"It wasn't the physical": Marcus Freeman reflects on coping with bitter loss to Northern Illinois in 2024 

It was a close call for Marcus Freeman when Notre Dame made it to the national championship game last season and put on a fight against Ohio State in Atlanta. Although the Irish tried to create turnovers, Freeman and team crumbled against a mighty Buckeyes defense. But the Notre Dame coach has no regrets. He had learned a valuable lesson the hard way, never ever underestimate your opponents.

The young coach was recently speaking to Sports Illustrated’s senior insider Pat Forde, where he shared his team's strategy and his growth curve at Notre Dame ever since he assumed the office in 2021. He resonated with the invaluable lesson from last year.

Freeman claimed the Northern Illinois game will continue to strike him for the rest of his life. After a successful season opener and dominating the game, the Irish were confident to take down a low-priority opponent in Northern Illinois. But that ended in a terrible loss.

“You learn from the experiences. You learn from Northern Illinois that you weren't ready to handle success as a leader of this little hole,” Freeman said to Forde on Saturday. [Timestamp - 0:50]

“So you keep that wound for the rest of your life, that if you ever have a big win week one, and you know you're playing a team that most people would presume is a lesser opponent, and you should win, that's a week that you have to double down on the mental preparation.

"And it wasn't the physical, it's the mental preparation in terms of respecting your opponent that you have to double down on,” he added.

Marcus Freeman vows to bounce back in 2025

After Riley Leonard's exit to the NFL, Notre Dame will have a new starting QB in CJ Carr. While speaking to the reporters earlier this week, Freeman mentioned that Carr has a lot of intangibles that make him special compared to other QBs in the FBS. He has been quite terrific with the training and overall development of his skills.

The Irish will face ACC giant Miami Hurricanes on Sunday night. Freeman said Carr will have a lot of opportunities to prove himself, especially against a defensively strong Miami.

Mario Cristobal also has a new QB in Carson Beck, who will look to kick off the 2025 season with a win. It will be a clash of veteran talent and a young QB who is just making a career start for the program.