Marcus Freeman reacts to first win as Notre Dame head coach

It came a little later than expected, but Marcus Freeman has his first win as head coach of Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish held on for a 24-17 victory over Cal at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday after the Golden Bears’ Hail mary attempt fell incomplete after what felt like an eternity. But finally, after three games at the helm — counting last year’s bowl game — Freeman has a victory to his name.

“I keep trying to tell myself to enjoy,” Freeman said. “There’s a lot of coaching that happened on that field today that we can learn from. But listen, if you don’t take a minute to enjoy these things, you’re going to regret it. And that’s what I keep reminding myself, man, is that enjoy this victory. We’ll get back to work tomorrow.

“But again, I want to celebrate with those guys. This is about those guys that work and prepare, those coaches that prepared their tails off. This is something special we’re all going to share together.”

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Cal posed a legitimate threat to a then winless Notre Dame squad in South Bend on Saturday. Trailing 17-14 heading into the final quarter, Freeman’s Fighting Irish team score 10 unanswered points for the victory.

Quarterback Drew Pyne‘s six-yards pass to star tight end Michael Mayer would give Notre Dame the lead with nine minutes left in regulation. The Irish defense would hold firm and Notre Dame edged the Golden Bears by one touchdown.

Notre Dame’s schedule isn’t getting any easier from here. With a trip to Chapel Hill for a battle with an undefeated North Carolina squad on the docket for Week 4 and a ranked BYU team after that, Marcus Freeman and company need to enjoy these winning moments while they can, as they may not come around as often as they had in the past.