Marcus Freeman says Notre Dame has to execute better this week

Notre Dame is off to a rocky start in the first half of the season as they’re in the middle of a murderer’s row schedule. So, in between a loss at undefeated Louisville and a home game today vs. USC, what was stressed in practice this week for the Irish?

That was the question issued by former Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn to head coach Marcus Freeman when he joined the Big Noon Kickoff set on Saturday morning. Specifically, he wanted to know what areas of improvement Freeman and the staff emphasized throughout the last couple of days.

His answer:

“Yeah, the biggest thing is the execution. And to me, if our players know exactly what they’re supposed to do, then it’s our job to make sure that we get it executed.”

Freeman accepted blame himself and noted that it’s ultimately on he and the staff to get these guys right.

“So we got to look at ourselves as coaches first and make sure there’s no confusion in terms of what we’re asking our players to do. And then, two, we got to get our guys to do it. So that takes time. It takes a deep dive into what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and how we’re doing it.”

To finish up his answer, the Fighting Irish coach did pump out some optimism ahead of another marquee matchup against an undefeated opponent.

“It’s been a good week of preparation and we’re looking forward to going out there.”

There you have it from Coach Freeman. Notre Dame is looking to be much sharper from an execution standpoint this week compared to last week’s disappointment with Louisville.

Herbstreit reveals his keys to the game for ND

Ahead of Saturday’s ranked matchup, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit revealed the keys to success for Notre Dame against the nation’s highest-scoring offense.

“You talk about a gauntlet. Ohio State, Duke, last week against Louisville and now they return home. They’re going to put everything they have into this game,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter ahead of College GameDay. “Caleb Williams is going to make a ton of plays. Notre Dame’s [defensive] front is going to be the difference. They have to put some pressure on him with the blitz.

“But at the end of the day, I want to see if Notre Dame has enough offense to stay in this game. They will have to run the football, possess the ball and try to keep Caleb Williams on the sideline as often as they can.”