In a heartbreaking conclusion to an ultra-impressive season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell to Ohio State 34-23 in the National Championship Game.
The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the team and its fans, but head coach Marcus Freeman remains optimistic about what lies ahead for the program.
Despite the defeat, Freeman, one of college football’s youngest head coaches at 39, reflected on the team’s journey and what the future could hold.
“The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high,” Freeman said after the bitter loss. “As long as the people in that locker room that come back understand what it takes, the work these guys have put in, there’s a lot of success in our future.”
After arguably the most impressive first drive in championship game history, the Fighting Irish struggled to find their rhythm.
Ohio State took full advantage, putting up 31 unanswered points before Notre Dame began to claw back.
Down by eight in the fourth quarter, the Irish attempted a late rally, but it wasn’t enough. A game-sealing catch by Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith dashed Notre Dame’s hopes.
Freeman acknowledged the team’s shortcomings, particularly in critical moments.
“I think more than anything, it was two series after the first one we didn’t execute and we had some self-inflicted wounds that we had to clean up,” Freeman said.
“Second half we drove the ball. I thought we did a good job with some tough situations. But we can’t run Riley every single play. That’s not what the formula for success is.”
Freeman also pointed to communication errors and lapses in execution that proved costly against a powerful opponent like Ohio State.
“There was some things on both sides of the ball that we don’t normally do and some communication mistakes, self-inflicted wounds that we haven’t been doing the past few weeks,” Freeman said.
“You’re always making mistakes, but those type of detrimental mistakes when you play a really, really good football team cost you points.”
Of course, Freeman is taking heavy heat for his controversial decision to attempt a 27-yard field goal while down 16 points with under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
While the chances of converting a 4th-and-goal from the 9-yard line weren’t exactly great, the fact of the matter is even with a made field goal Notre Dame would still need to score two touchdowns in the short amount of time that was left.
As we all know, Mitch Jeter ended up missing the chip-shot and Ohio State reclaimed all of the momentum.
“I just thought instead of being down 16, let’s try to go down 13,” Freeman said of his head-scratching decision. “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 fourth-and-goal situation, I probably would have gone for it, but I just felt fourth-and-9 was not a great chance for us to make that and decided to kick it, and we didn’t make it.”
In fairness to Freeman, he did an incredible job all season long. It’s a shame that Jeter missed the kick which only amplified the frustration of his decision.
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter. However, there is always a domino effect to every decision made.
In other words, we’ll never know how things might have turned out had Freeman trusted Riley Leonard and the offense in that spot.
While the loss surely stings, Freeman expressed great pride in his team for their efforts throughout the season.
The Fighting Irish had won 13 consecutive games leading up to the championship, silencing critics after an early-season upset to Northern Illinois.
Although they came up short of the ultimate goal, Freeman believes this group has laid the foundation for even greater success.
“Tough moment, tough outcome,” Freeman said. “We obviously didn’t play the way we needed to to get the outcome we wanted. There’s not many words to say when everyone is hurting. I’m proud of what they’ve done, I’m proud of who they are.
“You sit up here, and you listen to these two guys speak and the passion they have for Notre Dame and each other in that locker room … one of the greatest gifts in life is to be able to be the leader of this program because you have great young people like this.
“But we just have to be better. I’ve got to make sure we prepare better for this next opportunity that we have in the future.”
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, it’s clear that Notre Dame is in good hands with Freeman at the helm.
He’s done a great job in recruiting and the experience of this season will only make the Irish better going forward.
Notre Dame is ranked #4 in ESPN’s early top-25 poll for next season. Only time will tell if Freeman and company will be able to get back to this stage a year from now.
What are your thoughts on Freeman’s decision to attempt the field goal in that spot? … Do you think it proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Irish???
