Marcus Freeman laments penalties, lapses as Notre Dame leads USC at half: 'We gotta grow up'

Notre Dame had the first half against a potent USC offense and reigning Heisman winning quarterback go about as well as possible, holding a 24-6 lead at the break. But head coach Marcus Freeman was steamed about the little areas his team was losing its edge.

At one point in the first half, Freeman had to call a timeout to avoid too many men on the field on defense. At another, a personal foul cost the Notre Dame defense 15 yards and put the Trojans into field goal range for one of the two scores USC mustered in the first half.

“We gotta grow up. Like, we gotta understand situational football. And I love the emotion and the passion, but you’re going to get a penalty because we’re too busy celebrating instead of getting ready for the next play. One play, one life, man. We can’t worry about the last play and celebrate. Getting line up. It cost us three points. But we gotta be better as coaches and our players too,” Freeman said.

In the first half, both teams were about even on penalties. USC had four called and accepted for 36 total yards and Notre Dame had four for 38 yards. But for Freeman, it was clearly the moments and reasons for the penalties that left him less than pleased heading into the half.

However, despite this sloppiness, Notre Dame held a commanding lead and squelched out one of the best offenses in the country. This was largely thanks to three first-half interceptions from Caleb Williams as the Trojans offense was uncharacteristically out of sync.

Freeman is hopeful to keep that the case in the second half.

“I think our defense is doing a really good job of switching up coverages. Our guys up front are getting pressure on him and we’re able to capitalize on those balls that are coming to us. It’s not an easy thing to do. But we gotta continue to keep pressing, be aggressive,” Freeman said.

Freeman wanted his team ready to go from the jump

Freeman was asked what his pregame message was, comparing the past week to a video game. Notre Dame has the opportunity to “run it back” and release the frustration of the Louisville loss. He believes the players are going to be ready to go.

“Let’s run this thing back,” Freeman said via NBC. “That’s what I told them. You know what, sometimes you lose in video games. The first thing you want to do is run it back. We’ve been waiting seven days. It’s time to run it back. Our boys are ready to go.”

Notre Dame has been in a brutal stretch, playing four ranked matchups in as many weeks, all four against undefeated teams.