Marcus Freeman praises Notre Dame's resiliency, depth after Orange Bowl victory over Penn State

Throughout the 2024 season, Notre Dame had a next-man-up mentality. Key injuries – such as Benjamin Morrison at cornerback, Charles Jagusah at left tackle and, most recently, Rylie Mills at defensive tackle – tested the Fighting Irish’s depth in a big way.

That test continued in the Orange Bowl against Penn State when other key injuries came up. But Marcus Freeman’s group rose to the occasion and is now one win away from a national title.

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When Riley Leonard left late in the second quarter, Steve Angeli came in to lead a scoring drive. Right guard Rocco Spindler went down on the same play as Leonard, which opened the door for Jagusah to make his first appearance of the year on offense. Left tackle Anthonie Knapp also left the game, meaning Tosh Baker replaced him.

Notre Dame stuck together, and Freeman said the staff trusts the reserves to make an impact if called upon. They did just that on Thursday night.

“You think about now, you’re into game … 15 or 16, and you’re going to have to have depth,” Freeman said on ESPN College GameDay Friday. “You’re going to have to have guys that might not have been starting at the start of the year, but you’re going to count on them to make big plays and meaningful games. And that’s what you saw with Steve Angeli, and you saw with Jagusah and you saw with Tosh Baker and those guys. Those guys got to be ready.

“You don’t know when your number’s going to be called. But you have to earn your trust from the coaches and players in practice. And when it is called in the game, you’ve got to go out there and produce. But you earn that trust in practice every single day.”

Notre Dame flipped the script quickly after halftime

Angeli’s sequence proved to be a difference-maker after Mitch Jeter kicked the field goal to cut the Penn State lead to 10-3. Notre Dame won by three points when Jeter drilled the game-winner in the fourth quarter. But the drive after halftime – when Leonard returned – truly turned things around for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame, using the momentum created before the break, went 75 yards down the field in just eight plays, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run from Leonard. The Irish flipped the script quickly, and Marcus Freeman said that was part of his message in the locker room.

“I think as you said, that drive before half was huge,” Freeman said. “You have your backup quarterback in, you have two starting o-linemen out on that series and we were able to go down the field and at least get three points, which made it a one-score game.

“I told the guys at halftime, we didn’t play our greatest half of football. But we’re down seven points, and we’ve got to go out in the second half and be aggressive and be who we are. I thought we were playing a little cautious in the first half, a little for almost afraid to lose. And that’s not who we are. They came out in the second half, and that first drive to go down and score, then we go three-and-out the next drive to really set the tone for the second half.”

Marcus Freeman stresses importance of ‘winning this play’

When asked by Nick Saban about his team’s resiliency, Marcus Freeman pointed out the mentality he instills in his team. He doesn’t want the players worrying about what happened before – such as Riley Leonard’s costly interception to set up a Penn State touchdown – or what could happen next.

Instead, he wants them to focus on the task at hand. That means truly locking in on one play at a time, regardless of the situation.

“Most importantly, you’ve got to win this play,” Freeman said. “And that’s a mindset that we have. What happened the last play, what happens the next play, doesn’t matter. You have to win and execute on this play. Hopefully, that’s a reflection of how we played yesterday. It didn’t go how we wanted or how we foresaw that game going. But when it mattered the most, that person made a play.

“Christian Gray made a play, Mitch Jeter makes a big-time field goal. Our offense goes down and scores. Whenever we needed it, somebody was able to step up, and that’s the most important thing. On this this play, we got the job done.”