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    What does Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman think?

    Mars Posted on

    SOUTH BEND — If Notre Dame football turns out to make the 12-team College Football Playoff in December, it would be a turning point.

    It also means not going back.

    Halftime is rarely a good time for head coach speeches. It’s about coming in, getting your bearings, then leaving for the second half. It was at halftime of last week’s home game against Stanford, on the locker room floor of Notre Dame Stadium, that Marcus Freeman decided the time was right, at that moment, to make a such declaration.

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    To raise the stakes for the rest of this game and the rest of this season. For the offense. For defense. For special teams. For the technical staff. For everyone associated with a program that for too many Saturdays this season, whether it was the big win at Texas A&M or the big home loss to Northern Illinois, has somehow been there .

    Not great. Not great. Alright.

    Freeman had had enough. I was tired of all that, so he said 12 words that didn’t exactly peel the paint off the old locker room walls (they’re cinder blocks), but 12 words that could take this season in a whole new direction for No. 1. 11 Notre Dame (5-1), winners of four straight games heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech (5-2) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (3:30 p.m., ESPN).

    I’m tired of being a good team; I want to be great; Freeman told the Irish at halftime.

    Like the rest of us, Freeman is tired of seeing the Irish offer glimpses of greatness. Do you see it? Right there! See? Ah, I missed it. Tired of watching an offense that showed signs of being a quality outfit, only to slip into another three and out. Tired of seeing the defense give up an early score, then flex their collective muscles and shut down – and often shut out – the opposition. Tired of special teams that aren’t special. Bad punt here. A penalty on a return there.

    Tired of waiting for the Irish to maximize all three phases for four quarters. Tired of leaving plays to be made – a throw, a catch, a run, a tackle, an out on the field.

    Tired of good, so be great.

    “I definitely agree with him on that, for sure,” receiver Beaux Collins said. “We all know that. It’s a bit like a team that feels like it has a little more left in the tank after each game.

    “It’s definitely on the table now.”

    Notre Dame does not currently sit at the same table as Texas or Oregon. These teams, as we sit here in mid-October, can be classified as large. Elite. National championship caliber. Another level that Notre Dame probably won’t reach, for a multitude of reasons.

    For now, maybe it will be these two programs, then everyone else. Notre-Dame has company at the good table. Alabama is here. Georgia is here. Clemson. LSU (Ducks). Ohio State. Tennessee. Throw them all in one hat (one defeat).

    What does awesome look like? Is this trust? A feeling? A swagger that sweeps across the Gug every day of every week before and after every game?

    That’s something Notre Dame hasn’t been this season. Not even scoring 66 points at Purdue. Or after hanging 49 unanswered against Stanford. Not after limiting Miami (Ohio) and Stanford to a combined 10 points.

    What’s great?

    “It’s just understanding that this football team can do more,” Freeman said. “Everyone’s definition of “great” may be different, but it’s a challenge for us as a program to step up and take the next step to ensure we perform to our full potential. »

    Whatever the appearance of greatness, whatever the appearance, these Irish people followed the collective path of good. They are tired of winning double-digit games over the seasons but playing in another bowl. I’m tired of hearing how many years (cough, cough, 36 years, cough, cough) have passed since the last national championship victory. Tired of watching others across the country become great while they’re stuck doing good.

    “We’ve had great teams in the past, great players, but I think it’s time for this program to take the next step,” receiver Jayden Thomas said. “We all expect and demand it from each of us through practice in meetings. Everyone in the establishment.

    “Winning pétanque matches is not the culture. It’s winning national championships.

    Why now? Why talk about being awesome in mid-October? Notre Dame hadn’t accumulated enough equity by September, even after its win at Texas A&M, for Freeman to talk about it. The loss to Northern Illinois erased that entire notion. The Irish weren’t even good that day, so forget about the good ones.

    Winners of four straight games and slowly re-entering the national landscape, Freeman and the Irish want more. They want to show more. They want to do more. They want to be more.

    They want to take this path.

    “We have to continue to recognize that we can play better,” Freeman said. “There are plays all over the film that we can perform at a higher level. We need to get back to work and really understand how good this group can be.

    Asked Monday about the Irish offense, Freeman responded with three sentences that could very well relate to the entire team in the final six games of the regular season.

    “There’s another level.”

    “There’s more.”

    “They will get the job done.”

    There is general agreement on this point.

    “The question is not when it will happen,” Thomas said.

    Great wait. It is time for Notre Dame to go.

    Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI

    Mars
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