Notre Dame football’s head coach Marcus Freeman met with the media on Monday afternoon, wrapping up the win over Michigan State and previewing another Big Ten opponent, Purdue.
The Irish didn’t see any change to its poll rankings, but did see some movement along the expert analysts with their College Football Playoff predictions after Week 3. Notre Dame is sitting firmly in the field, if it were to start today, at 3-0, is looking to complete September without a loss.
Freeman spoke on a number of different topics, from what he saw against the Spartans, to the challenges of facing the Boilermakers a second consecutive season. Find out below my biggest takeaways from Notre Dame’s head coach meeting with the media.
Good tough win, but areas to improve for Notre Dame
Freeman kicks things off by saying
there was a lot of good film to evaluate and many areas for the team to improve. There were chances to put the game away that the team didn't take advantage of, including the fake punt and a holding call.
— Irish Illustrated (@irishillustratd) September 21, 2026
Freeman noted it was a tough win for the Irish, but wasn’t happy about the way that the team could have finished the game earlier than it did. Sure, a 17-point win is a good result against a Big Ten team, but it was a learning experience for this team. Hard to disagree with Freeman’s comments, this game could have been a much easier one for Notre Dame, but they missed more than a few opportunities to do so.
Purdue is an ascending team, but Notre Dame will be ready
Freeman notes Purdue's new defensive coordinator and says that the staff has been able to see their schematic adjustments compared to last year.
— Irish Illustrated (@irishillustratd) September 21, 2026
Praises the Boilermakers running game and their WRs out of the slot.
The first true road test happens to be a rivalry game against yet another Big Ten opponent. This will be the third team this fall that the Irish have faced through four games, giving them an idea of what it would be like to be part of the conference. The probability of Notre Dame joining is small, but it does look like they’d be near the top it was to join. Purdue poses different challenges to the others, and it will take another good week of practice to knock off the Boilermakers.
Freeman wasn’t happy with his response to Aneyas Williams‘ penalty
Marcus Freeman says he went back and watched the Aneyas Williams celebration. Said he was "too choreographed" but Freeman said he watched his own reaction and "I didn't like it" because it was seen on television by everybody else. Freeman apologized to Williams afterward.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) September 21, 2026
After watching the film of the celebration that caused the penalty and his reaction, Freeman wasn’t happy with the way he responded. He doesn’t want outsides to see that, as they will make their own narrative and opinion of the relationship that the has with players. Freeman apologized to Williams for the way he reacted, as it’s not just the players having learning moments during games. He wants the players to have fun and celebrate, but doesn’t want them to hurt the team.
Notre Dame’s defensive line is great at reading the offense
Freeman: The defensive line is doing a good job of identifying protections and picking up on tells from the offense.
— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) September 21, 2026
The line has been doing a great job identifying protection packages, and they’re taking advantage of it. Freeman said they played excellent on Saturday, as they controlled the game. Anytime you can have an idea of what the offensive line is going to do, it gives the defensive line areas to exploit. He loves what Charlie Partridge has brought to this unit.
Notre Dame success defending the run is due to Chris Ash’s game plan
Freeman: It takes everyone to come up with different defensive schemes, coaches, analysts, etc. Everyone is excited to work on new things or come up with the game plan they feel is a winner.
— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) September 21, 2026
The Irish are having a ton of success stopping the run, and Freeman put a lot of credit on defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s game plan. It’s unique that the defense has been able to do this by varying fronts, blitz packages, and even running base defense to stop the run. It helps when you have an elite group of linebackers to help out the line.
New eligibility rules helping Notre Dame play freshman early
Freeman on freshmen used on special teams: "There's a lot of fundamentals that make you a successful special teams player that will carry over to offense or defense. The thing that helped us there is 5-for-5. We have talented freshmen. "
— Chuck Freeby Sports (@ChuckFreeby) September 21, 2026
There are a lot of freshman playing on special teams, which often sets them up for much more playing time down the line. Freeman wants to find ways to get some of his impressive freshman roles, and it has come with this unit. There are no long conversations about if they should hold players back to redshirt them, the Irish won’t hesitate to play anyone if they are ready and can do the job, regardless of class.
Notre Dame’s defense has helped offensive mindset
Watch LIVE as Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman speaks to the media in the Bob Hinton Media Room ahead of our road trip to Purdue.#GoIrish☘️ https://t.co/i9dX6h7J5a
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 21, 2026
When you are behind, you call it a bit differently as Freeman said, but constantly being in the lead, “it effect’s the mindset of how you call plays.” It’s a different way to coach when you are almost always in the lead, and it makes calling your offense much easier. Hopefully, this continues to be the way Notre Dame is handing its games.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Takeaways from Marcus Freeman wrapping up MSU, previewing Purdue
