Dame outgained Texas A&M 217-119, averaged 6.1 yards per rush and held A&M to just 32 passing yards, which is incredible when you think about how the game went.
And if you thought Tressel would give his student props following the game, you’d be wrong.
“I had a call from my college coach (Jim Tressel),” said Freeman. “Expecting to hear great job and big win and it was, ‘Hey I just want to remind you, the greatest danger is the illusion that all is well when indeed all isn’t well.’
“That’s the reminder that I needed more than anything is that it was a big win for our program versus a good opponent, but we have so much work to really improve on and that’s kind of the focus now as we go into Monday.”
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