‘We Don’t Really Focus On The Future’: Notre Dame Not Taking Eye Off The Ball

BRONX, N.Y. — It seems like most College Football Playoff hopefuls go to sleep at night dreaming of playing in games that are still a month away. 

And it’s costing them. 

Just this past weekend alone, four ranked teams fell to unranked opponents, including #7 Alabama, #9 Ole Miss, #15 Texas A&M and #16 Colorado.

#5 Indiana also lost handedly on the road to #2 Ohio State, putting its playoff hopes into serious question. 

But while other teams falter, taking their eye off the goal, thinking that the 12-team playoff gives them a security blanket — Notre Dame just keeps winning. 

The Irish have rattled off nine straight wins following their Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, and their opponents have ranged in skill level. From blowing out a pair of previously-unbeaten and ranked service academies to destroying unranked opponents like Florida State and Virginia, Notre Dame seems to have the same approach every week no matter who’s on the other sideline. 

“We come into every week just trying to be 1-0,” running back Jeremiyah Love said. “We don’t really focus on the future.” 

That focus on the future is costing national champion ‘contenders,’ completely knocking them out of the playoff picture. Schools like Alabama and Ole Miss have massive wins against Georgia and then see that win mean nothing when they have three losses. 

But even with three losses there will be conversations about whether or not Alabama can sneak into one of those last spots. 

Meanwhile, Notre Dame has run through everyone in front of it, and are now ranked #5 in the AP Poll, the same ranking they had prior to the NIU loss. Still, there is a hesitation by some when the Irish are brought into the contender conversation, despite the 10-1 record and the best point differential in FBS (+301).

Head coach Marcus Freeman’s weekly approach should be something that every coach across the nation adopts. All that matters is Saturday, not the third Monday in January. 

“I’ve always said it’s up to you all and everybody else to interpret the message that’s sent,” Freeman said. “There’s one goal to achieve on Saturdays and that’s to achieve team glory. The way you prepare gives you the best opportunity to do that.” 

“That's the message that I want our players to understand, is that we prepare the right way, we continue to find ways to elevate and improve, and you're going to get, hopefully, a result that we got tonight. And so I don't worry about the message that sends everybody else, as much as I worry about the message it sends to our players.” 

But even with the success, that one loss has left a cut so deep that no one will forget it — the Irish most of all. 

“There's a lot more. We got more,” Freeman said. “We didn’t play perfect and we strive for perfection. Do we have to play perfect? No, but that’s what we are going to strive for. That’s what we are chasing.” 

That message of striving for perfection seems to be infectious in Notre Dame’s locker room. It’s a message that every single player on the team has adopted and taken to heart. 

“We're just coming out every week trying to reach our full potential, reach team glory,” Love said. “Job's not not finished at all. We won this week and next week is a new week.” 

The Irish are more focused on team glory than a hypothetical trophy that could be at the end of the journey. They take no opponent lightly and it shows on the field. The level of consistency that Notre Dame has reached is among the best in the country. 

There isn't much wavering from week to week in terms of play on the field, with eight of their nine last wins being double-digit victories. Something that you don’t see from many of the ranked teams, even if they pull out a win in the end. 

“We've improved, but we're starting to be more consistent,” Freeman said. “The sign of great teams, great businesses, great people, is consistency, not the ability to do it. That's what I think we've seen in the past couple weeks.” 

The Irish are playing to a standard, not a ranking.

Freeman and Co. are content with letting the chips fall where they will. Because in reality they don’t have the luxury of letting thoughts of the playoff enter their heads. A loss is most likely a nail in the coffin — they know that, even if they’re not saying it. 

“We’re living up to the Notre Dame standard,” Love said. “Or at least trying too.” 

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