Everything Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after the Miami game

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media for about 12 minutes following the No. 6 Irish’s 27-24 loss to No. 10 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night. Here’s everything he told reporters.

Opening statement

“So, obviously disappointing with the outcome. It was a top ten fight. Like, come down to a three-point game versus a hell of a football team. Our guys got a lot to — really, the confidence to build off of. There’s obviously a lot out there that we didn’t do well, but there are some things we did do well. And we got to build on the things that we did well, and we got to fix with urgency the things we didn’t do so well. 

“It’s the first game of the year versus a heck of an opponent. We obviously got a new quarterback starting, and we got to do things to try to help him kind of figure his way out. And defensively, we got to be better in crucial parts of the game. 

“I think in crucial parts, they actually did play well. It’s the parts that maybe, the normal situation. We weren’t as, really, as high performing as I would like in that situation. So, we’ll take it — we’ll get back to work. Look at ways to fix it and utilize this bye week and get ready for our next opponent, [Texas] A&M.”

On whether the short passes were the offensive game plan going in, and what they were thinking

“Yeah, I’ve said this before. It was creating some easy throws, some easy decisions. Obviously, some RPOs (run-pass-options) that you can hand the ball off or, depending on what the defense does, pull it and throw it.

“We started to say later in the game that, ‘Stop reading it, hand the ball to J-Love (junior running back Jeremiyah Love), and we need to establish this run game.’ He was doing what he was coached to do on a lot of those pulls and throwing.

“We got to block better on the perimeter. The one interception we can’t have, but there’s times that we got to take away the read and say, ‘Just hand the ball to your running backs,’ and do that.”

On what Carr showed him tonight

“He’s going to be a really good quarterback. Everything that I thought he was going to be — his ceiling is so high. He’s going to have to learn to take this loss and not let it beat him up too much because he’s an ultra competitor, but he’s a gamer, man.

“He performs when the lights are on. He prepares his tail off. He had answers for questions that myself or (offensive coordinator) Coach [Mike] Denbrock would have. He’s going to do great things, man. It’s just a start for him.”

On how Carr responded after the interception

“Great. He came back and drove us down for a field goal, and then next drive after that was a 75-yard touchdown drive. So I think it’s pretty impressive after he threw an interception off a tipped ball.”

On the trouble getting pressure up front on defense, and what Miami did that made it tough

“They were protecting. We’ve got to be better with our four-man rushes. If we need to blitz five, we will, but you’re not going to be really successful on defense if you can’t get pressure on the quarterback with four-man rushes.

“I felt like they did a good job protecting the quarterback. I think there was times where (Miami quarterback) [Carson] Beck had enough time to really figure out what coverage we were playing and put the ball where it needed to be put. 

“We got a little bit better pressure maybe in the third or fourth quarter, but the expectation is throughout those four quarters you’ve got to be able to get four-man pressure, rolling guys in there, and create some pressure on the quarterback.”

On what hindered Notre Dame sophomore left tackle Anthonie Knapp late in the game

“It was cramping. It was cramping. I’m pretty sure it was cramping.”

On whether the right guard rotation was planned

“Yeah, we think it was at that moment good for (redshirt sophomore) Sully [Absher] to go in the game. We kind of had that planned. Then, after Sully got a couple of series, we decided to put (redshirt freshman) Guerby [Lambert] back in the game.

“Guerby, listen, both of them played well. We said it was a competition. We said we could see both. You don’t often see O-linemen rotate, but we thought in that certain situation of the game that we planned on getting Sully in, and then we got Guerby back in there in those last two series.”

On Notre Dame being an O-line, D-line driven program, and if he felt they met the challenge up front in the first half

“The effort was there. I guess you’ve got to give credit to their team. I told the guys in the locker room — I challenged  — ‘We’ve got to play harder, longer.’ You know what? We played hard, but they played hard, too. And both of us played harder.

“We had some self-inflicted wounds that we can’t have, but I think our guys played well. Our O-line, they stepped up to the challenge. We didn’t always run the ball.

“Listen, that two-minute situation where everybody knows they’re going to throw the ball, I mean, you’ve got (redshirt freshman) Styles [Prescod] in there because Knapp went down. It’s a tough situation. So I’m not going to evaluate them just off of the two-minute situation. We’ve got to find a way to win the game in that situation, but I thought, for the most part of the game, our O-line did a good job.

“D-line, I want to be more dominant. My expectation for that unit is to dominate the game in the run and the pass, put pressure on the quarterback, and stop the run. And credit to Miami, we weren’t able to do that, but that’s my expectation for those guys.”

On what he learned or reinforced about the mettle and character of your team

“These dudes will never quit, right? They believe, they trust, they know they’re never out of the fight. I could look in their eye, and they said, ‘Hey, coach, we need one more stop, we need one more score, and let’s watch what happens.’

“We thought it was going to finish differently than it did. (Miami) did a good job on that last drive up getting in the field goal range and hit a 50-yarder, I think it was. Good job by them.

“It’s tough when you don’t have any timeouts. I had to use them right before that field goal. It’s tough when you don’t have any timeouts, and you get intentional grounding in a sack. It’s tough to drive the ball down the field.

“But you know what, we’ll be in that situation again. We’ll learn from it, and I’ll trust our guys will execute.”

On what they need to do better in the turnover battle and the middle eight minutes (final four minutes of first half; first four minutes of second half)

“The turnover, you look at the two turnovers, you know, (fifth-year wide receiver) Malachi’s [Fields] got to have better ball security, and we can’t let that tipped ball —it’s almost like we didn’t want JG (junior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse) to tip it again when he was trying to be a football player because it got popped in there, and they obviously got the interception. 

“We’ve got to create more takeaways on defense. We pride ourselves in being able to create takeaways. We didn’t create any takeaways. We’ve got to be intentional about it.

“And so the middle eight, I don’t know exactly what it was, but obviously they’re telling me we didn’t win it. But more importantly, we’ve got to take care of football. That’s a Week 1 emphasis. It’s a total season emphasis, but the majority of teams that win the turnover margin Week 1 are going to win that game. And they knew that. I knew that. We just didn’t win it today, and we’ve got to fix it.”

On the concern level when Notre Dame junior cornerback Christian Gray came out of the game

“I thought it was his shoulder, which he’s previously hurt, but I think he got punched or hit in the throat. So, I knew he would be all right. 

“I love Christian Gray. He gets a P.I. (pass interference) and then makes a big play. He’s a great example of win this play. No matter what happens early in the game — the life of a corner stinks. Especially if you’re playing man, and they’re throwing your guy the ball. And it’s a tough, tough job to do, but Christian’s able to reload and focus on winning that play. He’s a tough dude, man. I knew he was coming back.”

On the young guys getting reps in the secondary

“Yeah, that was a plan going in. Like I said before, it’s never a big deal who’s starting unless you’re talking about the quarterback or maybe the offensive line. We got a lot of capable guys that can help us win, and you’ve got to play them.

“You’ve got to play them in this type of environment, this type of game, in the heat. This is going to help them throughout the season. Every goal we have is still ahead of us. 

“At the end of the day, we don’t speak about championships. It’s about reaching our full potential, and that’s what we’ve got to be able to do. I’m glad those guys were able to get in and perform in a big environment like this.”

On if they needed to commit to Love and redshirt junior running back Jadarian Price more on the ground than they did

“We had our plan going into the game. The problem with some of our easy throws, we weren’t getting enough to get a first down. And we had a couple three-and-outs. I think at halftime we got together and said, ‘OK, we had a plan to get J- Love in the pass game and some of those situations.’

“They did a good job. They did a good job covering him and doing those things. We made an intentional effort at halftime to say, ‘OK, let’s either take away some of those reads or find intentional ways to get the ball in his hands.’ He made some good things happen.”

On what leaders stepped up and what gives him confidence that he has that part figured out

“Yeah, you heard our captains, and that’s their job. That comes with the title, right? If your team votes you captain, there’s a responsibility to uphold that title. So many people want titles, but they don’t want the responsibility that that title entails. 

“So, those captains have the responsibility to speak up, especially in tough times. Those captains have the responsibility to make sure we’re holding guys accountable. Our captains have the responsibility to fix problems, whether it’s their problem or not. 

“So I’m proud of the way they stepped up and really lived out the title that they’ve been given.”

On if Carr’s first touchdown pass shows the play-making ability Notre Dame sees behind the scenes, and what Freeman’s inner dialogue was during the play

“I said, ‘Throw it away. Throw it away.’ I was like, ‘Throw it away.’ And I said, ‘Throw it away,’ and then, oh, great job. 

“It’s just — he’s out there. I couldn’t see exactly what was going on. I’m watching him, and I watched him spin out. And usually when you’re feeling pressure, it’s like, throw the ball away. Don’t throw the ball across your body. But he kept his eyes downfield and made a play. 

“Like, yeah, those are plays. Like, we don’t draw them up like that, but those are plays that CJ Carr can make. He made a good amount of them tonight. He made some mistakes like any first-time quarterback will make, but his ceiling is extremely high and his future is bright.”

BOX SCORE: No. 6 Notre Dame 24, No. 10 Miami 27