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SOUTH BEND — How did that happen?
How did the No. 3 Notre Dame football team find its way back from oblivion — and the most embarrassing loss this season in Division I — to reach the first 12-team College Football Playoff?
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The obvious answer is the Irish won their final 10 games. Even then, much talk surrounded the wins — and the losses — for Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference teams. Notre Dame hid in plain sight, got better and won.
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Following are five reasons why/how Notre Dame (11-1) earned the No. 7 seed in the CFP and will play host to No. 10 Indiana (11-1) on Friday (8 p.m., ESPN/ABC).
Marcus Freeman became a better head coach in having to navigate Notre Dame to 10 wins over the final 10 games of the regular season.
Marcus Freeman found his footing as Notre Dame football’s head coach
Not long after the shock of losing at home to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7 wore off, the company line from Irish faithful was, hey, there’s plenty of time to get back into the CFP picture. Notre Dame would be fine.
Would it? Faith that Notre Dame was OK was less than zero because Freeman had yet to prove he could keep another baffling loss from surfacing. For every Marshall, there was Stanford. For every Louisville, a Clemson. For NIU, there would be …
Following the NIU loss, Freeman’s focus narrowed. He’d arrive at Monday pressers with the look of someone who was just told he was no good, that his team was no good, that this season would go nowhere. There was a different resolve. It was part determination, part desperation. That loss hardened him.
Notre Dame went 11-1 because Freeman became a better head coach. A better leader. He…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/five-reasons-notre-dame-football-090138859.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2024-12-14 09:01:00
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