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ATLANTA — Marcus Freeman peered behind the barricade outside the Notre Dame locker room, his eyes trained on a television screen screwed into a concrete wall in the bowels of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
On the screen, Ohio State coach Ryan Day was readying himself to hoist the national championship trophy after holding off a furious comeback by the Irish in a 34-23 win Monday night. Freeman’s gaze never changed as his alma mater celebrated, his eyes steady and jaw firm as he loosely palmed his chin, absorbing the moment.
There was not much else to do for Notre Dame’s head coach, other than watch.
“As I said to the guys in the locker room, there’s not many words to say when everybody is hurting,” Freeman said.
There will be plenty to ponder as to what went wrong for the Irish, who started the game with a perfect touchdown drive — the longest in College Football History — but repeatedly stubbed their toes the remainder of the first half as Ohio State gained control, utilizing their blazing speed at receiver and running back — along with a perfect 13-of-13 passing start by Will Howard — to pull ahead 31-7 early in the second half. Then, as they had all season, the pluck of the Irish stormed back, erasing a 24-point deficit midway through the third quarter to pull within a score late in the fourth.
This wasn’t a blowout. This wasn’t a massive mismatch. Twelve years ago, Notre Dame was out-muscled and out-classed by Alabama in a 42-14 demolition at the national championship. On Monday night, the Irish simply didn’t reach the hallmarks that had defined their season: forcing turnovers, executing mistake-free possessions and limiting big plays with a tough-as-nails defense.
By the time Notre Dame approached those touchstones early in the fourth…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/not-a-blowout-or-a-mismatch-plucky-notre-dame-more-than-belongs-but-beating-ohio-state-was-too-tall-a-task/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-01-21 08:33:00
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