Marcus Freeman wants to see 'violence' from Notre Dame against Army

While their opponents on Saturday night in Yankee Stadium might be the ones training to be professionals in it, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wants his team to be the aggressor and more violent, physical team.

Playing against Army and it’s power running option attack, Freeman knows sitting back isn’t an option for his defense. So speaking with NBC sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen pregame, he didn’t beat around the bush about his expectations.

“Violence,” Freeman said. “This will be a violent affair and we’ve gotta make sure we’re the most violent team. It’s not going to be about playing fit ball. I want our guys to be aggressive on all three phases. But playing this game violent, that’s what it’s going to be about.”

And while Freeman continued to preach an attacking mindset as one of the keys against the service academies, he’s not looking for his offense to get overzealous.

“Well you can’t play fit ball. You have to be aggressive, especially against this offense. They’re a power running team. So we’ve gotta be aggressive and attacking mindset,” Freeman said. “And our offense, we’ve gotta take care of the football and take what they give us. Like let’s take care of the football, play clean and lets see what the results are.”

In the early going, things were promising for the Irish. A stop was followed by a quick touchdown drive, then the Notre Dame defense came up with another stop before the special teams blocked a punt, giving the offense a short field.

With that short field, the offense tacked on another touchdown and Notre Dame held a 14-0 lead.

Notre Dame would roll on from there, winning in convincing fashion and living up to Freeman’s desires in a 49-14 win. Quarterback Riley Leonard went 10-for-13 passing with 148 yards and two touchdowns, plus 30 rushing yards. And the Irish backfield trio of Jeremiyah Love, Aneyas Williams and Jadarian Price carried the ball 20 combined times for 245 yards and five touchdowns.