Quick-hitters: Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame spring game, what's to come
Notre Dame football ended spring practice on Saturday with a walk-off touchdown scored by freshman quarterback Steve Angeli in the Blue-Gold Game.
With one spring down and quite the gauntlet to go, head coach Marcus Freeman spoke with the media after the scrimmage, touching on the 15 practices, quarterback play and what is expected to be a stout defense.
On the conclusion of spring practice
“I couldn’t be more proud of the collective 15 practices. To end it like that, you couldn’t have scripted a better way to end on the last play. This group has a lot of momentum right now. We have to continue to form our identity. I was very pleased with today, but also the entirety of spring.”
On Drew Pyne’s play
“It was up and down, the two interceptions in the first half. But it’s so easy to look at the quarterback. That’s the position — you’re going to get the praise, you’re going to get the blame. That’s why it’s been important for me to continue to meet with those guys because I have to continue to think the way they think.
“A couple of them were bad balls. It’s not always on a quarterback. But we don’t turn the ball over. We know that. We have to take care of the football, but it’s a collective (effort). Everybody makes sure we’re on the same page. There has to be guys that make the quarterback look good. That’s the challenge. It’s always about making a perfect throw, but we have to have some guys who can make him look good. So we’ll evaluate it. But, listen, (Pyne) played I-don’t-know-how-many plays in the first half. He got zero break. I’m really proud of him for stepping up and playing for both teams.”
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On ‘injuries’ to Kevin Bauman and Logan Diggs
“I think that was just precautionary. (Bauman) said it was a little bit sore. He got hit, and then, hey, keep him out. Same thing with Logan. I think his shoulder got banged up a little bit, it was in a second half. I wanted to get some of those guys out anyway. We will get a medical report tomorrow and see what the injuries are from the game.”
On defensive play
“The ability in the plus territory to create turnovers is huge. There were times the offense was running the ball and running the ball, then they tried to create a pass, but the ability to keep teams out of the end zone was really big. Toward the end of the first half the offense scored, I think to make it 10-0, but to keep those guys to three points when there were multiple times being on the plus side of 50. I thought they do a good job.”
On challenges facing him for the rest of the offseason
“There are a lot of different things you have to do in the month of May. How do you evaluate the spring from a big-picture point of view? The players are going to be gone. You’re also going to have to go on the road. Our coaches are going to be recruiting. I’m going to have to do some things with just Notre Dame, period. I’ll be busy.
But we’re going to look back and try to see how much we can learn from the spring, the teaching tapes, the evaluation, and what do we truly need to improve on as we head into June when they come back? We know Coach (Matt) Balis is going to have them in the best shape they can possibly be in. But what do we need to do in June? We have a little bit more time to be able to utilize football in June. How can we capitalize off that time?”
