Marcus Freeman credits offensive line in win

After starting the year 0-2, Notre Dame has since rallied, extending their winning streak to three games following their 28-20 win this Saturday against No. 16 BYU. Marcus Freeman finally has a winning record for the first time since becoming the Fighting Irish head coach, and he attributed their most recent win to the unsung heroes upfront for Notre Dame, his offensive and defensive line.

“I told them when we needed them the most, the o-line and d-line stepped up,” Freeman said. “In that big fourth down stop was d-line, and our o-line even on that last drive to continue to get those first downs that we needed.”

In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, Notre Dame had an eight-point lead on the Cougars, and with 3:37 left in the game on 4th and 1 on the Irish 37-yard line, their defensive line stuffed BYU for no game and a huge turnover on downs.

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This gave the Irish the ball back with an opportunity to run out the clock, which they successfully did, not allowing BYU to possess the ball for the rest of the ball game.

“When they knew we were running the ball, they knew we were running it, and I told them that’s a sign of a great offensive line is when they know you’re running the ball and you’re able to get first downs, that’s an o-line driven program,” Freeman said.

Notre Dame even faced some adversity on their last possession of the game, as they faced a second-and-17 following a holding penalty on their second play of the drive. Despite the miscue, the Irish offensive line created a hole for running back Logan Diggs to run through for 33 yards on one of the biggest plays of the game.

The Fighting Irish offensive line helped them rush for 234 yards on the ground, their second-highest rushing output of the season and their second straight 200-plus yard performance on the ground. They also kept quarterback Drew Pyne‘s jersey clean, allowing zero sacks on the day for the first time this season.

It’s clear Freeman was pleased with his unsung heroes up front and wants them to be a critical part of the fabric and identity of their team moving forward.

“So yes, this was an example of what I’m talking about, now do we need to get better?” Freeman asked. “Absolutely, but this was a great example of o-line and d-line driving culture.”