Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 24, 2022 31 ENGEL'S ANGLE PATRICK ENGEL Patrick Engel has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since March 2020. He can be reached at pengel@blueandgold.com M arcus Freeman exhaled with the force of a small gale wind, shaking his head and eyes wid- ened like saucers, as he exited the Notre Dame Stadium field. Pure, raw relief. The longer than expected chase for his first win as Irish head coach was over. But not without some drama that surely raised the heart rate monitor on his Apple watch. High-fives and hugs with Freeman on the sideline after an apparent Clar- ence Lewis interception in the final minute turned into anxiety on a last- ditch Cal drive that felt like it had nine lives. In the end, all was well, but not before targeting wiped out the intercep- tion, replay overturned a fumble return touchdown and a Hail Mary attempt was batted around like a hot potato be- fore mercifully hitting the turf. "There was some, 'Lord, what is go- ing on,'" Freeman admitted. In the end, Notre Dame won with a backdrop of nervous laughter, but was a winner nonetheless. A 24-17 win over Cal- ifornia wasn't aesthetically pleasing and won't claim style points. If the goal was to convince the masses a turnaround is com- ing and a winning streak is imminent, it probably failed there, too. But most impor- tantly, it stopped bad momentum. That's all Notre Dame had to do in this game. It looked and sounded like a cathar- tic experience for everyone involved. The Irish needed a game like this. Not only did Notre Dame win, but supposed strengths looked like strengths for the first time this year. There wasn't a third straight week with a defensive collapse, an offense that ran in mud and losses at the line of scrim- mage. Notre Dame didn't flinch in spots where it did the past two games. "This isn't going to be, 'Here we go again,'" Freeman said. "We're going to change the outcome of this game." That was his message after Cal ripped off a 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 17-14 lead with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Freeman sensed an "oh, brother" mindset and wounded pride sweeping the sideline and did his best to stomp it out. This time was not like the others, though. Notre Dame chewed up five minutes of clock and tied the score on graduate student kicker Blake Grupe's 47-yard field goal. The Irish forced a turnover on downs, regained possession and traveled 66 yards for the go-ahead touchdown — a 6-yard toss from junior quarterback Drew Pyne to junior tight end Michael Mayer. They wrapped it up by forcing two turn- overs on downs and a three-and-out. "That was a big moment for us be- cause I could see it on some guys' faces and even mine, like, 'Oh, shoot, here we go again," Freeman said. Part of the catharsis was how it hap- pened, not that it happened. Notre Dame's defensive line — its deep- est and best unit in recent years — put two lackluster games behind it. It totaled 6 sacks and 8 tackles for loss. Half of those sacks were from senior defensive end Isa- iah Foskey and graduate student tackle Jayson Ademilola. Stars being stars. The other half came from backups, including 2 from senior tackle Jacob Lacey. That group led the way in ensuring the defense didn't devolve into a mess of missed tackles and bad run fits. Lac- ey's second sack was the first play after Grupe's tying field goal and led to a three- and-out. Foskey took down Cal quarter- back Jack Plummer on fourth-and-10 at Notre Dame's 22, ending the threat of points in a tie game. He and Ademilola dropped Plummer on third-and-7 with Notre Dame leading by a touchdown. On the other side, the Irish's maligned offensive line protected Pyne and helped pave the way for 140 rushing yards on 35 carries from Notre Dame's running backs. Notre Dame converted its only third-and-short run play — a third- and-1 on the tying field goal drive. It al- lowed just 2 non-sack tackles for loss. "It was one of our keys to victory, fin- ishing in the fourth quarter," Lacey said. "We talk about it every week. We fell short a couple times, but now we're on the right track." When Freeman talks endlessly about be- ing an offensive and defensive line-driven program, this is closer to what he had in mind. Notre Dame might have discovered a path forward on offense, too. Pyne took what Cal's defense gave him — almost all short and intermediate throws — and made the right reads on Notre Dame's run- pass options. The Irish's game plan rarely called for stretching the field. "He's most comfortable on those — a little bit on the run and getting easy passes," Freeman said. Pyne and the Irish's passing attack was efficient, but short of explosive. So was Notre Dame's ground game, which generated enough push but produced a long run of 14 yards. It was a functional offense, all told, after a mistake-rid- dled first few series. Notre Dame needed functional. It can work with functional as a starting point, not a finish. "For this game, that's what we had to do," Freeman said. "I'm not saying this is going to be who we are every game all year." Nor should it be. Freeman and every- one else on the home sideline knows a single one-score win over a team likely ticketed for the bottom half of the Pac- 12 standings does not signal a resolution of issues, big-picture or immediate. But they're not taking for granted the chance to admit that in victory. "There's a lot of coaching that hap- pened on that field today that we can learn from," Freeman said. "But listen, if you don't take a minute to enjoy these things, you're going to regret it." ✦ Head coach Marcus Freeman's first win came with better play on both lines of scrimmage. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Notre Dame Knows It Is Hardly Finished Climbing