Live updates: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman press conference, Oct. 13
Notre Dame is two days away from attempting to stretch its winning streak to four games — both in the context of the 2022 season and in the rivalry series with Stanford. The Cardinal travel to South Bend having not beaten the Fighting Irish since 2017.
Head coach Marcus Freeman has righted the ship after the Irish’s 0-2 start this season and his own 0-3 start to his career including his Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State on New Year’s Day. David Shaw and Stanford, meanwhile, are still trending downward after a 1-4 start to the year following up a 3-9 finish in 2021.
Notre Dame beat Stanford 45-14 in Palo Alto, Calif., in last season’s regular season finale. The Irish have won each of the last three games in the series by at least three touchdowns. They’re favored to win Saturday’s matchup (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) by 17 points according to Vegas Insider.
Follow along with live updates below of Freeman’s last media availability before kickoff. His weekly Thursday press conference, which is held via a private zoom for reporters, begins at 12 p.m. ET.
Marcus Freeman press conference live updates: Oct. 13
• Freeman is asked what the identity of this Notre Dame team is. “Hopefully we are O-line and D-line driven,” he says. He wants the run to open up the pass offensively, and he says defensively “it still starts with stopping the run.”
• Freeman says Notre Dame sophomore right tackle Blake Fisher is very charismatic and is continuously getting better.
• Freeman says Notre Dame graduate student linebacker Bo Bauer is out for the year with an injury. He calls it a “tremendous loss.”
• Freeman says look for more of sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie with Bauer out for the year.
• Freeman says graduate student cornerback TaRiq Bracy is still questionable with a strained hamstring.
• Freeman says freshman linebacker Jaylen Sneed is progressing but probably is not ready to be a part of the defensive package on Saturdays.
• Freeman says Stanford’s 1-4 record is not indicative of the team the Cardinal are. He’s expecting a tough game Saturday.
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• Freeman says the Notre Dame defensive line needs to generate more batted balls up front.
• More from Freeman on the loss of Bauer: “[It] is devastating just because he’s a captain and he provides so much more than just production. Just the energy, the ability to motivate our players.”
• Freeman says Stanford’s RPO game is hard to defend. Notre Dame needs defensive discipline against the Cardinal.
• Freeman says junior quarterback Drew Pyne’s confidence is “infectious.”
• Freeman on the Notre Dame offensive line: “It all starts up front.”
• Freeman says Harvard graduate transfer Chris Smith showed from his first day at Notre Dame that he was going to be able to take the step up in competition and be a force for the Irish.
• Freeman says senior defensive tackle Howard Cross was limited on Tuesday but practiced all of Wednesday. “As long as there is no regression from yesterday, I expect to see him today and Saturday.”
• Freeman says Ryan Barnes is a guy who “has to be ready to go” if Bracy cannot play on Saturday.
• Freeman: “I feel confident TaRiq will be able to give us something based on what I saw yesterday.”
• Freeman: “You hurt so much for Bo.” He says depth is important and the rest of the linebacking corps has to be “ready to go.”
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