Marcus Freeman explains how he will use Michigan vs. Ohio State to prepare for National Championship

Marcus Freeman will empty out any and all ideas to try and beat Ohio State and that includes the Michigan film from late November.

Michigan virtually shut down Ohio State’s offense and forced the Buckeyes to play their game. When it turned into an ugly defensive affair, the Wolverines took advantage to win 13-10.

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Anything for a leg up right? Freeman definitely dove into that film, amid myriad options to prepare the Buckeyes.

“Yeah, I think there’s some things that happened in the Michigan game that Michigan did really well and Ohio State maybe didn’t do so well, but what you can’t do is look at another team’s defense and say this is what we’re going to do,” Freeman said. “You have to do what your team currently does really well.

“That’s the nature of the game. Any coach that tells you they just followed somebody else’s plan is probably not going to be that successful. We’ve got to make sure that we can take some ideas from what other teams have done to have success, but really implement them based on how they fit within our system.”

Michigan did just enough on the Ohio State defense running the football and some timely passing, despite the lack of explosive plays.

Freeman recently opened up on the key to success for Notre Dame’s offense against the Buckeyes’ defense.

“I think each team can be different,” Freeman said. “For us, we have to be able to run the football, and we’ve got to find ways to do that. At the end of the day, you’re going to study teams that have had success against your opponent, but you still have to do what your team does well.”

This season, Notre Dame has consistently found success rushing the football. The Irish are 14th in the country in rushing offense this season, averaging 210.80 yards per game over the course of 15 games this season. On the other side in the National Championship Game, however, is one of the best rushing defenses in the country. 

The Buckeyes are third nationally in rushing defense, giving up just an average of 89.93 yards per game on the ground. That makes this game a prime example of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.

“Again, for us to have success, we’re going to have to be able to run the ball, and we’re going to have to be able to stop the run. Obviously, you know me well enough, I’ve said that, for every game we play,” Freeman said. “But it won’t be any different for this game.”