Marcus Freeman evaluates Drew Pyne's first half performance vs North Carolina

After a shaky first drive, Drew Pyne found a groove for Notre Dame and the offense got rolling against North Carolina. Marcus Freeman liked what he saw, too.

Freeman spoke with ABC’s Kris Budden coming out of halftime and praised Pyne’s performance. He said the redshirt sophomore quarterback looked good through one half against the Tar Heels, and other players have also stepped up to help.

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“It’s been good to see him play with some confidence, go out there and execute,” Freeman said. “We’ve got guys all over the field that are making plays, and that’s what we have to do against this defense.”

Notre Dame is also getting ready to get an important playmaker back on defense in the second half. JD Bertrand will make his return after missing the first half due to a targeting penalty last week against Cal. As he gets his senior captain back, Freeman said the defense needs to keep clamping down against Drake Maye and the Tar Heels offense.

The Fighting Irish also have to avoid what Freeman calls their “Achilles heel”: big plays.

“We cannot keep giving up the big plays, and that’s the thing that has been our Achilles heel,” Freeman said. “We got to make sure that we eliminate the big plays, offensively, vs. them and just do your job.”

Marcus Freeman: North Carolina is a ‘very talented offense’

Heading into the matchup against the Tar Heels, Freeman spoke highly of their offense, led by Maye and wide receiver Josh Downs, who had two early touchdowns against Notre Dame. He knew the task at hand as his team went into Chapel Hill.

“It’s a very talented offense,” Freeman said. “And they have a veteran offensive line group with a couple guys that transferred. The quarterback is playing really, really good football right now. I know he’s a young guy but he is playing as good as any quarterback in the country. And we expect Downs to be back from injury, so we got our work cut out for us.

“They’re going to try and take advantage of what you give them, defensively. That’s what they’re able to do. And they’re going to go at different tempos and make you get lined up fast and that was something last year we weren’t able to do. So we have to be prepared and have to make sure we have a good plan to try to limit what they do offensively.”