Notre Dame chokes on a Fiesta bowl, but Marcus Freeman isn’t to blame

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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Jaden Bray # 85 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys scores a touchdown after … [+] Jack Kiser # 24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter during the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 1, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto / Getty Images)

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The Boston University game.

Yes, that one.

He’s the one who (literally) kicked Notre-Dame out of the 1993 national championship in the most cruel way.

Twenty-nine years later, The Boston College Game still haunts Notre Dame football, whose brand nevertheless remains so strong that NBC will continue to pay the Irish $ 15 million a year until 2025 for the television rights to their. home games after doing so in the past 30 seasons.

That said, many members of the Fighting Irish Nation continue to rant on social media about Notre Dame, turning a 21-point lead Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. In the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State into a 37-point loss. 35. I get desperate, especially as someone bleeding blue and gold as a native of South Bend, Indiana, where the University of Notre Dame resides.

But there is something more unsettling for the Fighting Irish Nation to contemplate than Notre Dame’s biggest meltdown in a bowl game that coincided with Marcus Freeman’s coaching debut.

These brutal losses for the Irish are part of a three-decade epidemic.

It’s the biggest story here.

Most infamously, Notre Dame was rocked by a combined score of 61-17 against Clemson (2018) and Alabama (2021) in the college football playoffs respectively. There was also the national championship game after the Irish went unbeaten in the 2012 regular season, but Alabama couldn’t care less.

Notre Dame 14, Alabama 42.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – DECEMBER 19: Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence # 16 runs … [+] about to score a 34-yard touchdown in the third quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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The Irish won a double-overtime thriller at South Bend towards the end of the 202o regular season against Clemson, but the Tigers were without Trevor Lawrence, their starting quarterback and future NFL draft pick.

When Lawrence came back against Notre Dame in the ACC Championship game, Clemson earned a 34-10 victory.

In 2015, Notre Dame recorded four turnovers and eight abandoned passes in hurricane-like conditions in Clemson. Still, the Irish had a chance to force overtime in the dying seconds of regulation.

They botched their two-point conversion attempt.

The year before, Notre Dame threw a winning touchdown pass to Florida State’s No.2 in the dying seconds, but out of nowhere an official called pass interference on a Notre Dame receiver for having blocked a defender.

Do you remember the Bush-Push fiasco? It happened in 2005 at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Irish had the win in hand to upset No.1 Southern Cal in the home stretch. Instead, Reggie Bush changed that after his teammates pushed him over the goal line for the winning score.

It’s just to start.

So, for those of us who paid attention, it wasn’t shocking to see Notre Dame go from mighty to pathetic in a flash between the halves against Oklahoma State in Fiesta Bowl 2022.

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Head coach Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches … [+] before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 1, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall / Getty Images)

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This one needs perspective, however. Freeman was missing Notre Dame’s best offensive player (running back Kyren Williams, the owner of consecutive seasons rushing for 1,000 yards or more) and Notre Dame’s best defensive player (safety Kyle Hamilton, a pick of the Top 10 in most draft NFL sims). They both skipped the Fiesta Bowl to prepare for their professional careers.

It’s no coincidence that Notre Dame No.5 finished with just 42 rushing yards against the Oklahoma State No.9 third national defense. The Irish were fortunate enough to get even so many rushing yards as they started two real freshmen on the offensive line in the same game for the first time since the NCAA reinstated student eligibility from first year in 1972.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Majority of the Fighting Irish Nation are shouting about the following: Freeman and his team haven’t adapted to most of Oklahoma State’s adjustments in offense, defense and special teams . Without those adjustments, Notre Dame lost its 28-7 advantage late in the first half after Oklahoma State scored 30 straight points in a video game style.

Which brings me to more perspective: Even though Freeman inherited most of the Notre Dame staff left behind by former Irish coach Brian Kelly after leaving for LSU after the regular season, Freeman is only just one day into his fourth week as defensive coordinator. to the head of Notre-Dame. I think it takes over a month for a staff member of a large college football program to click enough with a new leader to form a system to accommodate the adjustments of a Top 10 program. at a New Year’s Day bowl game.

Mike Gundy just finished his 5 p.m. season at Oklahoma State, his alma mater, which means he’s spent nearly two decades adjusting to opponents’ adjustments with several of his current assistants.

Freeman did not have such luxury.

Not only that, but unlike Freeman, most major programs head football coaches are hired with enough time to spend the spring and summer preparing for their fall debut against many (many, many enemies). ) less than Oklahoma State.

Either way, Notre Dame just fell to 0-8 in the Bowl Championship Series or New Year’s Six games.

We’re back to the Boston College Game. This happened in South Bend on November 20, 1993. The week before I was there at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Irish No.2 held off Florida State No.1 in the last dramatic seconds. for a 31-24 victory to become the top ranked team in the country. All Notre Dame had to do in stride was manage a lower Boston College home group and then win their major bowl game on New Years Day for a second national title in five years.

Either way, Boston College scored the game-winning 41-yard goal with no time left for Touchdown Jesus. Notre Dame’s championship dreams returned to the state of Florida, leading the college football gods to convert the phrase “Irish luck” into a figment of the imagination of many.

I was also there several weeks after the Boston College Game on January 1, 1994 in Dallas, Texas, where Notre Dame defeated Texas A&M 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl. I had no idea in the days of the press gallery I witnessed the last time the Irish would win a major bowl game in the next 29 years.

And maybe forever.

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