Live updates: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman Gator Bowl press conference (Dec. 28)
It’s Gator Bowl eve. The Notre Dame No. 21 Fighting Irish (8-4) and No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-4) meet at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman speaks to the media one last time before kickoff on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Follow along below for live updates of Freeman’s press conference.
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Marcus Freeman Dec. 28 press conference live updates
• Freeman: “The most important thing is winning. That’s going to give us the most momentum moving forward.”
• Notre Dame graduate senior offensive guard Jarrett Patterson said there was no thought of opting out of the Gator Bowl to focus on the NFL Draft despite his history of injuries. “The injuries come and go, but the memories, those last forever.”
• Freeman says he’s much more comfortable preparing the team for a bowl game this year than he was last year less than a month into the job. He cites being in a press conference with a revered coach like Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy as an eye-opening moment.
• Freeman on South Carolina: “I think in the last two games, they’ve shown they can beat anybody in the country.”
• Freeman says graduate student defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola will not play in the Gator Bowl. He’s out of eligibility, so his Notre Dame career is over.
• Freeman says he wants this team to be the example of a group that can finish a season the right way.
• Freeman says sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner is “ready to roll.” He says that entails more than just throwing the ball well. He looks comfortable leading the offense.
• Freeman on the loss of junior tight end Michael Mayer for the Gator Bowl: “You lose that crutch. When in doubt, throw the ball to 87, right?”
• Freeman says “there is no timeline” in targeting a quarterback from the transfer portal. He says it’s more about a culture and program fit.
• Freeman says game experience from a potential quarterback transfer is “extremely important.” He alludes to the inexperience of the quarterback room looking ahead to 2023.
• Notre Dame linebacker JD Bertrand says freshman LB Jaylen Sneed reminds him of Butkus Award winner Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. “Those instances when you see that are super exciting.”
• Freeman says he learned a lot about the Irish team captains during the “difficult times” of the 2022 season. “When things weren’t going so well, they really took care of the locker room.”
• Patterson: “He believes what he says and practices what he preaches every day.”
• Freeman says sometimes having a month to prepare for an opponent is too much time. Notre Dame spent most of that time going good on good instead of running a scout team with South Carolina’s play-calling.
