ATLANTA — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman looked at two teary-eyed team captains after his team lost 34-23 to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night. He sat in the middle and took responsibility for a number of mistakes that ultimately turned out to be big mistakes. It was too much to overcome when it mattered most.
With quarterback Riley Leonard sitting on the right and sixth-year senior linebacker Jack Kiser on the left, uncharacteristic mistakes and communication breakdowns led to the Irish scoring 24 points in the third quarter. Freeman said he fell into a hole but couldn’t overcome it.
“People make mistakes all the time, but when you play a really, really good football team, those kind of detrimental mistakes cost you points,” Freeman said. “I think that’s probably the thing that sticks with me the most between series. It’s communication. ‘Hey, we’re good, we get it.'” Well, you can’t afford to make mistakes, and as a head coach, , we must better prepare for this moment. they tried their best. ”
Notre Dame, aiming for its first national title since 1988, ended its winning streak at 13, suffering its first loss since September 7th against Northern Illinois. It opened with an 18-play, 75-yard scoring drive during which Leonard ran nine times on 34 carries, including the game’s first touchdown, but Notre Dame’s The attack ended in failure.
Leonard completed just one pass of more than five yards in the first half, and two of his five completions came near or behind the line of scrimmage. His average completion distance was just 2.2 yards.
“We couldn’t run Riley on every play,” Freeman said. “It’s not the right fit for Riley and it’s not going to give us the sustained success that we needed offensively. We ran him a ton on the first series, but if you look at the second series. We had two penalties and ended up having to punt, and then there was a muffled snap and miscommunication on the third series that ended the first half.”
After the game, Leonard said, “The way I played after that drive in the second quarter was unacceptable and I apologize to everyone.” He scored two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, becoming the second FBS player this season to have 20 passing touchdowns and 15 rushing touchdowns.
“The next three drives we had penalties and miscommunications,” Leonard said. “And all of that is on me. The first drive we came out and Notre Dame football, we took advantage of the matchup when we needed to. We just drove the ball down the field. . We needed to run the ball a little bit.” Everything just clicked.
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“Maybe we could have relaxed a little bit after a few drives. We can’t let that happen,” he said. “…These are not necessarily physical, but more like the mental aspect of not being able to make certain mistakes. I have to accept and respond to that.”
In the first half, 20 of Ohio State’s 33 plays (61%) took place on Notre Dame’s grounds. Notre Dame was unable to get off the field on third down, and Ohio State quarterback Will Howard completed all of his first 13 passes, going 11 of 11 in the first half to wide receivers. did.
However, there was one completion that was more memorable than the rest. With 2:38 left in the game and Ohio State facing a third-and-11 from its own 34-yard line, Howard connected with freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith for a 56-yard completion. It was the first time Smith was targeted in the second half. This play ultimately led to a 33-yard field goal for Ohio State, clinching the victory.
“It was do or die,” Freeman said. “It was that type of down. If they run it and get a first down, we have to stop them. And in that moment, we thought the best way to stop them was to run with zero pressure. We thought it was the right thing to do. That’s what we did.” Believing that one day you can make a play.
Freeman said of Smith, “There were some man coverage moments in the second half, but he’s a hell of a player.” “He’s hard to cover. If you want to play zone, they’ll find a way to separate you. If you want to play man, they’ll find a way to get him the ball. “It’s just a talented offense in that situation.”
Despite the loss, Kiser, who struggled to look back on his time at Notre Dame without holding his breath, said Notre Dame is heading in the right direction.
“When I look back on the six years I spent here, I think what I remember is the people,” Kaiser said. While I was speaking, Mr. Freeman gave me an encouraging pat on the knee. “From being a little underclassman watching Drew White and Beau Bauer and trying to learn the ropes, to being a guy running with my sons at JD (Bertrand) and Marist (Liufau), and then coming back this year. , it felt like a chip on my shoulder and coming to meet amazing people like Riley and continuing the journey that we’ve been on.
“With Coach Freeman, yeah, it’s about the people,” he said, his voice breaking. “The people are what changed this place.”
In the fourth quarter, Freeman, who was in fourth-and-goal position from the 9-yard line, opted for a 27-yard field goal instead of continuing his offense on the field. Mitch Jeter’s kick sailed into the left upright, and the metallic thud of the ricochet could be heard throughout Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Ohio State coach Ryan Day raised his hands in celebration.
Freeman said if fourth down had been shorter, he probably would have taken it. Notre Dame has made 4 of 10 kicks inside the 40 range this season, giving it the worst field goal percentage in the FBS.
“Instead of going down 16 points, I thought, let’s try to go down 13 points,” he said. “I know it’s still a two-score game, but I’m more likely to score 14 points than I am to score 16. If the fourth-and-goal situation had been a little shorter, I probably would have gone for it. But I was just like, “We felt 4-9 wasn’t a great chance for us to get it and decided to kick it, but we couldn’t get it done.” did. ”
Still, Freeman credited his trip to Notre Dame this season and the players in the locker room for helping him grow.
“You’re sitting here and you’re listening to these two guys talk, you’re listening to the passion that they have for Notre Dame and for each other in the locker room. I’m just sitting here and thinking that this is Listen as if it were one of life’s greatest gifts. I am able to be a leader in this program because of these great young people who share the responsibility, share the success when we win and take responsibility when we lose, but because of them. I got better,” he said.
“But we have to be better. We have to be better prepared for the next opportunity that comes in the future.”