Skip to main content
notre-dame logo

Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after the national championship game

Kyle Kellyby:Kyle Kelly•about 10 hours•

ByKyleKelly

Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman leaves the field after the national championship. (© Brett Davis-Imagn Images)

Following Notre Dame football’s 34-23 loss to Ohio State in the national championship, Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement

“Obviously, tough moment, tough outcome. There’s reasons why we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. Credit to Ohio State and their ability to execute on both sides of the ball. Obviously, in the special teams, they made a field goal that mattered at the end of the game.

“We obviously didn’t play the way we needed to to get the outcome we want, but as I said to the guys in the locker room, there’s not many words to say when everybody is hurting.

“I’m just proud of them and proud of what they’ve done. I’m proud of who they are, the way they represent themselves, and it’s just an honor to be on this journey with them.

“There’s going to be a lot of guys, seniors, that this was their final game with Notre Dame football, but they’ve left this place a better place and very grateful to be on the journey with them.”

On Ohio State slowing down Notre Dame senior quarterback Riley Leonard’s rushing ability after the opening drive

“No, we couldn’t run Riley every play. It’s not right for Riley, and it’s not going to sustain the success we needed offensively.

“We ran him a whole bunch that first series and you look at the second series, we had two penalties which forced us to punt, and in the third series, we had the miscommunication with the muffed snap, and that’s the end of the half.

“I think more than anything, it was two series after the first one we didn’t execute, and we had some self-inflicted wounds that we had to clean up. Second half, we drove the ball. I thought we did a good job with some tough situations.

“But we can’t run Riley every single play. That’s not what the formula for success is.”

On Notre Dame sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse’s growth

“I think there was a confidence and a connection between Riley and him. But as I said this before, production doesn’t always reflect performance. It doesn’t. Production is something that is a result of doing your job and the quarterback making the decision to throw you the ball and the offensive play that calls for it.

“But JG has been playing great all season long; it’s just now he’s had some production to go along with the way he’s been playing.”

On the third-down look late in the fourth quarter that allowed Ohio State freshman WR Jeremiah Smith to have a 56-yard catch

“Yeah, it was do or die. It was that type of down. If they run it and they get a first down — we’ve got to get them stopped. We thought at that moment the best way to get them stopped was to run zero pressure. We have to have faith at some point that we can make a play.

“There was times in the second half that we did in man coverage, but (Smith) is a heck of a player. He’s difficult to cover. You want to play zone, and they’ll find ways to pick you apart. You want to play man, they’ll find ways to get him the ball. It’s a talented offense with that situation right there.”

On the decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-9 with 9:27 to go in the fourth quarter

“Yeah, I think it was fourth-and-9 or -10. I just thought instead of being down 16, let’s try to go down 13. I know it’s still a two-score game, but you have a better probability of getting 14 points than you do 16 points.

“If it was a shorter fourth-and-goal situation, I probably would have gone for it, but I just felt fourth-and-9 was not a great chance for us to make that and decided to kick it, and we didn’t make it.”

BOX SCORE: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23

You may also like