Irish’s march to CFP quarters fueled by NIU loss
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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — Notre Dame has won 11 straight games and averaged a nearly 30-point margin of victory during that stretch, but as the Irish prepare for Wednesday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, much of the attention remains on the one game they’ve lost.
Notre Dame’s 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 was a low point for the Irish, but head coach Marcus Freeman said it also served as a turning point that ignited the team’s recent run.
“There were some valuable lessons in that loss,” Freeman said Monday. “It’s this constant chase for improvement — every week, every day — that we have been able to make, and we still continue to have that mindset.”
In the aftermath of that loss, Freeman told his team to “hold on to that pain” as a motivating factor and use it as a motivator to improve. Now that Notre Dame is among the last eight teams still playing for a national title, tailback Jeremiyah Love said he appreciates the reminders of the team’s nadir.
“We like it,” Love said of the NIU talk. “We don’t like that we lost, but we like the reminder. Keeping the pain with us — it’s a drive to be better. We like the little reminder that we fell short in that game, so if people keep doing it, we welcome it.”
Notre Dame had just gone on the road and upended Texas A&M in Week 1, and left tackle Anthonie Knapp said the Irish spent the next six days relishing the success.
That, he said, was a mistake.
“Coming off A&M, everyone was on a high,” Knapp said. “You get a little ego boost and you’re like, ‘Oh, NIU.’ We didn’t take preparation as important that game, and we got what we deserved.”
Against NIU, the Irish managed just 286 yards of offense, turned the ball over twice and averaged fewer than 5 yards per pass.
The conversation surrounding Notre Dame changed instantly. Suddenly the team riding the high of the win over A&M was instead answering questions about a one-dimensional offense and a transfer QB in Riley Leonard, who struggled to throw the ball downfield.
In some ways, however, it was a liberating moment, Leonard said.
“Once you lose a game like that, no one can say many worse things about you,” he said. “You can’t do anything but respond and not care and play freely, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Leonard, a transfer from Duke, had three offseason surgeries and missed all of spring ball, so the process of figuring out how he fit within Notre Dame’s offensive game plan was slow to develop. That showed against NIU, but the loss also galvanized a team around a mantra of owning the line of scrimmage.
Since the NIU game, Notre Dame has averaged 42.5 points per game, Leonard has 17 touchdown passes and just four picks and the ground game, led by Love, has blossomed into one of the most potent in the country.
More importantly, linebacker Jack Kiser said, the loss has put Notre Dame in a must-win scenario since mid-September, making this run through the College Football Playoff feel like familiar territory.
“This week [vs. Georgia] and last week [vs. Indiana], playoff games are do-or-die,” Kiser said. “But since Week 2, we knew if we dropped another game, we probably wouldn’t even be in the 12-team playoff. So it’s been a back-against-the-wall mentality. That has certainly carried us through the rest of the season. Who knows what this team would be like without that loss?”
Still, tight end Mitchell Evans said there’s a mindset that the NIU game defines Notre Dame more than the past 11 wins.
“It’s a stigma Notre Dame has that, ‘Oh they can’t do this or that,'” Evans said. “I think it’s because people want to be us, if I’m being honest. It’s Notre Dame. It’s the most prestigious university in the world. No one knows what we go through besides us, the people in our core. A lot of people hate the success we’ve had as a program.”
That’s part of what’s driving Notre Dame going into the Sugar Bowl. If the past 11 games haven’t been enough to erase the stigma of the NIU loss, certainly a win over Georgia would send a clear statement.
And if Leonard has learned anything over the past three months since Notre Dame’s low point, it’s that there’s still much left to prove.
“I don’t think we’ve come close to reaching our potential here,” he said.
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Notre Dame‘s Marcus Freeman and Penn State‘s James Franklin are aware they are on the brink of making history in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
The winner will become the first Black head coach to take a team to the national championship game. Both were asked about that possibility during their respective news conferences Saturday previewing their matchup.
Franklin said it reminded him of Super Bowl XLI between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith in 2007, the first Super Bowl featuring Black head coaches. Franklin was the offensive coordinator at Kansas State at the time, coaching for Ron Prince, another Black head coach.
“I remember thinking that, as a coach, how significant that was in the profession, and how significant that was for young coaches coming up in the profession, to see those guys in that role,” Franklin said. “I also remember, at that time, there were a lot of conversations about, ‘Will this impact the profession? Will this impact opportunities for guys?'”
At the time, there were six Black head coaches in college football, Franklin said. There are now 16 head coaches in 134 FBS programs, something Franklin described as progress.
“I know some people will say, ‘Well, that that’s not a huge increase,’ but it is an increase,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, does this create opportunities for more guys to get in front of athletic directors? Does this create opportunities for search firms? I hope so. I think at the end of the day, you just want an opportunity, and you want to be able to earn it through your work and through your actions. I take a lot of pride in it.”
When Freeman was asked, he made sure to note that he is also half-Korean, a nod to his mother. But he also understands the significance of the moment.
“It’s a reminder that you are a representation for so many others that look like you, and I don’t take that for granted,” Freeman said. “I’m going to work tirelessly to be the best version of me, and it’s great, because even the guys in our program can understand, ‘Don’t put a ceiling on what you can be and what you can do.’
“Now, with that being said, it’s not about me. It’s about us. More than anything, I want to achieve team glory with this program.”
Freeman was also asked how he can inspire other young coaches who are watching him on this stage.
“If you want to impact the young people in this profession, you probably should do things to help them, and those are things that maybe after the season I could focus on trying to do,” Freeman said. “I want to be a representation. But that’s not enough. If you want to truly help some people, then you got to be one to make decisions and actions that truly help people.”
Franklin said he is honored to be in position to coach against Freeman in the semifinal.
“I’m honored to be able to compete against Notre Dame. Most importantly, I’m honored to represent Penn State and the young men in that locker room,” Franklin said. “For me to sit here and say that it’s not important, it’s not significant, that would not be accurate.”
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Penn State All-American defensive end Abdul Carter is working back from an apparent left arm injury, and while coach James Franklin said it’s “too early” to determine Carter’s status for the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame, there’s optimism about his return.
“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything stopping him from playing, but it’s going to come down to, how is he able to play?” Franklin said Saturday. “We’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s excited about this week, but it’s too early to say at this stage.”
Carter left the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against Boise State on Tuesday in the first quarter, not recording any statistics before exiting and not returning. No. 6 seed Penn State won 31-14 to advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl, where it will face No. 7 seed Notre Dame on Thursday night.
Carter, 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, became Penn State’s first consensus All-America selection since Saquon Barkley in 2017. He also was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. lists Carter as the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 NFL draft, behind Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado.
Carter posted a social media message Tuesday of Darth Vader in a bacta tank from the movie “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” indicating his recovery process from the injury.
“He’s doing great. His attitude is great. His mentality has been really good,” Franklin said. “We’ll see, but he’s taken the right approach and mentality, and it’s really going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s going to get during the week.”
Franklin does not usually provide injury updates about players who are not out for the season but understands the attention around Carter, who leads Penn State in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (21.5) and ranks second in quarterback hurries (8) and fourth in total tackles (63). A Philadelphia native, Carter moved from linebacker to defensive end this season under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. He has 22 career sacks, 37.5 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 13 passes defended.
Penn State players are off Saturday before returning to practice Sunday.
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman says his team has to “expedite the preparation” with fewer days than Penn State to get ready for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
During a news conference Saturday in South Bend, Indiana, Freeman was asked about the challenges presented after the team’s quarterfinal game against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl was delayed one day following a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans.
The Irish beat the Bulldogs 23-10 on Thursday, while Penn State beat Boise State 31-14 in its quarterfinal game Tuesday.
Freeman pointed out that his team came out of the Georgia game relatively healthy and is proceeding as if this is a normal game week. Notre Dame’s only significant injury was suffered by backup tight end Cooper Flanagan, who sustained a foot injury that will keep him out of the rest of the playoffs.
“How you handle the unpredictable things in life will determine the success, and so the greatest thing about this week is it’s just a normal game week,” Freeman said. “Now what we’ve got to do is utilize the time. We have to expedite the preparation because what you miss in terms of not having those couple days is the mental preparation of knowing exactly what to do. We’ve got to make sure we utilize every hour of the day to capitalize off of the preparation. For us, this is just game week.”
Freeman has led the Irish to the semifinals after a Week 2 loss at Northern Illinois that could have derailed the season. Instead, they treated every week like a playoff game and are now on the brink of playing for a national championship.
As a result, there is far more noise surrounding the program heading into the semifinal, something Freeman acknowledged. But he also knows it is important not to deviate from what got the Irish to this moment.
“I think it’s human nature to enjoy people saying good things about you,” Franklin said. “It’s human nature. But we’ve talked all year about being misfits. That’s what we have to continue to be. You have to make the choice to either waste time listening to people tell you how good you are or you’re going to put your time into preparing for this opportunity right in front of us. That’s been my message loud and clear, and we all have to make that choice.”
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