Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531388
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2025 77 M arcus Freeman looked over the box score and exchanged pleas- antries with various Notre Dame higher-ups during the 20-minute cool- down period following his monumental Orange Bowl win over Penn State. He took the "cool-down" part literally. As he went from one handshake to the next, Freeman quickly tilted his head to the side, flashed a smile and breathed a short sigh of relief. Freeman had to emotionally decom- press after the Irish won an instant classic and advanced to the national champi- onship. Their 27-24 win was not for the faint of heart. There were five game-tying or go-ahead scores in the fourth quar- ter alone, along with three turnovers and three more plays that easily could have been turnovers throughout the night. Every time Penn State punched Notre Dame in the mouth, though, the Irish had a counterpunch. And when sopho- more cornerback Christian Gray picked off Nittany Lions junior quarterback Drew Allar to set up a game-winning field goal, they delivered the final blow. "These guys are resilient, and they found a way to make a play when it mat- tered the most," Freeman said. "That is what great teams, great organizations are able to do at that moment." On offense, Notre Dame fought through 2 interceptions from senior quarterback Riley Leonard and zero points through the game's first 29 min- utes before finally breaking through. Leonard also got hurt, but he came back. In his stead, junior quarterback Steve Angeli commanded a two-minute drive like he'd been playing the whole time. Two starting offensive linemen, fresh- man left tackle Anthonie Knapp and se- nior right guard Rocco Spindler, did not. Spindler and Knapp's replacements, sophomore Charles Jagusah and graduate student Tosh Baker, played their tails off. Jagusah tore his pec Aug. 6, and less than a week later, Baker was benched. Neither of them cared. They only cared about fighting for their team. An emotional offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock tried to put into words what kind of effort his guys put forth. "I'm just so proud of their grit," said Denbrock, who let out a small, exhausted chuckle after that sentence. It was unclear whether he was about to laugh or cry. "This is a tough football team, and God bless their hearts, they believe now. And they just keep playing. They don't flinch. They don't care what the cir- cumstances are." Defensive coordinator Al Golden said he cried tears of joy with his family on the field. He knows perfectly well what it's like to lose starters. He knows perfectly well what it's like to struggle for spurts, which his group did in the Orange Bowl. Both sides of the ball just kept fight- ing through every piece of adversity they faced. They trailed by two scores for the first time all season. Mentally weaker teams might have folded. The Irish were unfazed. "What personifies a program more than that?" Golden said. "What is more emblematic of Coach Freeman's pro- gram? There's not even a blink. I didn't even know Angeli was in the game. "It's just mental toughness. Grit. A head coach that won't be denied." This is the most mentally tough Notre Dame team in a long time. Mental tough- ness won the Sugar Bowl over Georgia in New Orleans, where the Irish kept their poise in the fourth quarter and the Bull- dogs, who have won two of the past three national championships, did not. Notre Dame could have lost its poise in Miami Gardens, Fla., too. A pass inter- ference call on sophomore safety Adon Shuler wiped out a fourth-quarter in- terception from graduate student line- backer Jack Kiser, leading to a Nittany Lions touchdown. Some teams would have let that be their breaking point. Instead, ESPN cameras showed Free- man laughing. Grinning, even. Neither he nor his players flinched. It's not just the toughness, though. It's the way these guys play for each other. Notre Dame was the only play- off team with no portal losses since the end of the regular season for a reason. Freeman instilled a culture that insisted every player was important for "team glory," and it wasn't just talk. Thursday night, it was Angeli, Baker and Jagusah. It was also sophomore backup safety Luke Talich, who set the tone for the second half with a ferocious hit on hit on Penn State sophomore punt returner Zion Tracy. Talich is a former walk-on, but a week prior, it was current walk-on Leo Scheidler who made a special teams play. The junior wide receiver replaced grad- uate student wideout Beaux Collins on kickoff returns against UGA, while Col- lins had an IV in his arm due to a stomach bug. Scheidler made the key block that sprung graduate student kickoff returner Jayden Harrison for a 98-yard score. It was his 12th snap of the season. And he's forever a hero in South Bend. Collins played through that stomach bug and caught the eventual game- winning touchdown pass in the Sugar Bowl. Sophomore running back Jeremi- yah Love fought through a knee injury and scored in the Orange Bowl. Anyone on the Irish, Love explained, would do the same. "We've been in this thing since last January," Love said. "I was nicked up, but I love my brothers. I'm going to go out there and do what I have to do." ✦ Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock praised his unit after the win over Penn State, saying: "I'm just so proud of their grit. … They don't flinch. They don't care what the circumstances are." PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Resilience Propelled Irish To Championship Game Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE