Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after beating Georgia Tech

On Saturday, the Notre Dame football program took care of business at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, beating Georgia Tech 31-13. Afterward, Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for about 10 minutes. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement:

“Great team win. I told (Georgia Tech) Coach (Brent) Key after the game — I got a lot of respect for that program. They’ve done a heck of a job, man. In terms of where they’ve gotten this program to — in the way they played today, They played with a physicality and an edge. I got a lot of respect for (them). 

“But our guys played well. If you look at the overall picture, proud of the way they responded. You go down 7-0. We were able to respond defensively, made the corrections necessary, and offensively really got it rolling those last two drives of the first half. So, continuing to build on that momentum as we got in the second half.

“Overall, man, everybody had a part of it. There’s no one person that you try to give the success to. As I point out, it’s a group effort. It took everybody in that room to get their job done, to achieve the team glory that we aspire to have on Saturday.”

On the tenants of a response considering the team has fallen behind in games early but asserts themselves as the better team:

“I think as you look at the big picture, you say, ‘Yeah, you start slow, and you respond, you just got to continue to evaluate the plays.’ I think the first series, defensively, we had an MA (missed assignment) on third down. We didn’t execute on that play, which led to some other things which they ended up scoring. Offensively, I can’t remember the first series, but then we threw the interception. 

“So, it’s plays that we have to clean up, no matter when they happen in a game. But this group just continues to believe. I told them, ‘It’s life, man.’ I showed them a race of a girl running 110-meter or 100-meter hurdles. She fell over the second hurdle and gets back up and wins. It’s like, ‘That’s life.’ That’s a week of prep. 

“There’s a week of — it’s a game, it’s a season. Like, you’re gonna hit some hurdles. You gotta get up and sprint through the finish line. And that’s what they did.”

On what went into the special teams performance:

“I thought we did a great job on field goal block. We got a lot of push there. I think that was Bryce Young that got the field goal block.

“We knew going into this game we had to steal some possessions because they do a really good job in terms of time of possession. I think we had four series in the first half. We didn’t have a chance to run it — the fake — in the first half because I was going to run it. It was more about trying to steal a possession than it was something we saw in their punt return unit. So we did that. 

“The field goal fake was something we practiced. We thought they were pretty aggressive on the field goal block unit. It wasn’t perfect. We found a way to get the first down. But that was the mindset going to the game. We had to steal some possessions.”

On what happened on Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard’s interception and why he was able to bounce back:

“He made a bad decision. He’ll be the first one to tell you that. That’s what happened. He reloaded and came back with the right mindset. Those things happen — didn’t read it the right way and made a bad decision. 

“But he’s confident. That’s a part of the game, right? You got to be confident in your decisions, even if sometimes they can be wrong because there’s other times you made a wrong decision, and it ended up being a great play because he made it fast. So, he’s a confident individual because of the way he prepares. He did a great job after that interception of leading our offense.” 

On if the play of the Notre Dame safeties has allowed them to work through the injuries at the cornerback position:

“It’s the play of the guys that are in the game — you got a lot of confidence. Man, this is a young team kind of now, right? With some injuries, but we’re confident in the guys that we put on the field. They just need the opportunity. 

“Sometimes it takes an injury or something else to happen to put those guys out there. But (graduate student safety) Xavier (Watts) has done a great job all year. (Sophomore safety) Adon (Shuler’s) done a great job all year, but those guys that have stepped on the field really have stepped up and done a great job.”

On the Notre Dame defensive performance:

“(Zach Pyron) is a good quarterback. Watching film, we thought he was more convicted in his decision-making. Like, he just made decisions. He would throw it into tight windows, and that could be a good and a bad thing. But we thought he was a really good thrower. He could run the ball if he needed to. He’s a good player. 

“He did a good job to start the game. We made some adjustments — trying to figure out what they were going to do offensively. They’ve shown some different things throughout the season. We just wanted to see what they were going to settle into and try to mix up some coverages. 

“So defensive did a great job of adjusting. When they’ve done that, (defensive coordinator) Coach (Al) Golden has done an amazing job of doing that all season long — his adjustments. We’ve seen some different things that we haven’t prepared for, and so the ability to make adjustments have been huge.”

On the play of Notre Dame freshman cornerback Leonard Moore:

“He’s special. Like I said, you can’t make up for the loss of (junior cornerback) Benjamin Morrison with one person. But he still continues to lead. He was watching film giving our guys — coaching points — in the hospital. I mean, that’s the type of guy he is sending them film — really the young guys. Karson (Hobbs) and Leonard (Moore) like coaching them up. That’s what type of leader and person he is. 

“You can’t replace him with one guy, but dang, Leonard has done a great job. We knew Leonard was special from the time he got on campus. It’s just, ‘When is his opportunity going to really present himself?’ Because (sophomore cornerback) Christian Gray’s a really good football player. Benjamin Morrison is a really good football player.

“That’s why you can’t — man, this is a long season. It’s a long season. One guarantee in life is the future’s uncertain. So just keep preparing. Take care of the opportunity out in front of yourself, and then you get an opportunity to do it in front of thousands and millions of people, and you’re ready to perform like Leonard.”

On if it feels like the team is maturing:

“The people are obviously, at times, inexperienced, but the team is becoming more and more experienced together, right? That’s when you take a big-picture look at the performance. Like this team is continuously getting better. I challenged them all week, ‘You got to believe that there’s another level.’ If you believe that, you’ll be willing to put in the work. 

“I really think this is a reflection — I believe, I choose to believe it’s a reflection — of the preparation. I’ll always believe that. Performance on Saturday, it’s never perfect. We want it to be perfect, but it’s a reflection of where you prepare. 

“So, us as coaches, like are we continuously challenging them? Like, there’s more. There is no finish line to the way we prepare and how we prepare. That’s going to give us a chance to be more experienced on Saturdays and perform better.”

On if there was a time they felt the game was in the bag:

“You’ve known me long enough to know that I don’t look at the finish line. I don’t look at that. The minute I feel like we got the game in the bag, then your players are. We just stay in the moment. Stay in the moment. The minute you start thinking that way, you got to remind yourself, ‘Get back into the moment.’

“So the scores, the score. We’ll look at it at the end of the game. But we got to continue to stay in the moment. We got to win every single play and let the game go where it may be. 

“Again, we made a decision the last series to put in some backups. So, if you want to say that, maybe I thought the game was over at the end. No, we just made a decision to put in some backups. But stay in the moment now.”

On his thoughts of Leonard going airborne:

“Yeah, I mean, you don’t love to see your quarterback without at least one foot on the ground, but he’s a competitor. That’s what makes him special. He makes plays with his legs. He’s an improviser. He’s a tough, tough dude, and that’s what we’re going to need out of him to continue to get better moving forward.”

On Leonard hitting him (Marcus Freeman) in the hands after an errant throw:

“I knew the ball would drop. That’s why I’m a defensive player. Good catch. No, I wasn’t too happy with the result of that play. But like I told him, ‘You got to reload, man. You can’t let the last play affect the next play.’ So, I told him, ‘Go reload. Get your mind right. Let’s get back out here and go perform and get the opportunity.'”

On not saving the fake field goal with former Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner for later:

“It’s based off what you see game plan-wise. We can’t save that for a team that we don’t know what they do, right? The future’s uncertain. We have this moment. We saw this in the game plan and said, ‘Let’s execute.’ (It’s) our job to find another way to attack your opponent through film study.

“So, I don’t want to say, ‘We’re not saving anything, right? If we feel like we can execute it this game, let’s use it. Then, it’s a challenge by us as coaches, to go find another way to attack your opponent.”

On Notre Dame sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love’s growth this season:

“It’s been great. He has performed at a high-level last year. He’s been performing at a high level this year, but he’s improving, right? He believes that there’s another level. He’s a special football player. He just finds a way to make plays with the ball in his hands. 

“We got to be creative and continue to find ways to get the ball in his hands, even if that means on the punt fake. Get the ball in Jeremiyah Love’s hands because he’s going to make plays. But as you said, he’s done some good things in protection, the pass game. He’s really become a complete back.”

BOX SCORE: No. 12 NOTRE DAME 31, GEORGIA TECH 13