What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 49-14 victory against Army
Notre Dame suffered a major setback in September when it lost to Northern Illinois, but Marcus Freeman and Co. have been absolutely rolling since. The latest Irish victory was over previously unbeaten Army — and crushed the Black Knights 49-14.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the Black Knights, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction to the game in a YouTube live show. You can watch the replay of the show in the video player below.
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold: Why Notre Dame winning big on a chaotic day in college football matters
Whether or not Marcus Freeman knew every particular connected to the context of the first question of his postgame press conference following Notre Dame’s 49-14 victory over Army is uncertain. Odds are, he didn’t. He was mere minutes removed from leaving the field at Yankee Stadium. What he did know was he went to New York and got exactly what he was after.
Coach Freeman, what kind of message did your Fighting Irish send on a day when three teams in the top nine of the College Football Playoff rankings suffered losses?
“I’ve always said that’s for you all and everybody else to interpret, the message that’s sent” Freeman said. “There is one goal on Saturday’s, and that’s to achieve team glory.”
No. 6 Notre Dame did that. More than No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss could say. Heck, No. 4 Penn State only beat unranked Minnesota by a single point. No. 12 Boise State beat two-win Wyoming by four.
No. 14 BYU lost to No. 21 Arizona State by five. No. 15 Texas A&M was defeated by unranked Auburn by two. The Tigers still have a losing record even after the overtime stunner on The Plains. No. 16 Colorado lost to a team with a losing record, too, in going down by 16 to Kansas.
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold: Five thoughts—Notre Dame defense puts on triple option-stopping clinic
Nearly every time Notre Dame tacklers met Army ball carriers, they knocked them back at the point of contact.
Not on one specific third or fourth down. Not on just one drive. Not for just one quarter. It was dang near every single time. And it was one of many ways the Irish put on a triple option-stopping clinic in their 49-17 win over Army in Week 13.
Handling the Wing-T is a delicate balance. You can’t be passive, because then the Black Knights will move the line of scrimmage and rip off 3-5 yards per carry for 15-straight plays. But you can’t be too aggressive, because then they’ll catch one of your players out of position for a chunk play.
Notre Dame lived on that fine line. The defensive line held strong at the line of scrimmage. The linebackers attacked their assignments and took away every option. The defensive backs flew downfield; not only were they not afraid to hit, they relished the opportunity.
This was a team that took Army seriously, chose its personnel carefully, crafted a terrific game plan and played with energy and intent. Al Golden’s cap is running out of feather space.
Here are four more thoughts on Notre Dame’s 49-14 win over Army.
Paul Myerberg, USA Today: Notre Dame efficiently takes down Army to continue on College Football Playoff path
NEW YORK — Needing to play a perfect game to score one of the biggest wins in modern program history, Army gained a season-low 233 yards, gave up rushing touchdown of 58 and 68 yards, had a punt blocked that resulted in another touchdown and lost the turnover margin.
Top 10
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Needless to say, it was Notre Dame’s night at Yankee Stadium.
The No. 6 Fighting Irish held the No. 17 Black Knights in check and inched closer to the College Football Playoff with a 49-14 win, the team’s ninth in a row after a stunning loss to Northern Illinois in September.
“In every single phase, they outclassed us,” said Army coach Jeff Monken. “They are such a good football team.”
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“Really proud of the performance. You never know how this game is going to go. We knew we were preparing for a really good opponent, and the preparation this week was really good. It was really good. The challenge of beating that team in the turnover margin — whose top three or whatever in the country — to be able to get that done, I really think, had an impact on the game. It really did.
“The guys battled, right? They played well versus a really good team, and they battled. So, we’re going to enjoy this victory. We’ll get back, we’ll watch it and evaluate it and move forward. But a really good performance, both offensively and defensively; really proud of the way they prepared and performed.”
Full press conference transcript
Army head coach Jeff Monken
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“What a great football team we played tonight. They are really athletic and extremely well-coached. Every phase, they outclassed us. They blocked us and kept us blocked. We couldn’t sustain blocks in the interior or on the perimeter. They did a great job on the punt block. It’s embarrassing to have that happen. Hadn’t happened in our program in years. Just, they made a bunch of plays.
“Proud of our guys. Proud of the effort. Our guys continued to fight the entire game. It was to a point there, certainly in the fourth quarter, that it was going to be really hard for us to find a path to victory. But our guys never stopped fighting. We pride ourselves on that. Fortunately that’s been able to get us to the victory circle more often than not lately. But tonight we just faced a great team. Congratulations to Coach Freeman and their team. Certainly wish them success as they go forward.
“Just collectively, we didn’t what we needed to to win the football game. And frankly, so much of it had to do with them. The fact that we misfit a bunch of runs, we had a lot of missed assignments or anything like that, just, we couldn’t block them and keep them blocked and we couldn’t get off of their blocks. Fundamentals of football. They did that much better than us.
“We’ll regroup and try to get ready for next week. When you get to this point in the season, when a team gets to this point in the season, we’ve won as many games as we have, all the games are big. This is a big game today. Unfortunately, we came up short. But next week is a big game. And the one after that is a big game. The one following that, there is not a bigger game for us on the schedule. We got a lot to look forward to and a lot to play for.”
Full press conference transcript
