Live updates: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman Oct. 17 press conference

Notre Dame (3-3) is right back at a turning point in the 2022 season. The Fighting Irish faced one after the loss to Marshall. Now they’re on the rocks again after the loss to Stanford.

Notre Dame was a heavy favorite in both games, favored by 20.5 points against the Thundering Herd and 16.5 points against Stanford. The Irish opened as a 24-point favorite over UNLV (4-3) in this week’s 2:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium.

Here are live updates of head coach Marcus Freeman‘s press conference previewing the game against the Rebels and putting to bed the defeat at the hands of the Cardinal.

Marcus Freeman press conference live updates

• Freeman: “It’s been a long 48 hours trying to figure out what the heck happened Saturday.”

• Freeman says the Irish’s players determination is “unwavering” and that they’re ready to right the ship Saturday vs. UNLV.

• Freeman says Nana Osafo-Mensah‘s best game of his career last weekend is a continuation of what he has done to prepare in practice. He’s earning it.

• Freeman admits he “wasn’t in the greatest frame of mind” Saturday. He apologizes for the way he answered the question of why Notre Dame has not played well at home. “There is no one answer. If there was, we would fix it. It’s truly an evaluation of everything that goes into it.”

• Freeman says the trends of the season have gone as follows: finish, execute, start fast. He says Notre Dame has not started fast enough in recent games.

• Freeman: “You’re going to really have to stand your ground in these tough times.”

• Freeman admits he “did not know what was going on” when Notre Dame lost to Marshall.

• Freeman: “We’re always going to look to enhance our roster and be the best recruiting team in the country… I don’t want the result of a game to impact how we recruit. I don’t care if we’re 6-0 or 3-3.”

• Freeman: “It’s easy to put the blame on a certain area or certain player or certain coach, but there is room for everyone to improve.”

• Freeman: “These guys have to want to be coached… Our players were very receptive to it yesterday.”  

• Freeman: “The minute you start pointing the finger at the players, you’ll lose them. The minute you start blaming the coaches, you’ll lose them.”

• Freeman says safety Xavier Watts has “a lot of natural talent.” He says Watts did a good job with his opportunity for more playing time against Stanford.

• Freeman says Jaden Mickey missed the Stanford game with an abductor strain.

• Injuries: Jayson Ademilola did not practice Sunday with a rib contusion. Ramon Henderson practiced yesterday, as did TaRiq Bracy. Mickey is day to day.

• Freeman says there was a “lack of confidence” after the Marshall loss. “I hadn’t won a game as a head coach.”

• Freeman: “There was anger after this last game because I know we are a good football team. We did not play up to our standard.”

• Freeman: “I want this to be the best Tuesday practice we’ve had all year. Then after that, we’ll focus on Wednesday.” It’s back to one day at a time for Notre Dame.

• Freeman says Drew Pyne was “good yesterday.” “The thing about Drew is, he feels like he let us down. He let the coaches down, he let the team down. We all let each other down.”

• Freeman asked what putting Pyne in a “good position” entails. “What we have to do is a better job of building his confidence and doing the things that gives us success.”

• Freeman says Stanford did a good job defensively of stopping the Notre Dame run and doubling Michael Mayer. “We can’t always depend on Mike Mayer. It’s easy to do that… We have to be able to go through our progression.”

• Freeman says Pyne would want the misfire to Braden Lenzy back.

• Freeman mentions penalties and not executing on “drive starters” as the reasons the Notre Dame offense struggled against Stanford. He says that though he harps on execution as much as he does, it all starts with the looks the coaching staff puts the players in.

• Freeman admits the fourth and 2 play from the Stanford 5 wasn’t the look the Notre Dame offense wanted. He said he should have called a timeout before the jet sweep to Jayden Thomas. But he says he still wants to be aggressive in that situation. He was going to go for it either way. “The chances of converting are pretty high. We just have to execute.”

• Freeman on the Notre Dame offense: “I don’t know which one is Jekyll and which one is Hyde, but I want to be the one that’s good.”

• Freeman: “I have the utmost confidence in our offense and Coach Rees. We just have to execute better. I know you guys get tired of me saying that.”

Notre Dame vs. Stanford recap links

Fighting Irish suffer a stunning 16-14 upset to Stanford (Todd Burlage, Blue & Gold)

Game balls: Irish football standouts vs. Stanford (Todd Burlage, Blue & Gold)

Report card: Grading Irish football in loss to Stanford (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)

Five thoughts: Irish stumble in home loss to Stanford (Patrick Engel, Blue & Gold)

How it happened: A detailed look at Stanford beating Irish football (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)

Another Irish home dud reveals Marcus Freeman is still stuck on the same questions (Patrick Engel, Blue & Gold)

By the numbers: Stanford downs Notre Dame to send Irish back to .500 (Steve Downey, Blue & Gold)

What Stanford coach David Shaw said about beating Irish football (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)

How a chance to take a late lead slipped away from Audric Estimé (Patrick Engel, Blue & Gold)

What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss vs. Stanford (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)

Breaking down PFF grades for Irish football in loss to Stanford (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)

Notre Dame vs. Stanford snap counts, participation chart (Patrick Engel, Blue & Gold)