Freeman, players celebrate BYU win, look ahead to Stanford at home

 

While Notre Dame earned a much-needed win over then-16th-ranked BYU in Las Vegas, beating the Cougars 28-20, the Irish performance was far from perfect.

Head Coach Marcus Freeman praised his team in Monday's press conference but was also realistic about where they need to improve.

Freeman says he never lost confidence in the Irish but he never relaxed until the final whistle.

"My feeling and their feelings might have been different," said Coach Freeman. "I don't think the offense at any point over the headset, just being on the field, lost confidence in being able to continue to execute."

"Defensively, I know there was some frustrations in terms of the two touchdowns in the third or fourth quarter," he said. "Then I challenged them and they challenged each other. I don't feel good until the game is over especially if it's a five-point game or an eight-point game. I'm holding my breath at times. But I think the players confidence is a lot higher than mine. That's just the reality of it."

While Notre Dame improves to 3 -2 for the season, quarterback Drew Pyne is now 3-0 behind center.

Freeman says the offense is coming together and helping give Pyne even more confidence as he continues to improve.

"I've always said it, man, quarterbacks will get praise and take blame for maybe certain areas that they don't have to," said Freeman. "It's good to see some guys making him look good and him making some plays."

"I don't really worry about the stats. I just worry about winning," said Pyne. "I have no clue how many-- I can't tell you ballpark how many yards I threw. For me, having such a great O-line and being able to find Mike [Mayer] a couple times today was unbelievable in big moments, and it adds so much to our offense."

Pyne made the Davey O'Brien's Great 8's list for Best Quarterback Performance of the Week, completing 22-F-28 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns with one interception. 

Freeman says the Irish are done celebrating the BYU win, they didn't arrive in South Bend until 6 a.m. Sunday morning, so the team took Sunday off and were back at practice on Monday.

The party is over and it's back to work, just like the rest of us.

The Irish hosts Stanford under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.