Over the course of this past week, a lot of things have been said about the rivalry between Notre Dame and Boston College. Perhaps the most common things said about the rivalry — is that it’s not a real
rivalry. Irish fans have always been a little selective when using that term as opposed to other schools around the country, and for good reason… there are just too many ND games that use the word.
But that doesn’t make Marcus Freeman shy about his usage. In fact, on his Thursday Zoom call, Freeman said he and Notre Dame have embraced the Holy War rivalry.
“Yeah, the Holy War. Coach Wash has really educated myself and the team on what the view was when he was at Boston College.
“The one thing that’s unique about this rivalry is it’s not played every year, and that’s probably why it’s not talked about enough. But there’s history, it’s a great opportunity and a great challenge.
“And so we’re embracing the Holy War, we’re embracing this rivalry. And as much as it is for us, the opportunity to achieve team glory together. And that’s represented by winning this game and the trophy. And so it’s definitely important to this football program and this university.”
I’m not sure if that statement will change the minds of any Notre Dame fan that believes otherwise, but it really doesn’t matter. What’s important is if the team views this game as something more special than the #12 school taking on a one win school. Is Notre Dame taking this game serious? I believe the answer is “yes” and that’s a good thing.
For much of the Zoom call Freeman was asked questions about the younger players and how he makes sure they get in during a “blowout” game. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with those types of questions, they do suggest a lack of focus if answered the wrong way.
Fortunately, Marcus Freeman gave a great answer which kind of shows how serious the Irish are when it comes to winning each game on deck.
“As far as playing young guys, that’s something you always aspire to do, right? If you’re in a situation where you can play some guys that haven’t got in-game experience, you want to be able to do that. But that’s a result of every play getting your job done. That’s a result of something that is uncertain in the future.”
“So it’s not a great answer to your question. It’s just that we don’t think about it, but yeah, we’d love that to happen. I love a lot of things to happen, right? I want to win, I want to play young guys, I want to be perfect. But wanting something and actually getting it done are two different things, and the focus has to be two different things.”
“We got to focus on preparing to get our jobs done these next couple of days. And if we do that consistently on Saturday, maybe we can get some other guys in there.”
By embracing the “rivalry” and keeping focused at the task at hand rather than figuring out ways to get a few extra things done, Notre Dame is doing what it’s supposed to do to help set itself up for a college football playoff berth.
This is exactly what should be done.
