Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 SEPT. 20, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED A postgame locker-room video of Marcus Freeman addressing his team immediately after the 27-24 loss at Miami Aug. 31 went viral because of the firm yet calm approach the Notre Dame head coach handled his guys with after the season-opening defeat. There was no panic, and the message was clear. "This taste of pain, it hurts. The em- barrassment, OK," Freeman told his team. "We have to use this as we go back to work. We're going to go back to work, right? Stay together." Playoff hopes were far from dashed after the hard loss at Hard Rock Sta- dium. But given the way the Irish were beaten and oftentimes bullied in the game created plenty of concern on both sides of the football moving forward. "I always say the team that plays harder longer is usually the one that's successful," Freeman said. From the Irish coaches to the play of the offensive and defensive lines, plenty of blame could be shared after the loss. And, already with little to no room for error left for a playoff run this season, broad improvements need to come in the same way they did last season when the Irish bullied their way to seven wins of 21 points or more, cruised to victo- ries in its final 10 regular-season games, and finished third in the country with a plus-20.6 average margin of victory. "Everybody points the finger at themselves and says, 'What could we have done to make sure that we achieved the outcome that we want?'" Freeman continued, post Miami. "And that's what we'll do, right? Stay together." The glaring difference between the loss to Northern Illinois in Game 2 last season, and the loss to Miami in Game 1 this season, is the NIU loss was a case of Notre Dame letting its guard down, while the loss to the Hurricanes came from the Irish getting pushed around. "There were a couple of times where Miami was displacing some of our guys," Freeman said. Freeman makes it no secret each pre- season that the preferred identity for his program is to be the bully — win both sides of the line of scrimmage in the run game and be disruptive up front on opposing quarterbacks in pass defense. "That's my expectation," Freeman said. Surprisingly, the Irish did none of the above in the season-opening loss, and finished the Miami game with only 1 sack, 1 quarterback hurry, 93 rushing yards, and a posthumous blueprint on how to miss the playoffs with a similar lackluster performance in any of their remaining 10 regular-season games. Heading into Texas A&M last week- end, the Miami game marked only the sixth time during Freeman's three-plus seasons as the Irish skipper that Notre Dame failed to rush for 100 yards, and the Irish lost in five of those. Defensively, a deep group of Irish pass rushers that Freeman gushed about all preseason pressured Miami quarter- back Carson Beck only four times on 32 drop-backs. But one season opener does not a sea- son make, and all is not lost. Writing this before the Texas A&M game, even a 10-2 regular season should keep Notre Dame in the playoff conversation. But with the two marquee opponents on the schedule already in the books, nothing is guaranteed without winning these final 10 games, considering no fu- ture Irish opponents were ranked in the most recent Associated Press Top 25. Early season growing pains were ex- pected with a first-year defensive coor- dinator and quarterback. But this is an unforgiving sport. With program parity never more prevalent in college football, another slow start, or poorly coached game, or passive performance, in up- coming games at Arkansas of the SEC, rival Southern Cal, or against an always unpredictable Pitt program are a few of the landmines that await without an improved and sustained fighting ap- proach from the Irish. Recent history — and a calm but strong "stay together" message — sug- gests that Freeman and his program will improve, dominate and once again bully their way to all the postseason goals set in the preseason. "Our focus," Freeman said, "must continue to be on improving, elevating, and doing the things it takes to get our program closer to its full potential." But, be warned, that mission will only come from improved coaching, sus- tained bullying, and no Miami-esque missteps between now and Thanksgiv- ing weekend. ✦ Head coach Marcus Freeman emphasized going back to work and staying together in his post-game speech to the players following the loss at Miami Aug. 31. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com. UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Being Bullied To Becoming The Bully