Marcus Freeman reacts to first win as Notre Dame head coach

It came down to the final play after a late penalty and a replay review, but Marcus Freeman did it. He got his first win as Notre Dame head coach — and expressed the thoughts of many Fighting Irish fans afterward.

“Phew,” he said to start his postgame interview.

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.

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But he made sure to credit the people who helped him get to this point after notching that first win.

“This is for this place,” he told NBC’s Zora Stephenson. “This is for the University of Notre Dame, this is for these kids who just work their tails off. I’m so happy for them and proud of them. This is going to be one of many to come.”

Notre Dame got off to a sluggish start offensively in the first half, and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees let quarterback Drew Pyne hear about it during a mid-game conversation. But the Fighting Irish came out firing in the second half, and Freeman said he gave his players some sound advice.

They just had to play their game.

“It seemed like they let loose a little bit more,” Freeman said. “That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to understand it, we’re a really good football team, we’ve got really good players. We’ve got to go play that way. I liked, for the most part, what we saw.”

Although Notre Dame was able to finish off the win, Freeman admitted it wasn’t perfect. But he’ll worry about that later as he enjoys that victorious feeling.

“There’s a lot of teaching and there’s a lot of plays we’ve got to learn from,” he said. “But we’re going to savor this victory.”