Marcus Freeman reveals his emotions facing alma mater, his approach vs. Ohio State in Year 2

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has no problem admitting now that he was feeling a lot of emotions heading into last year’s matchup with Ohio State.

Freeman was set to coach his first game as a head coach and was doing so versus his alma mater, on the road, against a top 5 team.

“Last year, going into your first game, at your alma mater, huge game, there was a lot of noise. There were a lot of distractions,” Freeman said Friday on The Pat McAfee Show.

This year’s game has a different feel to it for Freeman and Notre Dame.

The Irish have a top 10 team of their own that is 4-0 as the Buckeyes come to town. Notre Dame also has a better roster than it did last season, with transfer quarterback Sam Hartman leading the way. Hartman has passed for 1,061 yards and 13 touchdowns through the first four games of the season. He has yet to throw an interception.

It’s not just Hartman, though. Dating back to last year, Notre Dame has won 10 of its past 11 games.

“The reality of it is this is Week 5 for us vs. a great opponent. But you can’t let the things that really don’t matter to winning a football game really creep into your head,” Freeman said. “And I think going through the experience that I’ve gone through — even last year — the highest of highs and lowest of lows, you realize focus on the things that matter. Focus on the things that are going to really help you perform on Saturday and maybe not the stuff that’s surrounding the game.”

Marcus Freeman still expects to have some nerves on Saturday, but he is in a much different state right now with the Irish program thriving than he was a year ago as he was just getting started as the head coach in South Bend.

“Every game you play… that’s one of the chills that you have when you run through that tunnel,” Freeman said. “No matter who the opponent is, that is one of those very few times in life you get to have those chills. So I’m sure I’m going to have [nerves], like anybody else. But when you talk about the difference between last year and this year, it’s experience.”

Notre Dame has a chance to get its biggest win under Freeman to date if it can beat Ohio State on Saturday. The Buckeyes are currently favored by 3 points for the matchup, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m.