Marcus Freeman admits Audric Estime struggling with overcoming fumble issues

Notre Dame bounced back from their two-point loss to Stanford in their 44-21 victory over UNLV this weekend. The Fighting Irish defeated the Rebels in just about every facet of the game in their win, except in the turnover battle, as Notre Dame gave the ball back twice to UNVL to the tune of a Drew Pyne interception and a fumble by running back Audric Estime. Estime has been struggling with ball security as of late, and head coach Marcus Freeman gave a straightforward answer when asked how his running back has been handling those struggles.

“Not well,” Freeman said. “He’s tough on himself as are we on him, and has high expectations for himself. And so he understands the reality of how important it is to make sure we are in possession of that ball when we have the chance to have it in our hands.”

Estime had his first career fumble in Notre Dame’s week 4 matchup against North Carolina, and has since fumbled the ball two more times in their last two outings.

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Freeman also spoke on how running backs coach Deland McCullough and their staff are working on improving Estime’s ball security, a tough task already in the thick of the football season.

“He understands the importance of that but at the same time, we have to find ways to make sure that doesn’t happen. And whichever ways we can, I know coach McCullough works on ball security. You can’t live up practice now going on game eight, you can’t do it, but we gotta find ways to make sure that we continue to understand the importance of ball security,” Freeman said.

Estime currently leads the Irish in all rushing categories averaging 5.5 yards per carry on 79 carries for 435 yards and six touchdowns on the season, but his recent struggles in ball security have led to fewer touches for him. In their last two games when he’s fumbled, Estime did not receive another carry for the remainder of the ball game resulting in just 10 total carries in their last two games.

Running backs Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree have seen increased roles during Estime’s ball security struggles of late, with Diggs rushing for a career-high 130 yards on 28 carries in their last ball game. But the Irish are hoping that their biggest and most effective power back in Estimate can clean up his fumbling issues moving forward and work his way back into the rotation and the good graces of the coaching staff.