Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482392
4 OCT. 29, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N otre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man struggled last week during his press conference before the UNLV game to find some answers, any answers, as to why his team was just 3-3 at the halfway point of the 2022 regular season. Only two days removed from the unthinkable 16-14 upset loss to Stan- ford, Freeman defaulted to some form of "execute better" more than 20 times during his presser. "We're going to have to embrace these tough times and these growing pains of getting this program to where we want it to be," said Freeman, whose team had already lost twice as heavy double-digit favorites. "How do you get it there? We have to do a better job of executing." The problem for Freeman is that "growing pains" are reserved for teams trying to rebuild, not for one that's won at least 10 games in five consecutive seasons and made two College Football Playoff appearances in the last four years. "To really establish something that's special," Freeman continued, "you're going to have to go through some chal- lenges and difficult times." Freeman later admitted to feeling lost as a rookie coach after losing to Marshall Sept. 10, which dropped his Irish to 0-2 on the season and himself to 0-3 as a head coach. "I hadn't won a game," Freeman re- called. "Until you have some evidence that all of this work you're putting in is work- ing, you're going to have a little lack of confidence and faith in what you're doing." Freeman explained how his assured- ness and confidence returned during the three-game winning streak against Cal, North Carolina and BYU. "When we execute and do the things we're supposed to do," he said, "we're a really good football team." But all the good vibes and positive mojo crumbled after the loss to Stan- ford, a team that had dropped 11 straight games to FBS opponents. "There was anger after the Stanford game because I know we're a good foot- ball team," Freeman continued, "and we did not play up to our standards." From finishing better, to starting faster, and everything in between, Free- man's message continues to change at a frenzied pace, making it feel as if the rookie coach is always chasing solutions and never finding any. "I can't come up with a magic answer," Freeman explained in his post-Stanford presser, with Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick watching intently. "It's a lack of execution. And the only way to fix a lack of execution is to go back and study it and say, 'OK, what aren't we doing right?'" Freeman's explanation makes sense, but probably didn't display the confi- dence his two bosses were hoping to see from their program's keeper. HOME FAR FROM HOME We've all heard of a home-field advan- tage. The Fighting Irish held a sizable one from 2017-21 when they put together a streak of 26 straight wins at Notre Dame Stadium. It was snapped by Cincinnati on Oct. 2, 2021, and they have now lost three home games in just more than a year. The glory days at Rockne's House are over, at least for now. In fact, this season suggests that Freeman's Irish prefer life far away from its friendly confines. And perhaps that bodes well with a tough game Saturday at Syracuse, a team that started this season 6-0. At the halfway point of the season, Notre Dame was 1-2 at home and av- eraged only 19.7 points and 18.3 first downs a game in its stadium. Con- versely, the Irish were 2-1 on the road and averaged 31.3 points and 23.7 first downs in those three games. When asked about the production discrepancy, Freeman again struggled to explain the notable difference through six games in the quality of play home versus away. "There is not just one answer, because if there was, we would fix it," Freeman explained. When pressed again on the home ve rs u s roa d d i f fe re n ce s, Fre e m a n seemed stumped. "We're going to have a plan, and ap- proach it in practice," Freeman said, offer- ing no specifics to what that would look like. "We're going to attack it in hopes that on Saturday [against UNLV], the re- sults when it matters are what you want." Execute better, coach better, evaluate deeper, study more. Freeman has pro- vided myriad suggestions to righting his program, but few concrete answers as to why CBS Sports last week ranked his Irish No. 52 in its power rankings, two spots behind No. 50 Liberty. Situated two spots behind the Liberty Flames, halfway through the regular season? Wasn't Notre Dame a top-five preseason team? ✦ After winning 26 consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium from 2017-21, the Fighting Irish then lost three of their next eight home games, beginning with Cincinnati on Oct. 2, 2021. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Notre Dame Is Still Searching For Stability UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com