Irish Deliver Best Performance of Freeman Era When They Needed It Most
How badly did Notre Dame need that victory over No. 4 Clemson Saturday night?
I don’t want to go overboard and say it was a ‘must win,’ but the Irish faithful were growing more and more concerned with their new head coach Marcus Freeman.
Can Notre Dame win a big game, a game over a top-ranked opponent, a team that has been a perennial national title contender in the last handful or so years?
You heard the rumblings.
There was doubt seeping into fans’ heads even though Freeman is just getting started.
Granted, there is really never a honeymoon period if your Notre Dame’s football coach. You are expected to win and win big from Day One.
Freeman’s head coaching tenure in South Bend got off to a rocky start. After all, his Irish blew a three touchdown lead and lost to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course just weeks earlier Freeman had taken over the program from Brian Kelly, who bolted for LSU weeks earlier. The postseason loss to the Cowboys was Notre Dame’s 10th straight defeat in major bowls, including 0-8 in BCS/New Year’s Six contests.
Notre Dame entered this season ranked fifth in the nation, but that was short-lived as it fell to No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus. No one expected the Irish to win that game and they put up a good fight so their fan base had reason to be very optimistic about what may lie ahead.
One week later, however, all the positive vibes were vanished after Marshall stunned Notre Dame in the shadows of the Golden Dome.
Credit Freeman, his staff and players for rebounding from that demoralizing loss as they won three straight after falling out of the top 25.
Most, if not all, thought everything was back on track and perhaps the Irish very well could run the table even though tough tilts against nationally ranked Syracuse, Clemson and USC remained.
Then Stanford came to town Oct. 15. The Cardinal took a page out of the Thundering Herd’s book and pulled off a shocker … a big one considering they had won just one game entering Notre Dame Stadium.
But yet again, Freeman rallied the troops and as we sit today his Irish have a three-game winning streak (soon-to-be four after they beat a bad Navy team Saturday).
During that winning streak, Notre Dame has posted back-to-back victories over nationally ranked Syracuse – on the road I might add – and most recently an emphatic upset over No. 4 Clemson, by far its best effort of the season.
“We really played our most physical game in all three phases Saturday night,” said Freeman, who watched the sellout crowd storm the field following the 35-14 win over the Tigers, admitting he didn’t want to leave the Stadium that night.
“Our fans were unreal. This is a game I will never forget.”
Freeman’s D is not allowing the big play and the offense is protecting the football.
Your team does the aforementioned and it will win.
Thanks to the win over Clemson, Notre Dame now stands at 6-3 on the season with games against the Midshipmen in Baltimore, Boston College at home and then at the top-10 Trojans in the Coliseum.
The Irish are back in the top 25 and look to be on course for at least an eight-win regular season. With an upset of SC and a bowl victory, Notre Dame could even win 10.
What would you consider a successful season for Freeman in Year One as Notre Dame’s boss?
Eight, nine or 10 wins?
No doubt wins over Clemson and SC would erase the memories of Marshall and Stanford, add in a bowl win and all Irish eyes would be smiling … big time.
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