Live updates: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman pre-Virginia press conference
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is set to address reporters for the final time before Saturday’s game vs. Virginia. The Irish take on the Seminoles at 3:30 p.m. ET in South Bend, and the game will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
Here are Blue & Gold’s live updates from Freeman’s Thursday Zoom press conference, which begins at noon ET.
**Keep refreshing this page for real-time, written updates from Notre Dame’s Zoom press conference.**
What Freeman is saying
• Freeman on Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea: “He’s a confident football player. … He throws the ball into tight windows and extend plays with his legs.” Notre Dame has a plan, but it needs to affect Colandrea.
• Jack Kiser is set to play in his 63rd game, which will be an all-time program record. “That’s a guy, when I think about individuals who have reached their full potential, Jack Kiser has definitely done that.”
• With Howard Cross III out, you’ll see more of Donovan Hinish and Gabriel Rubio (who can play both three-technique and nose tackle). There’s also a chance you see Armel Mukam and Sean Sevillano Jr. play meaningful snaps.
• Freeman on the big recruiting weekend: “It was important to put on a good performance. They got to enjoy a great environment and a great game. Looking forward to a good future with those guys.”
• Insightful stuff from Freeman on Notre Dame getting opponents’ offenses off script. He said the teams the Irish have played have thrown some things at them on the first drives, but they have to adapt and adjust.
“There’s not one thing that we can say, ‘Hey, if we do this on the first drive, we’re gonna stop them.’ We gotta make sure we have a good base plan to settle our guys down no matter what formations we see offensively.”
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• Freeman was asked about recruiting the 2021 cycle, some of whom will go through Senior Day on Saturday. He said it was really unique. “Sometimes you feel bad because they didn’t get the entire college recruiting experience, but it was just the time. … I don’t know if it ever happened before or will ever happen again.”
• On in-season improvement, Freeman said it’s not just one thing. “It’s never going to be perfect, but can we really focus on staying in the moment [during Tuesday and Wednesday practice]? … It’s the intentionality of the way you work.”
• Benjamin Morrison is doing well in his recovery process, Freeman said. He’s walking without his brace. “We had our captains’ meeting on Monday. His mind is in a great spot. … I don’t know if he’s on track or he’s ahead of schedule, but he’s really doing a great job.”
• Tae Johnson and Karson Hobbs both did really good things against Florida State, according to Freeman. They’re on different development paths, but both of them, the third-year head coach said, are going to be good players for Notre Dame.
However, unless there’s an injury or the game is in hand, it’s going to be all Christian Gray and Leonard Moore.
• That will do it for Freeman’s Thursday press conference.
