Paul Finebaum blasts Marcus Freeman for comments on Ohio State spread

It’s game week for one of the biggest games on the Week 1 schedule. Notre Dame and Ohio State face off on Saturday, and Marcus Freeman made waves Monday when he acknowledged the 17.5-point spread.

Tuesday, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum blasted Freeman for using that number as motivation.

During an appearance on “Get Up,” Finebaum called out the first-year Notre Dame head coach ahead of the matchup. In the process, he also reiterated his stance that Ohio State would cruise to victory and said he heard from Fighting Irish fans over the last few weeks.

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“Is Knute Rockne rolling over in his grave if a Notre Dame coach is feeling disrespected because somebody in Vegas doesn’t make him the favorite?” Finebaum told host Mike Greenberg. “This is really ridiculous because everyone knows, or should know, Ohio State is one of the best teams we’ve seen in a long time and Notre Dame is going through a transition. So, Coach Freeman, we all love you, but calm down.

“And I know Notre Dame fans are ready to get angry again, Greeny. When I was here a couple of weeks ago, I dared to say they were going to lose this game. I heard from Lou Holtz, I heard from pretty much every Notre Dame fan in the world with the exception of Pope Francis.”

Heather Dinich explains why Notre Dame is an underdog vs Ohio State

ESPN reporter Heather Dinich also discussed why Notre Dame is such a heavy underdog against Ohio State, citing injuries and the transition over the offseason. Freeman is coming in as a first-time head coach and the Fighting Irish are dealing with some injuries at wide receiver.

Plus, the defense will have to stop the Buckeyes’ high-powered offense. That adds to the recipe for a challenging night in Columbus.

“Notre Dame being the underdog has a lot do with what Paul just said, but they’re also missing their leading wide receiver, Avery Davis, who is out with a torn ACL for the rest of the season,” Dinich said. “They have already thin position. Nobody behind him has caught more than 20 catches and only one player with starting experience. So, they have to figure some things out offensively. I talked to Marcus Freeman and he told me their No. 1 priority is running the ball.

“But defensively, Greeny, this is a big reason why they’re the underdog is because they’re going against the No. 1 offense in the country with CJ Stroud at quarterback, a Heisman contender. They’ve got TreVeyon Henderson at running back, they’ve got Jaxon Smith-Njigba at wide receiver. They’ve got to stop that running game, and Marcus Freeman told me that they want to have Stroud hold onto that ball just a little bit longer so that they can fluster him and force him into some mistakes, but that is tall, tall challenge for the Irish.”