What they’re saying after Notre Dame football’s Fiesta Bowl loss
Notre Dame’s 2021 season ended with a loss on Saturday, despite the Irish leading Oklahoma State 28-7 late in the second quarter. It’s the fifth straight Fiesta Bowl loss for Notre Dame, all coming following the Irish’s national championship season in 1988.
Here is a sampling of what local and national voices are saying after the contest.
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Statement from Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
“Well, obviously didn’t finish the outcome that we wanted. We’re obviously disappointed. I thought the kids prepared tremendously. I thought the coaching staff did a great job, but at the end of the day, we didn’t execute when it mattered most. But these guys, man, this is a special group; and for those that aren’t coming back, they’re going to be greatly missed. More than anything, I think there’s a group that’s, one, disappointed, but, two, motivated, motivated to right what happened today and to start the progression for the future. As I told them 28 days ago, this is about right now. This is about finishing this season off the right way. Didn’t happen. And it’s okay. All we can do now is start focusing on what we’ll do as we move forward to make sure that we’re successful the next time we’re on a field.”
Tyler Horka, BlueandGold.com: Grading Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame football in Fiesta Bowl loss
Marcus Freeman said it himself: his honeymoon phase at Notre Dame is over.
Like college students when syllabus week ends and the grind of the semester truly begins, the new Notre Dame football coach can’t be all smiles anymore. Not when his team implodes like it did in Saturday’s 37-35 Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State.
There was a lot of good from the Fighting Irish (11-2) for about 29 minutes of game time at State Farm Stadium. Then it all turned sour. Here’s how Freeman and the Irish graded out in losing to the Cowboys (12-2).
Notre Dame Passing Offense: B
It’s hard to knock a unit that produced 509 yards, but that wasn’t the only revealing number related to Notre Dame’s passing game. Graduate senior quarterback Jack Coan threw the ball a staggering 68 times. He completed 38 of those attempts, which means 30 passes didn’t end up in the hands of Irish receivers, running backs or tight ends. One of those ended up in the hands of an Oklahoma State linebacker at a critical juncture of the game, too. Coan broke the Fiesta Bowl record for yards by a single player. But the Notre Dame passing offense was ineffective and inefficient in the second half. It wasn’t an A-worthy effort.
Patrick Engel, BlueandGold.com: Five thoughts as Notre Dame collapses in Marcus Freeman’s debut
It started with such promise.
It ended in stunning fashion.
No. 5 Notre Dame lost Marcus Freeman‘s first game as head coach, a 37-35 defeat to No. 9 Oklahoma State (12-2) in the Fiesta Bowl Saturday. The Irish squandered a 28-7 first-half lead by allowing 30 unanswered points and finished the season 11-2.
Here are five initial thoughts from the game.
Notre Dame offense falters after strong start
Notre Dame’s offense hopped in the ring against a top-10 defense and delivered some haymakers. The Irish averaged 7.6 yards per play in the first half, held a 28-7 second-quarter lead and had a stout defense confused.
Oklahoma State was down, but not out. And Notre Dame had no move to finish the Cowboys off. In fact, it barely had moves at all.
After taking that three-touchdown lead, Notre Dame ran in mud. Until a last-gasp touchdown march in the final three minutes, Notre Dame’s longest drive was 41 yards. It turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter in Oklahoma State territory.
Sam Cooper, Yahoo! Sports: Notre Dame blows 21-point Fiesta Bowl lead, loses to Oklahoma State in Marcus Freeman’s debut
Everything was going wonderfully in Marcus Freeman’s debut as Notre Dame head coach. And then the wheels fell off.
Facing Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame was carving up the OSU defense with its passing game and jumped out to a 28-7 lead late in the first half. And with the Notre Dame defense stifling the OSU offense, it looked like the Irish would cruise to a victory to kick off the Freeman era in South Bend in style.
Instead, Oklahoma State stormed back and scored 30 unanswered points en route to a 37-35 victory over the Irish.
Notre Dame’s defense simply had no answers in the second half. The Cowboys cut Notre Dame’s lead to 28-14 with a four-play, 75-yard drive right before halftime and that carried over into the second half.
In the third quarter, Oklahoma State embarked on scoring drives of 87 and 89 yards to tie the score at 28-28. Spencer Sanders, who struggled mightily in OSU’s Big 12 title game loss, was excellent during the comeback. And before the quarter came to an end, Oklahoma had a 31-28 lead — its first of the ballgame.
Douglas Farmer, NBC Sports: First-half offensive onslaught not enough for Notre Dame in Fiesta Bowl collapse
So ends the Marcus Freeman honeymoon.
“We obviously didn’t finish,” the new Notre Dame head coach said after a 37-35 loss in the Fiesta Bowl. “The outcome wasn’t what we wanted. We’re obviously disappointed.”
The Irish had No. 9 Oklahoma State (12-2) right where they wanted before the Cowboys responded with 30 straight points. Even after the crux of that collapse, unexpectedly trailing 34-28, No. 5 Notre Dame (11-2) had chances to end the season on a high note and start the Freeman era with a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Instead, the last-minutes drive got started only when it was much too little, much too late, completing what could be described as nothing but an Irish collapse. Notre Dame’s first-half offensive explosion staked it to a 28-7 lead just before halftime, and its following failures on both sides of the ball eventually resulted in the 37-35 loss, a score made closer by a garbage-time touchdown.
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After that record-setting touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Michael Mayer — his seventh score of the season, the most from a tight end in Irish history — Notre Dame gave up a quick Cowboys touchdown before the break, and the comeback was on. Oklahoma State blew through the Irish in the third quarter, scoring 17 points to take the lead and put Notre Dame on the brink.
The Irish desperately needed to respond to Oklahoma State’s surge before the sudden deficit became double digits. Instead, the Cowboys stripped freshman running back Logan Diggs. Within moments, Oklahoma State looked to be on the verge of a double-digit lead, only for Notre Dame junior linebacker Jack Kiser to strip Cowboys receiver Brennan Presley just before Presley could cross the goal line.
Marshall Scott, Pistols Firing: 10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 37-35 Fiesta Bowl Win against Notre Dame
GLENDALE, Arizona — Ten years from their last trip to the Fiesta Bowl, the Cowboys are champions again.
Oklahoma State defeated Notre Dame 37-35 on Saturday in State Farm Stadium in a game the Cowboys once trailed 28-7. Here are 10 thoughts from an excellent game.
1. The Comeback of All Comebacks
The Cowboys were down 21 points, the reliable defense was faltering and they weren’t moving the ball on offense — then a flip got switched.
After trailing 28-7 with 1:16 left in the first half, the Cowboys’ comeback was a program record. There was some rare air where it all came together. The Pokes’ offense looked like the offense of the past, flying up and down the field while the defense was as stingy as it has been all season. Some sort of OSU nirvana was reached, and it came in what Mike Gundy called the biggest win in program history. It came against Notre freaking Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
“This is clearly the biggest win in history of the school,” Gundy said. “You’re in a New Year’s Day bowl. You’re two Top 10 teams, No. 5 team in the country. You’re playing Notre Dame. Biggest comeback in school history, I think somebody said, down 21 points in the Fiesta Bowl. Biggest win in the history of school.”
