Quick hitters: What Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman said about winning 10 games in 2023

After defeating Oregon State in the Sun Bowl, a reporter reminded Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman that the last time the Irish won in El Paso, Texas — after the 2011 season — they played in the national championship a year later.

Freeman chuckled.

“Sounds good to me,” Freeman said. “I don’t want to just hear about an appearance. We want to win it.”

Here are some other highlights from Freeman’s post-Sun Bowl press conference.

On Notre Dame winning 10 games this season

“10 looks better than nine, but every opportunity you have to play, you want to win. To me, it’s a reflection of the direction of this program. Nine wins last year, 10 wins this year. We just want to continue to improve. And we gotta find a way, as you look back at the season, to win those close games that we didn’t end up winning? 

“That’s the challenge of college football, is how do you progress? How do you continue to take this group of football players and coaches and get us to a place where we can win those close wins and win the ones we’re supposed to. I’m extremely pleased with our program, where we’re at now and the direction of us in the future.”

On if the Sun Bowl performance makes him more excited for next season

“Yeah, you have a lot of young guys and guys that didn’t have an opportunity to play much all year get a chance to play and compete. They really, to me, displayed the execution that you see in practice. Steve Angeli, he’s a really good football player and he’s shown that in practice. I’m just using him as an example, but we have some guys that are really good football players and they didn’t get the opportunity to do that too much throughout the season because of the guys in front of them.

“I’m confident in the direction of this football program with the guys we’re bringing in, the guys we have, the coaches that we have on this staff. I’m really excited moving forward.”

On what was working for Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl

“I think about the first half, defensively, we just did an unbelievable job. [Defensive coordinator Al] Golden has had that defense prepared all year long, and I’d be lying if I said I was surprised. I wasn’t. I expected that out of that defense. And when you’re playing well on defense, now it gives your offense a chance to have some confidence and move the ball. The first series, put the ball on the minus-4-yard [line] and go 96 yards and score a touchdown. That was huge.

“Then, to go up 14-0, and again, as you play well on one side of the ball and you’re dominant on that defensive side, it helps everybody feel confident. I’m proud of the way they executed the game plan, the work they put into this opportunity they had to play in the Sun Bowl. Kudos to our coaches and our preparation and our players, for what they did to prepare and execute.”

On Notre Dame senior Vyper Jordan Botelho’s improvement

“Yeah, he’s just continuing to improve. Him and [defensive line] coach [Al] Washington have a great relationship. He works at it. He’s done a heck of a job as a Vyper for us, and I see that being his role as we move into next year. My challenge to Jordan is, ‘Let’s continue to get better, continue to be consistent in our preparation.’ He is a talented football player and he showed today how good he can be.”

[Follow-up question: Has Botelho indicated he wants to come back next year?] “Yeah.”

On stopping Oregon State’s fake punt

“Yeah, [special teams coordinator Marty] Biagi called a spy, expecting something in that area. We had said that we kind of saw some discussions on the sidelines, so we ended up calling spy, which was a great call, so that our guys weren’t out of control and were prepared for that moment. I love to give all of our coaches credit. Coach Biagi’s done a wonderful job. To stop that punt fake was huge for our team, because that was, I think, a turning point.