Marcus Freeman opened by summarizing the rout of Stanford, with the players of the game being Riley Leonard on offense, Howard Cross on defense and Loghan Thomas on special teams. He also announced that cornerback Benjamin Morrison’s injured hip required surgery, ending his season. For Saturday’s game, WR Jordan Faison is available, while K Mitch Jeter and G Billy Schrauth are questionable.
Freeman’s first question related to his desire to move from being a good to a great team.
“There’s more to what this team can do. So everybody’s definition of great can be different but it’s really a challenge for us as a program to elevate and take that next step.”
Responding to a query about the state of the cornerback position, Freeman discussed the chances of Karson Hobbs and Leonard Moore being able to step up.
“Karson was in the same position two weeks ago when Christian (Gray) was out. Jordan Clark can help us out at the corner, as he showed in the Louisville game. We’re obviously thin with some injuries but I’m very confident in the room.”
The running back rotation used was explained by Freeman, who acknowledged that Jadarian Price having twice as many carries as Jeremiyah Love was based on Price’s success in Saturday’s game.
“We have a plan each game in terms of how we’ll rotate the running backs. Then there’s a plan for in-game adjustments (that) if a guy is hot, leave him in there and that’s what we did.”
Notre Dame’s success on both sides of the ball on fourth down was explained by Freeman.
“The gameplans, in terms of what we do on both sides of the ball, have been really good on fourth down. The execution, but it’s a confidence I have as a coach to, offensively, go for it knowing that I believe we’ll make it. But also, if we don’t, I have a lot of confidence in our defense to stop the opposing offense.”
Freeman discussed the continued success of young defensive lineman Bryce Young and the return from injury of both Josh Burnham and Gabe Rubio.
“We knew that he (Young) was a special player when he first got here but he’s developing faster than probably what we all thought … He (Burnham) played really well. He’s different when he’s in there … Gabriel Rubio, to have a guy who’s been out all fall camp, all season, last week was his first true week of practice and he performed really well for us.”
The prospect of facing another dual-threat quarterback this week against Georgia Tech was noted by Freeman.
“Both quarterbacks can run the ball. I know that (Haynes) King went out during the game last week but their offense didn’t really change much. They’re both threats with the ball in their hands.”
Freeman indicated how the Irish having their own dual-threat signal-caller in Riley Leonard helps in the defensive preparations.
“Going against a quarterback you know can run it in practice every day helps you develop a gameplan but every offense is different. You know you’re going to have to account for him (King) in the run game but also the pass game, so we’ll have a great gameplan for him.”
Leonard Moore’s rapid development was discussed by Freeman.
“It still takes time to play fast in a new defense but he was a guy who you said in fall camp, ‘Okay, he’s playing fast already.’ We knew he would help us this year and at some point, if injuries happened, he would have to start for us. He’ll be ready.”
Freeman noted that some similarities exist with Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci’s current approach with his work last year at Duke when it played Notre Dame.
“Yes, they have some similarities in terms of schematically what they did at Duke but there’s also some different stuff that they do, third down specifically.
The reasons recent increase in quarterback pressures by the Notre Dame defense were explained by Freeman
“I think just the execution of some of the stunts, the pass rush lanes we’re trying to get. It’s not always bringing extra people, that might be some of the case, but continue to get better at technique and execution. You can’t just sit here and come up with some scheme that every time is gonna get pressure on the quarterback.”
The potential absence of Jeter at kicker and the usage of either Zac Yoakam or Marcello Diomede was discussed by Freeman.
“We have confidence that whoever we put out there will get the job done that we expect of them … I think there’s some really good things that Zac does and there’s some good things that Marcello does and we’ll be specific in terms of our game plans in what we ask them to do.”
