Notre Dame is prepping to travel to New England to take on the Boston College Eagles in game eight of the Fighting Irish football season. Notre Dame has this one game to make a loud example of itself before
the initial college football rankings come out. So — hearing Marcus Freeman talk about struggling raises an eyebrow just a bit.
“Yeah, again, as I reflect on last season, there’s parts of that season, there’s lessons from that season that we have to use, I always said as the foundation, but things we remember as we’re in the position we’re in. But again, you don’t want to use it as a crutch. You don’t want to use, ‘Because we did this last year, it’s just going to happen this year.’ It’s the work we got to put in. But again, every week matters, right? Every week matters. And this opportunity we have right in front of us is all we have to be concerned about.”
“But as I think about where we are, the lessons that you learn from struggling, and that’s not always just the outcome of the game, right?”
“There’s lessons from losing, but there’s also lessons in the struggle that we have to continue to utilize to get better, right? The struggle is there for a reason. And if we can continue to struggle in practice, if we can continue to overcome struggles in games, we’re going to be stronger and better because of it.”
“And that’s the ultimate goal, is continue to find ways to elevate, right? If we continue to do that, that’ll take care of the outcome of a game. It’s not, let’s just win the game. It’s how do we continue to improve so that we get the desired outcome that we want.”
But he’s absolutely right.
They can’t use last year as a crutch — but we can.
Every week does matter, and we learned this lesson for all time last season. Maybe this is the best version of Marcus Freeman and his Notre Dame football program when their backs are up against the wall. The struggle keeps the lessons fresh, and the vision clear.
After the NIU loss last season, Notre Dame won 10 straight games, and essentially clobbered almost all of its opponents into submission. That left a lasting impression on the committee, and they rewarded Notre Dame with a final ranking that put a playoff game in South Bend. The Irish then went on to win three playoff games to get to the national championship.
No one thought that was possible after NIU. It’s that remarkable run that could still have an effect this season. Notre Dame has done exactly what they have needed to do since 0-2, but the struggle still remains. The struggle is that they have to keep doing to opponents what is expected of them. This week it’s a game on the road in which the Irish are favored by more than four touchdowns. It’s a real challenge, but to make another run this season, it’s a challenge they have to overcome.
Despite what any fan or pundit says, the struggle is real and the Irish have to keep fighting.
