Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks Marshall Loss, Making Changes

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman discussed his team's loss to Marshall

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - A day that began the communal assumption that Marcus Freeman would get his first win as Notre Dame’s head coach ended with one of the most confounding losses in more than a decade.

Syracuse in 2008. UConn in 2009. Tulsa in 2010. South Florida in 2011.

Take your pick.

Saturday’s 26-21 Fighting Irish loss to Marshall ranks right up there with any of those infamous setbacks. It may be even more head scratching than any of those debacles though, because of the sustained success the Irish have had over the past five seasons, which have all produced double digit victories.

Saturday’s loss to the Thundering Herd ended a string of 42 consecutive wins against unranked opponents for Notre Dame and it came in Freeman’s first such matchup.

The first year Fighting Irish head coach fielded a slew of questions after the loss that dropped his coaching record to 0-3.

What Was The Week Of Preparation Like?

"I thought is was a good week of preparation,” Freeman said. "That’s something we’ll have to go back and evaluate. Let’s go and look at our preparation and look and say ‘Ok, where can we enhance the way we prepare to make sure that we’re finding a better way to execute. I wish there was a part, like one thing, if we did this (snaps his fingers) bam, it would happen in the game.

"But it’s really an evaluation of everything we’re doing schematically, personnel wise, everything to look and say how can we improve the next time we’re on the field,” he concluded.

Freeman’s Inexperience As A Head Coach

Freeman won the offseason with his recruiting and his personality, but at the end of the day he is still a first time head coach. How much does that play into the results the Irish saw on the field Saturday?

"I don’t know if it’s my inexperience as a head coach,” Freeman said. "I don’t know if that’s a reason why or a lack of execution, but it starts with me. It starts with me as a head coach and looking at myself and saying ‘What do I have to do to help this football team’ and really look at everything we’re doing, because the performance isn’t where we need it to be.”

What Can Freeman Do To Help The Team?

Freeman took ownership of the team's struggles, and he knows he's responsible for making the moves necessary to fix things.

"I have to be a leader,” Freeman said. "I have to be a leader and I can’t sit here and point the finger at any one person. Start pointing the finger at yourself and say ‘Hey, I’m gonna evaluate myself first as the leader of this program and say where can we improve.' And then we have to challenge everything we’re doing. We can’t just say ‘Hey guys, let’s keep doing it the same way and things are just gonna magically improve’.

"We’ve got to be very strategic and honest with ourselves, which isn’t comfortable all the time,” he continued. "But we have to be honest and really take (an) unbiased look and say ‘Ok, are we doing what’s best for this team? Do we have the right people on the field, are we schematically doing the things that it takes to have success’? The entirety of two games, it’s not where we need to be, so as a leader, I’ve got to be the first one to look at myself and then we’ve really look at what we’re doing and challenge it.”

How Offensive Line Play Affects Play-Calling

Notre Dame averaged just 3.5 yards per carry on 37 attempts against a team what was one of the worst in the nation against the run last season. Freeman discussed how that may have factored into the game plan.

"I think it’s at all three levels,” Freeman explained. "I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the offensive line’s fault. It's from offensive line to quarterback to running backs to wide outs to tight ends. There’s multiple different levels of lack of execution. But again, we are an O-line driven program. I’ve said that and it starts up front. We know at every position we’ve got to improve. The O-line, too.”

Is Tyler Buchner Being Asked To Do Too Much?

Buchner led the Irish rushing attack with 44 yards and two touchdown runs on 13 carries. He was also 18 for 32 for 201 yards passing, with two interceptions.

"We’ll assess that,” Freeman stated when asked if there’s too much weight on Buchner’s shoulders. “I can’t tell you right now. I felt really good with the game plan going in and we didn’t produce the results that we wanted to, so we’ve got to look and see. We’ve got to say is there too much on his plate, are we asking him to do too much. That's gonna be a part of what we (evaluate).”

Lack of Chris Tyree Touches

Running back Chris Tyree is one of the fastest and most versatile offensive players on the Irish roster, but he only touched the ball five times offensively in the loss to Marshall. His first touch of the game was a run to end the first half.

Tyree finished with three carries for 17 yards and two receptions for 14 yards. It seems like an easy fix to get the ball in his hands more often.

"We’ll go and evaluate those five reps he got the ball and see how he graded and what he did,” Freeman replied. "Chris Tyree is a guy who I have no hesitation to make sure he gets the ball in his hands. So, if we have to find ways to do that, we’ll be creative to get the ball in his hands more often we have to do that.”

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