After Notre Dame’s loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, head coach Marcus Freeman was blunt in his assessment of what went wrong.
“You’re always making mistakes, but those type of detrimental mistakes when you play a really, really good football team cost you points,” Freeman, 39, told reporters after the game on Monday, January 20. “I think that’s probably the biggest thing that has stuck out to me even in between series, the communication. ‘Hey, we’re good, we got it.’ Well, we can’t make mistakes.”
He added, “It falls on my shoulders. And as the head coach, we have to prepare and be better prepared for this moment. These guys gave everything they got.”
During the game, Freeman was criticized for choosing to kick a field goal with his team down 31-15 in the fourth quarter instead of going for it on 4th and goal from the 9-yard line. Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter ultimately missed the 27-yard field goal. Ohio State won the game 34-23.
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“I just thought instead of being down 16, let’s try and go down 13,” Freeman explained to reporters. “I know it’s still a two-score game, but you have a better probability of getting 14 points than you do 16 points. If it was a shorter 4th-and-goal situation, I probably would have gone for it, but I just felt that 4th-and-9 was not a great chance for us to make that.”
In the aftermath of the loss — during which Notre Dame was trying to win the school’s first national title since 1988 — Freeman told ESPN’s Molly McGrath the message he relayed to his downtrodden team.
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“Not many words you can say when you’ve got a group like that that’s hurt,” Freeman said. “I just told them I love them. I’m so proud to be a part of this season with them. There’s a lot of guys that are hurt. They gave it everything they had. We didn’t get the job done tonight.”
Freeman added, “What they did for this school, this program and I think for people that watch college football, I think they sent a strong message about being selfless, working your tails off and putting others before yourself.”
When asked by McGrath, 35, what made him “most proud” about his team this season, Freeman did not hesitate.
“They were selfless,” he said. “It’s a trait I think will carry on for the rest of your life, to put others before yourself. That’s what they did. In their toughest times, they chose Notre Dame and they chose each other. We have some wonderful leaders that continue to preach that message.”
