Quick hitters: What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said about Bryce McFerson’s punt being overturned

Fighting Irish football coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media in his weekly Monday news conference. He put the finishing touches on No. 10 Notre Dame’s (5-1) 21-14 win over Duke while previewing this Saturday’s matchup against No. 25 Louisville (5-0). 

Freeman commented on five things to reporters: Bryce McPherson’s punt overturned via review, Chris Tyree nearly fumbling a punt, Joshua Burnham and Junior Tuihalamaka stepping up for Jordan Botelho, Howard Cross and Louisville.

On the ACC officiating crew incorrectly reviewing and overturning Bryce McFerson’s punt initially downed near the 1-yard line:

“They owned it and said it should not have been reviewed. We appreciate the honesty. What can you do now? The game’s over. But to me, the communication that we can have with the ACC officials is extremely important, right? That we can go back and forth, and they can tell us why something happened, or they can own a mistake. At least we can learn from it, too.

“So, yeah, we talked to them immediately after the game, and they told us that it wasn’t reviewable.”

On WR/PR Chris Tyree nearly fumbling one of his punt returns against Duke:

“We continue to tell him to be aggressive, right? The punt before, we fair caught it. And sometimes, I just gotta be quiet, right? As the head coach, I go over there and say, ‘Hey, be aggressive now. Hey, figure if there’s space, be aggressive.’ Because I want him to be aggressive.

“We obviously don’t want him to do what he did on the muffed punt. But his reasoning was that ‘Coach, I was trying to save us yards. And I thought that ball was bouncing up, and I was going to just go grab it and get down and save us yards.’ And so his intent was correct. But obviously, we do not want to make that decision.

“So it’s a great teaching opportunity for me, too — to shut up, right? Sometimes, don’t put something in somebody’s head because that can be the result of it. I have a lot of confidence in him. We just obviously don’t want to make that decision at that moment.”

On Notre Dame DL Howard Cross:

“Man, he is a confident individual. He is internally confident in his skill set. Howard Cross is a great practice player. And that’s not what everybody gets the chance to see. Like I see it every day in practice — because a lot of times, I get to work with the scout team O-line.

“It’s one of the best joys of being the head coach is on Tuesday and Wednesday is working with the scout team O-line. And it’s always a challenge when I know we’re double-teaming Howard Cross. We’re blocking one-on-one, and I challenge our scout team like, ‘We got a block him. I don’t want Howard Cross near the quarterback.’ And he finds a way.

“That shows you his intent in practice. Like the purposeful ways he practices. And if we can get everybody on our team to practice with that intent and that mindset, we’ll get better faster than a lot of teams in the country. That’s what you’re most pleased about is that his mindset and practice is one of very driven and works extremely hard.”

On vypers Joshua Burnham and Junior Tuihalamaka stepping up with Jordan Botelho being out during the first half against Louisville:

“Both of them are continuously getting better. I know that’s not the answer you guys love to hear, but they are, right? And the only way you get better is through reps, intentional reps through practice.

“Josh (Burnham) was playing at a really high level, then some of his reps decreased just because of the game and those things, but he went in there Saturday and did a really good job. Made some big plays for us.

“Same with Junior (Tuihalamaka). He’s a consistent football player for us. And I have a lot of confidence in both of those two guys to fill in with Jordan’s void.”

On Louisville:

“It doesn’t take long to watch film to see why they’re 5-0. It’s another night game, and it will be a great atmosphere and a great opportunity. They got an explosive offense an experienced quarterback. They have speed at the skill.

“And then defensively, I think they’re really sound. They have an edge rusher, I think number nine (Ashton Gillotte), that is going to be one of most elite pass rushers we see. And they got two corners that are physical and aggressive. So it’ll present a challenge for our program. And we got to have a great week of preparation and get ready to play for Saturday night.”