Marcus Freeman after heartbreaking loss to Ohio State: 'We didn't play at our best'

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame looked like it was in position for a monumental win in the second year of the Marcus Freeman era, against Freeman’s alma mater, Ohio State, no less.

After back-to-back touchdown drives of 10-plus plays and 75-plus yards, the Fighting Irish got the ball back with a 14-10 lead and 4:12 remaining.

The first of those clock-chewing series featured 10 runs for 54 yards. Notre Dame finished with 176 rushing yards and 4.5 yards per carry.

And then the Irish came out throwing the ball on a potential game-clinching drive. In fact, they passed on three of their first four plays.

But a tackle for loss caused by defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau finally stopped Notre Dame. The Irish punted the ball away, and the rest was history in a 17-14, Ohio State comeback victory.

Freeman was asked about his decision to turn to the air late in the game and a whole lot more in his postgame press conference. Here’s what he said.

What went wrong on the 3rd-and-19 that allowed Ohio State to reach the 1-yard line?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, we wanted to play coverage. You know, and we thought we were going to be able to kind of give them a different look and play some quarters, and [Kyle McCord] threw a good ball, man. He threw a really good ball. That last series we were trying to kind of mix it up a little bit with a young quarterback and not just play man every play. And he ended up putting it in a tight window and he made a play.”

What went into the conversations about whether to run or pass on Notre Dame’s last true offensive possession?

FREEMAN: “There wasn’t a way to just run the ball and the game would be over, right? And so, what I didn’t want to do is concede to say, ‘OK, let’s just run the ball three times and make them use two of their timeouts.’ And then all of sudden we’re just punting the ball and just giving them a chance to come down the field with the same amount of time they had.

“And so, as I told them, I said, ‘Hey, let’s be smart. Let’s play to win this. Let’s play to win this game.’ And so, that’s what we did. And a second down screen is almost as good as a run. But, obviously, it was tipped. And the kid (J.T. Tuimoloau) made a great play and the clock stopped and we ran it on third and made them use a timeout.

“Again, I told those guys right before the game and I told those guys during the game, I don’t want to play to lose. I want to be aggressive and attack, and that’s what we did.”

The film shows there were only 10 defensive players on the field on Ohio State’s game-winning touchdown. What happened?

FREEMAN: “We were trying to get a fourth D-Lineman on the field, and I told him just stay off because we can’t afford a penalty. I didn’t have any timeouts. So we couldn’t afford a penalty there. You know — yeah, it’s on us. We got to be better.”

Is there an advantage to just taking the penalty so you can have 11 defensive players on the field?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, you could have. You could have. But to me it was, like, ‘Hey, don’t give them another opportunity to get settled and to try to make a different call. Hey, guys, like, stay off the field. Let’s not give them a freebie from the half-yard line and let’s try to stop them.’

“And I thought maybe they would do the same thing they did the snap before, and then they ended up running the ball. So I got to watch the play and see where the ball hit. But, yeah, that’s why that I made that decision.”

What makes this loss hurt so badly?

FREEMAN: “It hurts because we didn’t play at our best. That’s — I keep saying it. It’s not about them as much as it is about us and playing at our full potential, and that’s what we’re chasing, and that’s why I’m disappointed. Because if we would have a couple more plays, the result would have been different. But we didn’t. And so, it’s not that we gave the game away, it’s just that we didn’t reach our full potential. And that’s the disappointing part.”