Notre Dame’s trip to Chapel Hill gave Marcus Freeman a little bit of everything: a 37-26 win, some messiness along the way, and another chance to see how his team responds when things get tight.
For Freeman, now 5-0 for the first time in his career, the takeaway from Saturday wasn’t just the final margin. The Irish handled a game that was sloppy in all three phases, worked through self-inflicted mistakes, and still came out with their 15th straight double-digit victory. That, to Freeman, mattered as much as anything.
“I remember as a player, we beat Ohio University 10-3,” Freeman shared. “Coach Jim [ Tressel ] would say he wanted that.”
I think, for us, at some point when you're in a tough, one-score game, your guys have been there before. They understand that there's no need to panic.
We've been down, we've been in close ball games and it's going to come down to execution. I think there's a mental side of that, that being able to go through and point to different times throughout the season where we've had adversity and over came it.
It's important. There's nothing that humbles you like failure and failure within the game."
That same steady approach showed up in how he talked about Jordan Faison, whose role continues to stand out for the Irish offense. Freeman pointed to the details that make Faison hard to cover and easy for CJ Carr to trust.
“It’s the speed in which he runs his routes, the precision of when he makes his cuts and the timing with the quarterback getting him the ball,” Freeman explained. “I think he can attack you in many different ways through quickness or straight-line speed. All of those things contribute to him finding ways to get open and the confidence that CJ Carr has in him to throw him the ball.”
Freeman also had plenty to say about the offensive line, and this is where the praise got especially pointed. He called it the most complete game those five players have put together from start to finish, then drilled down on the physicality that showed up against North Carolina.
“I think that was the most complete game, from start to finish, that those five guys have played,” Freeman stated. “There's a couple of things that stick out to me.
One is the ability to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. When you're running the ball, and at the point of contact, and plant on the defensive side of the ball, now you have a chance to have success.
The other thing I loved, our guards with Sullivan Absher and Anthonie Knapp, those guys were pulling and kicking guys out. We did that over and over and over and over.
“Towards the end of the game, our guys were running into the fire and finding a way to physically move those guys out of the way,” Freeman continued about the offensive line. “It's a choice and it doesn't feel good.
I've been there, I know it and I see it every day in practice. But they still made the choice to play with that violence that we demand.
I was really, really pleased with the way they played and in protection. They protected CJ and did a really good job in pass protection, too.”
Now the focus shifts quickly. Notre Dame is home this weekend against Stanford inside Notre Dame Stadium, with the Legends Trophy on the line.
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