Jordan Faison Using Championship Experience To Fuel Playoff Performance
Jordan Faison is no stranger to big games, and the wide receiver is starting to become a big-time player, emerging in the biggest moments for Notre Dame.
The Fort Lauderdale, Florida native already has a trophy case filled with a Sun Bowl MVP and a 2024 National Championship with the Irish’s lacrosse program. Friday night in South Bend may have not added any hardware to his case — but his performance sure was a memorable one. The wide receiver hauled in seven catches for 89 yards in the 27-17 win over Indiana.
“The whole team loves playing in the biggest stages,” Faison said. “When everyone's watching, people are performing, and when the opportunity comes my way again, I have to make the plays, and I was able to do that tonight.”
Before the first round matchup with the Hoosiers, Notre Dame called upon Faison’s championship experience when speaking with the team.
“Coach (Loren) Landow asked me to talk to the team after one of our lifts, give the spiel of what it was like going to the National Championship for lacrosse” Faison said. “I was just telling the guys, we were literally in the same role. We lost a Georgetown team we're supposed to beat. We lost to an NIU team we're supposed to beat, and then had to win out from there to make playoffs.
“This is a real chance. And if you want to have a chance. I mean, just time to lock in, time to go.”
Faison was locked in from the jump as an early drop didn’t waver his confidence.
“You can't let things like that affect you,” Faison said. “I mean, the ball is gonna keep coming to you. You gotta be able to make plays and then that catapults you into making more plays during the game.”
The multi-sport athlete continued to thrive on the big stage, hauling in his next three targets, two of which moved the chains for the Irish.
And if wide receiver and lacrosse national champion wasn’t enough in Faison’s arsenal — he added special teams specialist to his aresenal during the second half kickoff. After Jayden Harrison hauled in the initial catch, Faison was there to receive a reverse toss, and took the Hoosiers for a ride. He made multiple defenders miss as he streaked up the right sideline to set Notre Dame up across midfield to begin the second half.
“He is a weapon force,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “We obviously used him on the kickoff return reverse, and we had a little bit of doubt, saying, okay, there might be a guy that can see it. Nope, the guy saw it. But we had a lot of faith that Faison could make him miss, and that's what he ended up doing.”
Faison continued to embrace the moment in the early stages of the fourth quarter. With the Irish up 17 points and a chance to ice the game, Faison was there to make the play.
Riley Leonard stepped up in the pocket and delivered a perfect strike down the middle of the field that landed in the hands of a streaking Faison for a 44 yard catch. The only negative? He was dragged down at the one yard line.
“We worked on it all week, for multiple weeks, and I ran the route as we practiced,” Faison said. “I look back and I see Riley kind of moving and jumping and throwing the ball, and it's still freaking dime so I'm like, ‘Alright, I gotta go make this play for him.’ I was able to catch the ball, wasn't able to score, more worried about getting the ball than scoring.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock drew up the play multiple times throughout the game waiting for the chance to hit Faison deep. After being forced to change based on Indiana’s coverage, Leonard and Faison finally had their chance at a shot and they didn’t miss.
“He's a guy for us offensively that's got to touch the football,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “I called the same play a couple different times hoping they would get into the coverage that they ended up in, when we made the explosive pass down the field.”
With the games only getting bigger from here — a matchup with Georgia in the Sugar Bowl up next — it may be safe to assume Faison will be ready to go.
“He’s a playmaker,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “I often tell you that stats sometimes do not tell you the impact somebody makes on a game. The wide receiver position is one that is so important to understand that (Faison) can grade out 100% and have one catch and perception is he maybe had one catch, but the reality is, he did exactly what he was supposed to do on every single play today. He was rewarded obviously and targeted intentionally in certain situations, and he made some big time contested catches.