Marcus Freeman says 'urgency' is emphasis for Notre Dame

Marcus Freeman isn’t letting up after Notre Dame’s 44-21 win over UNLV this weekend. It was a nice, bounce-back victory for the Fighting Irish after their disappointing loss to Stanford the week before. Still, Freeman won’t give his group an inch yet with another important game for them this weekend.

Freeman spoke about the message he was sending his team during media on Monday. He says one word came to mind in how he wants to see his players prepare this week.

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“Urgency. As I told them, it’s not urgency to start the game now. It’s urgency throughout the entirety of the game…A sign of a dominant football team is a team that, no matter what the series is or what the score is, you’re able to be really effective in what you’re doing,” said Freeman. “We have to continue to be a mature football team and progress towards improvement, progress towards being a dominant football team.”

Notre Dame showed some real urgency after they started the season 0-2 to Ohio State and Marshall. They ripped off three straight wins after that, including a ranked win over BYU, before their loss to the Cardinals. However, that same urgency returned again last week during their preparation for the Rebels.

That urgency is what Freeman is looking for again this week. Even though they’re coming off a win, he hopes to see the same attention to detail in everything they do before heading into another ranked matchup this weekend.

“When you lose, everybody has a sense of urgency. We’re all looking at things with a critical eye. Do we have that same critical eye this week (after a win)? We have to. That comes from the top down…That starts with me,” Freeman said. “You’ve earned the right to feel good. Winning helps you feel better, right? But that shouldn’t take away from the evaluation, the preparation, and the urgency you have to improve.”

After losing to Clemson last weekend, No. 16 Syracuse won’t be giving the Irish anything as they come into the JMA Wireless Dome this weekend. It marks the start of an important five-game stretch for Notre Dame to end its season. That’s why Freeman wants his team dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s even after a victory. If they want to turn one victory into two, they’ll need to have the same approach before heading to New York on Saturday.