Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after beating Stanford 49-7

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman spoke to the media for about 15 minutes after the No. 11 Fighting Irish defeated Stanford 49-7 on Saturday night. Here is everything he said afterward.

Opening statement

“It’s a rivalry game, so you have to prepare for your opponent’s best. You have to be at your best when you want to win a rivalry game. It’s so important. 

“Our guys were prepared. Coaches did a great job getting them prepared, and they went out there, and they executed. I was really proud of the way we responded after that first series. Terrible first series on all three phases. 

“To come out and have a holding where — we’re moving the ball. We have a holding penalty, a bad punt, and they go down and score. I said, ‘Okay, let’s see how this group responds.’

“From the second series on, man, they played lights-out. Really did a great job taking care of the ball. Defensively really stepping up and making good plays in the pass game, the run game, and special teams-wise. Obviously wasn’t many opportunities special times-wise, but they capitalized off the opportunities we had. 

“So really proud of this group. Enjoy tonight. Enjoy earning that Legends Trophy, which is a reflection, as I told them, of team glory. That’s what that trophy represents — is a bunch of people committing to something bigger than themselves. Proud of them for that. 

“We’ll get back to work on Sunday and start preparing for our next opponent. With that, I’ll open it up to questions.”

On how much today was reflective of what he’s been expecting and how they build on it moving forward:

“Yeah, I thought their performance on both sides of the ball, especially offense — what I challenged them to be, I wanted it to be unrecognizable. I wanted you all to watch and say, ‘Man, that’s an offense that we haven’t seen.’

“Our players have seen it. It’s just them at their best on every play. That was what a reflection of what you guys saw. That’s what you saw today. 

“I thought it was really good, man. They did a really good job … run game, pass game, making good decisions and taking care of the football.”

On when they knew they wouldn’t have Notre Dame DL Jason Onye but would have DL Gabriel Rubio:

“I knew we wouldn’t have Jason yesterday. He was out for personal reasons. Then we knew all week we were expecting Gabe to play. I haven’t watched it, but I’m just glad he’s out there and, you know, he’s going to help this football program.”

On nine Notre Dame players catching passes and if that’s what he envisioned of the offense:

“I think every game is different, and you just have to take advantage of what is in front of you.  There might be a game where somebody catches 10 passes, and there might be a game that, as it was tonight, where you have nine different guys catch the ball, including an O-lineman. 

“What we focus on is, ‘What can we do to have success?’ That’s just not one thing. That’s not running the ball, passing the ball, throwing it to one person, or passing it to nine people. It’s, ‘What can we do to help this team win?’ We’ll see what next week presents.”

On Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter’s status:

“He’s had a tight groin, but I think on that kickoff, I don’t know if he — it didn’t feel great, so they told me we were going to hold him, and that’s all I know right now.”

On the Notre Dame defense providing pressure up front:

“I challenged those two seniors, Rylie (Mills) and Howard (Cross III). I wanted them to be great because they’re great football players, and those two specifically stood out to me just on the field. 

“I’m sure I’ll go back and watch film. They dominated the game. Those two big guys, we needed them to be dominant and they played dominant. That helps everybody around them. So really proud of those two guys.”

On balancing the Notre Dame backfield with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price:

“It’s a reflection of (running backs) Coach (Deland) McCullough and the way he leads that room, the unselfishness that they have, selfless. They just capitalize off of opportunities presented in front of them. 

“As I told the group, ‘There’s no guarantees in life.’ I don’t know what next week will entail, but you continue to trust your coaches, trust each other, trust what we’re doing, and good things are going to happen. 

“Those guys are selfless. They’re playmakers. They do a lot when we get the ball in our hands, and we have to continue to find ways to do that.”

On the intent to pass the ball early against Stanford:

“They’re one of the top defenses in the country at stopping the run. That’s something that you look at the last two years, they’ve done a really good job at stopping the run. Their defense is built to stop the run. 

“We felt like to have some success we’re going to have to stretch the field 53 and a third, do some things vertically that try to take advantage of that they do defensively. It was an aggressive game plan that really just attacked what we thought we could exploit because that’s their defense. I don’t know what next week will present. 

“We thought that was going to be something that we could be able to do, and we had a line of success doing it.”

On the fourth down stops:

“Yeah, it was huge. It was huge. They were one for four, and we were three for three on fourth down. You have to have confidence on both sides of the ball to make those calls. 

“Offensively, right before half, it’s fourth-and-one. Made the decision. Let’s run it; let’s go for it. Also had a lot of confidence in our defense. You know, I think defense played big. They played and did a really good job in really difficult situations at times. Offense did a great job converting on fourth down.”

On what he has seen from the offense since the Louisville game and how that translated to the Stanford game:

“Yeah, just the consistency. I think we’re practicing with more consistency. The execution in practice has been really at a high level. I just challenge them. ‘If we execute in the game the way you guys have been doing it in practice, you know, we’ll recognize it, but a lot of people won’t.’

“I think that’s what you saw today — is that it’s still a reflection of preparation. I’m going to say after wins and losses that, we’re preparing at a higher level. The execution is at a higher level. I think that’s helping us out a lot, a lot of confidence, a lot of success.”

On Notre Dame freshman DL Bryce Young:

“He’s a really talented football player. I have to remind myself and the coaches that he’s young because, at times, we can just put so much on his plate in terms of defense, the early downs, third downs, and special teams. I had a meeting with our coaching staff, ‘Like, where can we take some stuff off his plate?’

“Man, he is really performing at a high level. He prepares the right way. He’s in there when he has free time. He wants to be the best. Man, he’s a special.”

On Notre Dame senior QB Riley Leonard handling run-pass-option (RPO) plays:

“Yeah, that was just a reflection of, yeah, I think what their defense kind of gave us and also what we felt like Riley could execute well. It’s both. 

“You have to look at where you think you can have success, but also look at what do you think your guys can do well? I think that’s a reflection of both of them. 

“Really good decision-making, and put the ball exactly where it needed to be, and had some great catches.”

On junior DL Joshua Burnham’s performance:

“Yeah, he’s an athlete. Caught the ball. That goes back to his offensive days. It’s a gutsy performance because there are times in the week that you watch him, and it’s like he is practicing on one leg. Just has to continue to get confidence in that left ankle. 

“He is tough, man. He’s tough. I remember asking him, ‘Are you going to be able to go?’ He said, ‘Coach, there’s no way I’m not going to be able to play.’ He really did some good things and made a huge interception. 

“But just take your hat off to him just because, man, some people maybe wouldn’t have played with the pain that he goes through, but he’s a tough individual. I’m glad we have him out there.”

On the adjustments he and defensive coordinator Al Golden made after Stanford attacked the perimeter of the field:

“I think one is just the ability to let our guys know, ‘This is what we think we’re getting. It was a unique game to prepare for because they do so many different things. We weren’t for sure if 14 (Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels) was going to play. They did some different formations out of different personnel. 

“It was really just get our guys calmed down. ‘Hey, right now, they’re trying to get us on the edges. Let’s make sure we keep edges to our defense but also stop letting 14 scramble.’ They had two big scrambles in that first drive that were unacceptable. So, we had to make sure that we made corrections there. Our guys did a good job.”

On whether Leonard improved his mechanics during the bye week:

“I just think it’s time. It takes time. It takes time. So there’s not, like, one thing we did to change. To get the results that you ultimately desire, it takes time. 

“It is what it is. I think the time, the ability to practice and have game reps has really helped him build his confidence, his mechanics, and his execution.”

On if there is a common thread to trailing in the first half:

“Yeah, starting fast is a result of execution. Starting fast is a result of winning that play over and over and over. 

“So I have no concern about a big picture. ‘Hey, you didn’t start fast; you got behind in the game.’ I have more concern about, ‘Hey, what happened on that play? Why didn’t we execute? What do we have to do to make sure we fix it?’

“I hate the thought of starting fast, finishing, you got to win the middle. No, you got to win this play, and you got to win it over and over and over and over. Guess what, they’ll say you start fast, you played good in the middle, and you finish.

“That’s my concern is that, ‘Hey, evaluate what we have to do on every single play to make sure we’re having success and then attacking.'”

On how the weather delay for the Stanford game compared to the NC State game last year:

“I guess we didn’t have to go get hot dogs like they said at NC State. It wasn’t that long really — I mean, we always have food. We always have nutritional things for our players to put in their body, but the biggest thing was to be able to just get them to relax, take a couple of minutes, and then when I knew exactly when we were going to go out, that’s when you started making a timeline from when you’ll bring them up, put their shoulder pads on, and take the field.

“They were ready. That’s a credit to everybody that works in our football program and our players to make sure that they had the right mentality, the right food, the right mindset to go out there and get the job done.”

On what the game represented in Notre Dame fulfilling its full potential:

“We’re getting closer. We’re getting closer. I told the team before the game, ‘I know we’re getting closer because, you know, little things, man, are becoming big things.’ It’s not about winning. It’s about making sure that we improve as much as we can, but I got a feeling this group is getting closer and closer to reaching our full potential.

“Today was a big step in that, and we’ve got to continue to make sure we’re taking steps forward.”

On balancing the mission of Notre Dame reaching its full potential with the ultimate goal of winning it all:

“Winning it all is a reflection of winning the interval. It’s a reflection of staying in the moment. You don’t control the journey. You’ve got to trust the journey. That’s what I tell these guys. ‘There’s one guarantee. That the future is uncertain.’ 

“So, why spend time daydreaming about it? Why sit here and think about what’s going to happen in the future when it’s uncertain? Why don’t you spend time focusing on the things that you have to do that give you a chance to get that desired result?

“We’ll worry about what the result is at the end of the season. We just have to continue to stay is in the moment and focus on getting better.”