Can Notre Dame bounce back in week three after NIU upset?
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Marcus Freeman says team will work on "handling success" after disappointing loss to Northern Illinois.
It's been 48 hours since the shocking loss to the Huskies and everyone's wondering what happened to the Irish. The team expected to go undefeated due to strength of schedule.
"Everybody says, Hey, you're going to the playoffs. You got an easy schedule. We all hear it and I think we started to believe that. And there is a physical approach to preparing for a game, and I think physically we prepared the right way, but there's also a mental approach and a mindset that you have to have every single week, Freeman said.
The expectations were there, as the Irish ranked seventh in the country going into week one and after a road win over Texas A&M, the expectations only got higher, as Notre Dame ranked fifth in the AP top 25. After the loss, Notre Dame falls to 18th.
"The biggest thing I've been reflecting on in the past 48 hours is, I think we have to learn how to handle success. That to me, is really what spoke to me, watching the film, but really thinking about it. You know, this is the first time in my three years as a head coach that we have won the big game early in the season," Freeman added.
Part of handling the success includes coaches putting players in the best situations to be successful. Starting with quarterback Riley Leonard. The transfer went 20-32 for 163 passing yards, 16 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown. It looked a lot worse on the field against NIU and there are questions on whether or not Freeman and his staff thought about benching Leonard for Steve Angeli.
"There was no consideration of that. We had a lot of belief in Riley and him running our offense and, you know, we got a lot of belief in Steve too, right? That's not a shot at Steve," Freeman said.
However, he was pretty honest in what Leonard needs to improve on.
"The other thing is, sometimes quarterbacks being in a red jersey gives them a little bit of false sense of security. And we got to continue to work on our footwork at the quarterback position, step up in the pocket and believe that you have more time you know than maybe you perceive with an edge rush, and that's where the red jersey sometimes creates a little bit of bad habits," Freeman added.
Fortunately for Leonard and the offense, the blame can be placed on the defense too. Considering they're the cornerstone to this team, the expectations are higher from fans. Overall, the team can't win if you lose major statistical categories.
"Turnover margin, we lost 2-0. Explosive gains, they had six for 186 yards, we had five for 94. Time of possession they had 35 plus minutes, we had 24. Rushing yards, they had 190 and we had 123, and then they won the third down battle. So no matter who your opponent is, if you lose all those key areas, you're not going to win the game. The question in the past 48 hours, a challenge for everybody in our programs to figure out why, why those things happen," Freeman mentioned.