Quick-hitters: Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Ohio State final thoughts, Tyler Buchner, TaRiq Bracy

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman can thank the transfer portal for his first connection with his counterpart this weekend. Freeman first reached out to Marshall head coach Charles Huff shortly after both were hired by their respective schools in January 2021 to inquire about a transferring player Huff might know.

“I can’t remember who was in the portal, but it was about a player,” Freeman said Monday.

Freeman did remember Huff’s attitude, though.

“I got a chance to connect with him when he became the head coach at Marshall,” Freeman said. “I’ve talked to him multiple times. He’s a man I respect, the job he has done and he has worked his way up. He has done a great job so far this year in one game.”

Marshall (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) visits Notre Dame (0-1) Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) for the Irish’s 2022 home opener. The Thundering Herd began their season with a 55-3 win over FCS program Norfolk State. Freeman met with reporters Monday to begin game week. Here are some of the topics he discussed.

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On the safety blitz Ohio State beat for the go-ahead touchdown

“It was right before a timeout. We had a timeout, [defensive coordinator Al] Golden said, ‘Do you guys like [the call]?’ It was a zero pressure. I agreed. Everyone else agreed.

You look at the execution of that play. It’s not the call. It’s third-and-11. We said going into the game we have a plan for third down, and one of those plans was to bring six and play a zero pressure. We hadn’t run that all game. We said, ‘Here’s a time for it.’

“The execution of it wasn’t what we wanted. The safeties were a little bit too late, we had a guy drop out when he should have been going. We have to get inside leverage with nickel. You have a freshman in that big moment. If we could go back and do it over again, I wouldn’t change the call. I’d change the way we communicate and the execution of it. That was a heartbreaker and changed the tide of the game.”

On the status of guard Jarrett Patterson (foot)

“The communication we had with Jarett and the medical staff was, ‘Let’s go through warmups and see how you feel. When you get to that environment, sometimes the excitement and what that environment will do for you will numb the pain sometimes. He wasn’t able to go after warmups.

“We’ll reevaluate him today and this week. I still think he’s questionable. If he’s ready to go, we’ll play him this week.”

On quarterback Tyler Buchner

“I was pleased. For a second-year guy in his first collegiate start in that type of environment, that type of game, I was really pleased. At one point in the first half, Tyler was 8-of-8 and 8-of-10 in the first half. That’s really good.

“The other thing was zero turnovers and the plays he was able to make with his legs. He got beat up. We knew going into that game we had to run Tyler Buchner. That’s not our plan every week, but we knew going into that game to establish a run game, we had to run him a bit. He got hit and continued to get up and keep going. On the sideline, he was a leader, positive and getting guys going.

“We’ve got ourselves a quarterback. There’s a strong belief in what he can do for this football program.”

On Notre Dame’s run defense vs. Ohio State

“You look at the last drive, it was an accumulation of missed tackles and missed fits. They have a really good offensive line and two really good running backs. You have to give credit to them and their execution when they decided at the end of the game they had to run the ball. We have to be better when a team says, ‘We’re going to run the ball and run the clock down.’ We have to be able to step up and get a stop.

“I don’t want to overlook the first three quarters and how they stopped the run, but we really have to focus on when matters most, do we execute our game plan?

On Notre Dame’s rushing offense

“Offensively, there were points in the game where we did run the ball really well. It was good to see Audric [Estime], Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree on some perimeter runs. We were moving the ball at times. But not in a consistent basis we want to. The ability to do them both – run the ball and expose some areas in the pass game – is something we have to do. We were pretty balanced for the game. It was almost 50/50 in terms of runs and passes.

“We didn’t have a bunch of plays on offense, by design to shorten the game. That’s what we wanted to do going in.”

On cornerback TaRiq Bracy

“From the minute I got here, he was talented. There was no question about how talented TaRiq Bracy was. What he has shown is he has been consistent and every day perform at a high level. He did that Saturday.

“We’ve used him at multiple positions. For him to play nickel, then go to corner, then back to nickel, he’s really performing now as a senior should and a guy you’ll continue to depend on. I couldn’t be more pleased with his performance.”

On motivating the team to play Marshall

“It’s easy to walk into the team meeting and say, ‘We’re 17.5-point underdogs’ to get them motivated. It’s easy to say we’re going into a hostile environment with 105,000-plus fans to get motivated. Now we have to use that same type of motivation as we get ready for this Marshall team. Maybe we’re not looking at the spread or something like that, but we’re looking at opportunities. You get 12 guaranteed opportunities – 12.

“We understand we work 300 days a year for 12 opportunities. For us to waste an opportunity in Notre Dame Stadium, it would be a shame. We’ll have them motivated to practice. We’ll have to practice with intensity, physicality and the attention to detail we’re looking for.”