Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506454
30 SEPT. 2, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN … On junior running back Audric Estimé's absence after fumbling in the second quarter: "Yeah, we had planned to get out all the running backs in the game. And I don't know if Coach [Deland McCullough] pulled him out just because he fumbled. It was a pretty long run that he had. But we wanted to rotate all those guys. You've got to be unselfish, right? "The worst thing, to me, you can do to a kid is tell them that, 'You're going to play,' and you don't play. Right? The ability to say, 'All five of you are going to play,' and they all played, it's re- ally a great job by Coach McCullough. But we're going to have to be unselfish, man. And Audric is a great example of that." On graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman mak- ing checks at the line of scrimmage: "There were a couple of calls that we had that, depending on what the defense was showing, we were going to check to a run or pass or a cer- tain protection. And just to hear the communication of our coaches, to making sure that Sam is putting our offense in just really a great situation to succeed was really good." On the Notre Dame offense running smoothly: "I thought just the overall operation of our offense, the ability to run the ball helps Sam a lot, too, right? We talked about this in our team meeting, the greatest friend for a quarterback is the ability to run the ball. And that was something that our of- fensive line and our running game did a great job doing today. "We didn't have to call timeout. I think we had one in the second half late. But I mean, that's the little things that we really worried about in this first game. How many operational mistakes are we going to have, from the communication to the actual problems? And it was really good that we didn't have any." On junior guards Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan making their first starts: "Yeah, I was just talking to [Irish director of athletics] Jack Swarbrick about that. I guess we found out those two guards can play, right? We knew those guys didn't have game experience. But both Pat and Rocco stepped up and did a really good job. "You don't see some of the things they do. And so for them to execute and run the ball, and to play physical, credit to, obviously, [offensive line] coach [Joe] Rudolph, and just credit to those guys for what they were able to do in our first game." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT QUARTERBACK SAM HARTMAN … On what led to his stellar first game: "I think it's easy when you have two of the best tackles in the country, Two guards who are starting their first real big games, and they played unbelievably. And obviously [graduate student] Zeke [Correll] at center. "And then out wide, those guys just make plays in space. I don't know how many deep completions I had. It was a lot of just getting the ball in space, which we wanted to do. And then our defense really helped us. We were in a lot of very favorable positions." On feeling prepared for Navy: "Hats off to our coaches. We've been prepping for Navy. We know, obviously, from last year, what a challenge they presented on defense. Part of it's their players, and a lot of it's their scheme. And so, I think we had a great plan and we went out and executed it. "Not really any of my abilities, more the guys around us. Like [wide receiver] Jaden Greathouse here, who's a freshman out there making big plays." On the offense's potential going forward: "Time will tell, but again, when you play winning football, good things happen. And again, I think it also goes back to [graduate stu- dent linebacker] Marist [Liufau] and our defense. "When they hold an offense like that, a team like that, to only three points, that makes our job really easy. And then again, favorable field position along the way." NOTRE DAME GRADUATE STUDENT LINEBACKER MARIST LIUFAU … On Navy's new-look offense: "They came out in a forma- tion we never practiced before, so that was an adjustment to make throughout the game. But I feel like we adjusted to it and reacted to it well." NOTRE DAME FRESHMAN WIDE RECEIVER JADEN GREATHOUSE … On what allowed him to have a successful debut: "It starts with everybody in this organization. Coaches, players having trust in me to be able to go out there, do what we're supposed to do, go out and do the job that we have to do, and so you have to step up to the plate." FROM THE LOCKER ROOM Head coach Marcus Freeman was pleased with the overall operation of his offense, which produced 42 points and 444 total yards. PHOTO BY JOHN CROTHERS