Irish ‘return to work,’ rebound with win vs

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterOct 15, 2023, 01:02 AM ET

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  • College football reporter.
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.SOUTH BEND, Ind.–

After trading locations at the podium with coach Marcus Freeman late Saturday night, Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman paused as a chant began near the main stadium tunnel.”We like Marcus! We enjoy Marcus!””Me too, “Hartman said with a smile.The week had not

begun with an outpouring of support for

Freeman, the second-year coach whose team had actually dropped two of 3 games to basically fall out of the College Football Playoff race. A 33-20 loss at Louisville, not long after a heartbreaking home defeat to Ohio State, had stirred some doubt about the 37-year-old Freeman and Notre Dame’s direction.The week ended in decidedly various and dominating style, as No. 21 Notre Dame clobbered No. 10 USC 48-20, the Fighting Irish’s most uneven win against a top-10 challenger since beating USC by the exact same margin in 1995. Notre Dame scored on offense, defense and unique teams to finish with its most points versus an AP top-10 challenger given that piling up 54 against No. 9 Boston College in 1992.”Difficulty becomes part of life,”Freeman said.”I informed our guys … I wish to be an anti-fragile program. I told them this on Monday.

What does that indicate? We just didn’t make it through it, through difficulty. We are much better due to the fact that of the adversity we dealt with. That’s simple to state. The difficulty is do the important things that it takes to ensure we’re much better, which’s what these coaches and players did.”Editor’s Picks 2 Related Notre Dame’s defense did things not done before versus USC quarterback Caleb Williams and the country’s No. 1 scoring offense getting in Saturday’s game(

at 51.8 points per age). The Irish became the first team to intercept Williams 3 times, and they did so in the very first half. Led by safety Xavier Watts, who had two choices, a forced fumble and a 15-yard scoop and rating in the closing minutes, Notre Dame had a 5-0 edge in turnovers, tied for the fourth-best turnover margin against an AP top-10 team in the previous 20 seasons.The Irish registered 6 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 3 quarterback hurries, frustrating USC’s offensive line and regularly putting Williams on his heels. They likewise ended up being the first team in the previous 20 seasons to record five takeaways and a special groups touchdown– on Jadarian Cost’s 99-yard kick return in the 4th quarter– versus an AP top-10 opponent.Hartman joked afterward that he merely”threw the ball a couple times”and would purchase defensive organizer Al Golden”another Ferrari.”” The mindset, the work, the preparation, all just aligned completely, and it’s a credit to our head coach,”

said Hartman, who had two touchdown passes, consisting of a 46-yarder to Chris Tyree in the 3rd quarter after USC had actually finally reached completion zone.”

Monday night, we remain in there and guys are beat up and we’re all sort of like,’Shoot, we have actually got to go.’And something we said all week was,’What better opportunity to have USC come play?'”It’s a minute that I’ll never forget.”Notre Dame ended up with 28 points off of turnovers. Watts became the very first player to record two interceptions, a forced fumble and protective goal given that Ohio State protective end JT Tuimoloau did so versus Penn State in 2022.”It’s simply insane, something you never ever really

pictured,” Watts stated.”I was out there simply playing, attempting to have a good time, trying to do my task, and it wound up occurring.”After tightly objected to games against Ohio State, Duke and, for three quarters, Louisville, Notre Dame led by 11 points or more for the last 34:14 on Saturday. The Irish had only one drive longer than 50 backyards and transformed just 3 of 10 third-down plays, however they scored on all five of their red zone chances.Freeman said he challenged his training personnel to not focus on what took place at Louisville however why it took place. They had”tough conversations,” reassessed what they were carrying out in practice and eventually simplified their approach to get rid of confusion.”Weeks that you lose are really long, specifically around here,”Freeman said. “The expectation is that you win every game you play. I know the hours are the very same, but the weeks that you win appear to go by actually fast and the next chance is here. But it is what it is. You have to pick your head up and go back to work.”