Marcus Freeman’s final regular season Monday press conference looked back at the Army win and ahead to Saturday’s battle against Southern Cal. Freeman announced the players of the game against Army were Jeremiyah Love on offense, Adon Shuler on defense, and Bryant Young on special teams.
Freeman also gave injury updates, saying that defensive tackle Howard Cross is still questionable, while wideout K.K Smith had surgery on his collarbone and is expected to be out four to six weeks, Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is dealing with a knee sprain while linebacker Bodie Kahoun is rehabbing a lower leg injury.
The continued development of defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka was discussed by Freeman, who indicated that a change in defenses and the player’s ability offer an explanation for that success:
“When Coach (AL) Golden became the defensive coordinator, we tailored more to a 4-2-5 … and we thought his talent and skill set fit better for us at the Vyper position … he’s always had the talent, but now he’s playing with clarity.”
Freeman’s decision to remove key starters during the third quarter was related more to Army’s aggressive play rather than looking ahead to Southern Cal.
“The score (35-7) was at a point where we felt Army’s offense is a tempo offense. It’s gonna take time for them to score points … they’re a physical, physical football team, that’s probably the most physical game we’ve played all season. So part of that came into my mind.”
The success of the Irish offensive line amid a number of different line changes was discussed by Freeman:
“They have to make the decision to put team before me and that’s what I believe is what that offensive line room (reflects).
Freeman was asked if the scheduling preparation for traveling to Los Angeles was changed after the adjustment of Saturday’s starting time to 3:30 ET:
“It did a little bit in terms of later in the week. What time we’re leaving, what time is bed check and then what time we’re waking them up.”
Kicker Mitch Jeter’s struggles on Saturday were dismissed by Freeman, who discussed Jeter’s missed field goal and his blocked three-pointer.
“Mitch Jeter has always been our best option. This (past) week, he hit that ball better than he’s hit in a long time, the one he missed … he hit that ball really well and that was from a yard line that we weren’t previously able to do .. the second was not a Mitch Jeter error. That was a field goal protection error that we have to get fixed immediately with urgency.”
Changes in recruiting rules have resulted in the Notre Dame coaches no longer staying in California to handle recruiting duties. Instead, Freeman indicated that it will simply involve coaches performing their usual activities.
“(It’ll )give coaches a chance to have meetings with their players. We don’t get enough intentional time to meet with our players, so it gives us a chance to meet with our players and give our players to really study and get into school.”
Freeman explained using the word “violence” during a pre-game meeting with the team against Army was simply a message to play aggressively.
“That’s the mindset I wanted this team to have and the reason I said that is because when you play against a triple-option team, especially defensively, it can tend to make you play cautious.”
The contrast between Notre Dame winning in routs and Southern Cal playing in close contests was not seen as a potential issue of concern for Freeman:
“Our guys will understand the challenge that we have ahead of us. You don’t have to play in close games to feel the pressure of performing on this play. That’s why we coach the way we coach. There has to be pressure to execute on THIS play.”
Freeman’s previous use of the term “greedy” to explain his approach to the game was explained.
“At times, you can be so outcome-driven that you’re desperate to just win a game … sometimes after you win, there’s so much more and you shouldn’t be outcome driven but I want to win every freakin’ play.”
Southern Cal’s improvement on offense in recent weeks was attributed to new quarterback Jaydan Maiava, according to Freeman:
“He (Maiava) tends to make different decisions than (Miller) Moss did. I’m not saying that’s good or bad. He’s makes some really quick decisions and a couple different things like extending plays with his legs. He’s got a really good arm and he isn’t putting them in many negative situations.”
Jack Kiser’s leadership with the linebacking corps was hailed by Freeman:
“I’ve seen him make intentional actions of making some other guys make calls, studying the way he studies the game, getting the rest and taking care of your body the way Jack does.”
