Marcus Freeman stood behind a Notre Dame lectern on Monday and tried to explain a coaching gaffe for the ages that led to a gut-punch loss for the ages.
“There are a bunch of systems to ensure things don’t happen, but it falls on me,” Freeman said. “It’s ultimately on me to do a better job to make sure our systems are executed. We as a staff need to be held at the same standard as our players. Fight the drift. You can’t get caught watching the game. We need to make sure things like that never happen again.”
The explanation made little strategic sense. The ball was at the 1-yard line. Any penalty — from illegal substitution, to offsides, to unsportsmanlike conduct — would result in the ball moving just 18 inches closer to the goal line. The “freebie” was lining the Holy Ghost up as a defensive end. It should have been avoided at all costs. Certainly having 11 men defend a half yard is preferred to 10 men defending a full yard.
Yet they didn’t beat Ohio State. They lost in possibly the worst fashion for a young coach still trying to prove himself. A victory would have been potentially career-defining, establishing himself as the man in South Bend in front of an electric home crowd, a massive television audience tuning in and a slew of recruits.“Great teams find a way to execute when it matters the most,” Freeman said. “We didn’t. We needed to execute and we didn’t. Ohio State did.
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