'It's a good weapon to have': What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said before Boise State

The folks from Boise State are eager to get their first look at Notre Dame junior running back Jeremiyah Love on Saturday.

During Irish head coach Marcus Freeman’s Thursday news conference over Zoom — his final media availability before Saturday’s game against the Broncos — one reporter from the Gem State asked Freeman what it’s like to have a player like Love. Freeman responded with a glowing review of his 6-foot, 214-pound superstar player.

“It’s a good weapon to have,” Freeman said. “I’ll tell you that. He is a unique skill set. One that I probably haven’t been around in my career in terms of what he can do in all aspects of the game of being a running back and running the ball. Use him as a wide out, the ability to lower his shoulder, jump over a defender. He’s really good, and he works at it.”

Here are more of Freeman’s thoughts on Love and everything else he told reporters in about a 12-minute meeting with the media on Thursday.

On if more freshmen are open to redshirting than two years ago

“I think you might be looking into it a little bit too much. If we have a freshman that we think we need to help us win, we’re going to play ’em. And if we can redshirt a guy and maybe get him four games experience, then we will also do that. We don’t want to be negligent on just, ‘Hey, we’re going to play this guy for one play and cost him his redshirt year in terms of the fifth game,’ but we also got to make decisions that really are going to help us win. 

“I think as you see with (cornerback) Dallas Golden, as you see with (cornerback) Mark Zackery, but on the other side you see a guy like (wide receiver) Elijah Burress and (running back) Nolan James right now only playing two games — and that a little bit is a reflection of the opportunity to get ’em in the game, too. 

“So, I don’t think we’ve spent much time saying, ‘Because of the roster limits, we’re going to try to redshirt as many guys as we can.’ Moreso, the thought is, ‘Hey, can this guy, as a freshman, help us win this game at a meaningful moment?’ If he can, then we got to play ’em.”

On how the Boise State defense generates pressure

“Yeah, I think as you watch it, maybe you might say, ‘Oh man, they’re just bringing pressure and it’s unsound, but they’re just bringing everybody.’ It’s really sound. It is really fundamentally sound. They have a good system. They’re not going to beat themselves. They are very in tune to what gaps they’re hitting, who’s coming, what formation, and they’re going to make you earn everything you get.

“So it’s a great challenge. This is going to be a really good challenge for our offense to recognize, ‘OK, the tells maybe that they give us, pick up the pressures in the pass game and the run game, and then you got to win your one-on-one battles versus this defense.’ Probably there’s not going to be huge holes. We’re going to have to beat some guys in one-on-one opportunities in terms of, and that’s on all lines of defense. The O-line, I got a guy one-on-one. You’ve got to try to get him out of his gap and displace ’em. The same thing with the running backs in the pass game.

“So we truly got to win our one-on-one opportunities this week on offense.”

On if Notre Dame will wear green jerseys this week

“Yes.”

On what it looks like for guys like redshirt freshman Cole Mullins and junior Elijah Hughes — both DL — to play hard, and if some guys have that more than others

“Yeah, a hundred percent. And playing hard is like guys that play through the whistle. We demand that you give relentless effing attitude—that means you play from the start of the snap to the end of the whistle. 

“The reality is, not everybody executes that every single play. I mean, you can watch any team play, and not everybody goes zero to 100 every single play. But when you see a few guys that do, it’s to me a unique trait and a unique… It’s a skillset. And that’s just being completely honest. We demand relentless effort, attitude. But there’s plays that certain guys don’t always do that if the ball’s not near them.

“So that’s what I think has given those two guys an edge. Maybe their talent level, right now, isn’t exactly as some other guys in that room. It’s high or they wouldn’t be playing. But they make up maybe for their lack of elite skillset versus maybe another guy at their position by the effort that they play with. Their effort makes up for a lot of mistakes. 

“So, guys like that, man, they just find a way. They keep finding a way to get on the field. They keep finding a way to show up in practice, and they’ll get a reward in the game as you’ve seen recently.”

On Notre Dame’s red zone efficiency on offense

“I just think more than anything, it’s the clarity. It’s understanding what our plan is this week, the ability to get the ball into the hands of the guys you trust. And I think our offensive line does a great job down there, being able to run the ball. I think we run the ball really efficient down there. 

“We’re able to score, and it might not be in the stat books as an efficient run, but we’re able to continue to move the chains and move the ball towards the end zone. When you’re able to do that, running the ball, you can obviously throw it.

“And our quarterbacks, both years, have done a great job of taking care of the ball in the red zone.  They do not throw, a lot of times, do not throw interceptions down there. If the play’s there, they throw it. If not, they throw it away. 

“So I think it’s just the clarity that we have in our game plan each week, especially down in the red zone, that’s resulting in some of that success.”

On the Boise State offense

“Yeah, I think they’re extremely talented. They will use every motion, shift, to try to get your defense off balance, and then they’re really good at doing what they do. 

“I used this term in the press conference on Monday. I said, ‘They do a lot of eye candy.’ What happens when you do those shifts and motions, you get one guy out of his gap, and they have some really good running backs that can all make a two-yard gain, a 10-yard gain. They’ve got a quarterback that is confident and has been really efficient. 

“So it’s a great challenge. It’s a great challenge for our defense, but I think that’s what gives defenses issues, is that they know what the play is, but they’re able to try to confuse the defense by their shifts and motions.”

On what has stood out about Boise State QB Maddox Madsen’s ability to run the offense and how they prepare for him defensively, considering he can make plays with his arm and legs 

“Yeah, I think number one, he’s confident. I think being able to be a returning starter, understanding how well they did last year (and) second year in a similar scheme as what they ran last year. He’s a playmaker. He has the it factor. 

“Doesn’t always run as much now as he maybe did in the past, but when he needs to, he’ll scramble. He looks tough. He’s a tough guy. And he’s confident in his arm. There’s sometimes I look at maybe a throw he makes and I go, ‘Ooh, I don’t know if he should have threw it there.’ And he puts it right where it needs to be, and it’s a completion.

“That sometimes overcomes always making the exact perfect decision — is having confidence in your decision. And he’s definitely that. He’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

On how winning one-on-one matchups has changed what Notre Dame does on offense

“Well, I think we’re as deep in the wideouts room as we’ve ever been. And now you can use obviously J-Love in some situations to use him as a wideout, put him in a receiving position. 

“But it still starts up front. It starts with the protection. Then it starts with the decision and ball placement by the quarterback. And then those wideouts got to go make a play.

“We’ve recruited that way. We recruited some guys. We’ve developed some guys. But you’re seeing the confidence and the ability to make those one-on-one contested catches.”

On having an offensive weapon like Love and how they plan to utilize him against Boise State

“It’s a good weapon to have. I’ll tell you that. He is a unique skill set. One that I probably haven’t been around in my career in terms of what he can do in all aspects of the game of being a running back and running the ball. Use him as a wide out, the ability to lower his shoulder, jump over a defender. He’s really good, and he works at it. 

“Our mindset and our plan is to find as many different ways to get the ball in his hands and let him go. Now the big guys up front got to continue to do their job. We got a block on the perimeter like we’ve been doing. But we know we have to get the ball into the hands of Jeremiyah Love and some good things will happen.”

On Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore’s progress

“He’s made a tremendous gain in terms of that high ankle sprain. I’m sure it’s a frustrating injury. I know from experience, like, it takes a while to get to where you want to go.

“But we think he’s going to be able to help us this weekend. He’s been practicing more than he ever has since the injury. But he won’t be — no matter what — I’m sure he won’t be 100%. It just takes time to heal that thing. 

“But Leonard at less than 100% will help our defense. So if he continues to progress as we get through this week, I see him helping us on Saturday.”