Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 NOV. 19, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED M arcus Freeman was a differ- ent person last week, very different. This wasn't the Marcus Free- man who after the loss to Stanford Oct. 15, fumbled with his words, struggled to find any explanations and admitted to doubting himself. Bowl eligibility even remained uncertain after the 3-3 start. "Until you have some evidence that all of this work you're put- ting in is working," Freeman said, "you're going to have a little lack of confidence and faith in what you're doing." That was Marcus Freeman about a month ago. This is Marcus Free- man now. "Confidence and belief in what you're doing reaffirms the process," he said. Speaking with poise, a convic- tion and an assuredness we hadn't seen before, Freeman finally had a chance to celebrate the fruits of his labor Nov. 5, immediately after the 35-14 upset of No. 4 Clemson. "Today was a day it all came together," Freeman added. "This is part of a new foundation." Freeman's giddiness — and frankly his relief — is understandable. That's because for the first time since he took the top job in December, this fi- nally didn't feel like a man only trying to protect the program momentum former head coach Brian Kelly built. This felt like a man putting his fin- gerprints all over the challenge of trans- forming Kelly's healthy program into an elite one. "You can't just change leaders and think it's going to continue to be like it was," Freeman said. "We have to build this foundation the right way." This is a coach who wants nothing more than to succeed, and not for the sake of feeding his ego or stuffing his bank account. But instead, to fulfill the promises made to his players when he accepted this head coaching job. "We are going to keep fighting, and keep practicing, and keep our head down, and keep listening to Coach Freeman, because he's a fantastic head coach," junior tight end Michael Mayer said. "That's really it. That's all I can say." It's really all that needs to be said. RECRUITING MATTERS The importance of the Clemson weekend and the memorable upset vic- tory spilled well beyond the final score. This game was as much about chang- ing program perception and keeping recruiting momentum high as it was about anything else. The stench of the Marshall and Stan- ford losses still lingered even into the Clemson weekend, leaving plenty of uncertainty as to whether Freeman was up to this job. Lose badly to Clemson — with about 50 recruits in town — and it would've been more damage control, "lack of ex- ecution" chatter, and back to the draw- ing board for Freeman and Co. Pull the upset, and Notre Dame would immedi- ately restore the positive vibes and high hopes that Freeman created during the spring and summer months. There was a lot at stake, and Freeman came up all aces, complete with a domi- nating performance, and an unforget- table post-game field rush. "Those kids that were here, to see themselves as a part of that, that's your future," Freeman said of his campus visitors. "As we tell them, you're going to be part of this, and this is just the start of something special." It's impossible to quantify where the Clemson win will rate in Free- man's career up the line, but there aren't many Fighting Irish wins of this quality since Lou Holtz left the building in 1996. • Bob Davie beat No. 5 Michigan in 1998 during a 9-3 season. • Tyrone Willingham beat No. 7 Michigan during his 8-0 start in 2002. • The signature win for Char- lie Weis came in the second game of his Notre Dame career in 2005 when he won at No. 3 Michigan. • Brian Kelly's two marquee wins with the Irish were an upset victory as a double-digit underdog at No. 8 Okla- homa in 2012 that kept the run to the BCS National Championship Game alive. And, of course, the regular-sea- son double-overtime win over No. 1 Clemson in 2020 that kept a playoff run intact. Overall, it's difficult not to rate Free- man's win Nov. 5 among the top five for Notre Dame in the last 25 years. Of course, that will be left for history to eventually measure. Blue & Gold Illustrated recruiting insider Mike Singer made his rounds after the Clemson game to gauge the reaction of some of the weekend visi- tors. And not surprisingly, they were overwhelmingly positive. In a text mes- sage to Singer, Belmont (N.C.) South Point offensive tackle Sullivan Absher neatly summed up the feelings of all the recruits. "These type of games are why you come to Notre Dame, and now the country knows the 'Freeman Era' is here!" he exclaimed. ✦ After the win over the Tigers, Marcus Freeman said, "Today was a day it all came together. This is part of a new foundation." PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Clemson Upset Marks 'Start' Of The Freeman Era 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