Quick-hitters: Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame wide receivers, Gator Bowl prep, South Carolina

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman held his final press conference before the No. 21 Irish play No. 19 South Carolina Friday in the Gator Bowl (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Here are some of the topics he discussed.

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On not using the bowl as a jumping-off point to 2023

“The most important thing is winning. That’s going to give us the most momentum to continue to look forward. As I told the players in team meetings, our focus is right now. Our focus is finishing this season the right way. If you continue to focus on the future and think about the future, you’ll lose this opportunity you have in front of you. The future will be taken care of if we finish the season the right way. That’s 100 percent of where my focus is.”

On the difference in emotions in this year’s bowl vs. the Fiesta Bowl last season

“Last year, my emotions were all over the place. I remember having a press conference next to Mike Gundy and kind of just – obviously surreal. You’re kind of figuring it out one day at a time. But you’re still figuring this thing out. I don’t think a day will come where you say you have it all figured out. That’s the reality of this profession and having the opportunity to lead this group of young men.”

“You have a plan and a sense of how we want to proceed, but those plans have to enhance and change depending on the situation you’re in. A year later, we have a practice structure. We have a plan. We looked at for this year compared to what we did last year, how can we enhance what we did last year? We’ll get a chance to play an extremely talented football team and be able to reflect after this game.”

On the lasting impact of this Notre Dame team

“I want this group to be an example for future groups in that – we talked about it all season – this road to where we want to be isn’t as we always foresee it on the front end. I want this group to be the one where we can say, ‘Here’s an example.’ Here’s why we continue to trust your coaches, continue to work no matter what the outcome is each week.

“To finish this thing off the right way with a victory would be a tremendous example and not only a congratulations to this senior group of players that have been so resilient, but no matter what, they’ll be the example of what we use to continue to propel this program forward.”

On quarterback Tyler Buchner

“He’s ready to roll. You talk about a guy who hasn’t played football from Week 2 to Week 12. He obviously had some time where he wasn’t on the practice field. But after 14 practices, he’s ready to roll. He’s been magnificent in practice. He’s done a great job of leading the offense.”

“It’s not just throwing the ball. When you’re the quarterback at Notre Dame, it’s gaining the confidence of those guys around you. You’re the leader of that group. I think he has done a good job of continuing to earn the trust of these guys around him.”

On the wide receivers’ increased opportunity without tight end Michael Mayer

“You lose that crutch. At some point, when in doubt, you throw the ball to 87. He’s not out there. It’s been excellent to see what Coach [Chansi] Stuckey has done with that wide receiver room, seeing those guys elevate and truly take advantage of the opportunities. You never know on any certain passing concept or pass call if your number is going to be called. You have to make sure you’re running your routes and are precise in what you’re doing.

“It has been good to see those guys in practice, and we’ve had a lot of competitive situations. That has been the focus for me of bowl prep. Let’s go good-on-good. With opt-outs and guys not playing, you don’t know what you’re going to see. You don’t. This game is going to be about our preparation and what we do. You’ve been able to see our wideouts compete against our DBs, ones vs. ones. They’re doing a good job. I’m excited to see them tomorrow.”

On South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer

“It’s his second year being the head coach, first head coaching job. I think he’s done an excellent job of recruiting, developing and improving. That’s the challenge, to continue to enhance your roster and develop your roster. What you’ve seen is a team throughout the season get better and better. At one point, you could see South Carolina’s season going one way or another. They went one way, and that was vertical. They got better. That’s a reflection of the way he has led.”

On Notre Dame’s 2022 captains

“Your culture, your leadership is really revealed when things aren’t going so well. I learned more about these two guys in the difficult times than when things were going well. These guys continued to take control of this team.

“Sometimes as the head coach, you think it’s everything you say to the team that’s going to get the culture and this program where it needs to go. These guys do it. They take care of it, the messaging, what needs to be said. I’m fortunate to have a great group of leaders that when things didn’t go well, they really took care of the locker room.”