Marcus Freeman criticizes Notre Dame in all three phases after first half vs. Clemson

The notorious Tyler from Spartanburg certainly motivated Dabo Swinney’s group, as Clemson left Notre Dame in the dust in the first half of their game Saturday afternoon.

At the midway break, ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath caught Marcus Freeman on his way to the locker room, asking him to assess the first two quarters. Specifically, McGrath asked why Freeman didn’t use Notre Dame’s final two timeouts to try and force a Clemson punt at the tail-end of the second quarter. His answer:

“Well, we were going to try it on that drive, but they got the first down. So we said, ‘hey, we’re not going to call a timeout.'”

On the first set of downs on that Clemson drive, the Tigers were forced into a third down and Marcus Freeman did use a timeout to stop the clock ahead of 3rd-and-five, but the Tigers converted anyway. At that point, calling more timeouts just didn’t seem that useful in Freeman’s eyes.

After that explanation, McGrath simply asked: “What went wrong in that first half?” since the Fighting Irish trailed 24-9 after 30 minutes. Freeman says:

“Well, we got to finish drives offensively, you know. Can’t finish with field goals. Can’t throw a pick-six. Then in special teams, that’s going to kill you, fumbling the ball. Defensively, we got to do a better job of tackling.”

So, Freeman has issues with how his squad is playing in all three phases of the game…on the road against Clemson. Yep, that’s a recipe for a two-possession halftime deficit in Death Valley.

Clemson dealing with heavy injuries vs. Notre Dame

Clemson has a tough task on Saturday as the Tigers will try to upset Notre Dame at Memorial Stadium. It just got even tougher as Clemson will be down multiple starters for the matchup.

Clemson has announced its injury report, and the Tigers are very banged up heading into the game.

Starting running back Will Shipley is out, as is starting offensive lineman Marcus Tate, starting defensive end Justin Mascoll, starting safety Jalyn Phillips and backup safety Sherrod Covil.

Clemson was already without starting receiver Antonio Williams, starting receiver Cole Turner and starting offensive lineman Walker Parks, who all have long-term injuries.

Shipley being out is obviously a big blow, but the Tigers do have another excellent back in Phil Mafah, who enters the game with 439 rushing yards and six scores.

The losses on defense are also big as Clemson is without three of its starting four defensive backs.