SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The head coach credited the captains for setting the tone and a captain credited an assistant coach for doing the same. As much as Notre Dame’s 52-3 demolition of Florida State is what winning looks like, Saturday night was also what winning sounds like.
Marcus Freeman had his usual talking points about “individual glory” and “full potential” and “gravitational pull,” all coaching aphorisms that have turned into background music during Notre Dame’s march to the College Football Playoff. It all sounds as predictable as the Notre Dame band playing Bon Jovi at halftime. You know what you’re getting from Notre Dame football now. You know what you’re going to hear, too.
Still, the postgame give-and-take between Freeman and Rylie Mills was worth remembering on a night that felt more like a party than a football game. If good teams are led by their coach and great teams are led by their players, maybe Notre Dame moved closer to great on Saturday.
All week, Freeman tried to hammer home the importance of not viewing Florida State as a punch line. Turns out the head coach got help from Notre Dame’s captains on Monday when they demanded the roster not look at the season’s final four games as a group and instead focus only on the next four quarters.
Message delivered. Message received.
“I think it’s an understanding that you don’t get better doing the same thing you have previously done,” Freeman said. “That’s what I drive home to our players, but also to our captains. We can’t go out and just reciprocate next week what we did this week, right. Our natural gravitational pull is going to make you worse.”
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Minutes later, Mills, coming off a career-high three sacks, credited running backs coach Deland McCullough for something similar, setting a tone that resonated around the roster during a week when messages could fall on deaf ears. McCullough sold Florida State as a rivalry game, despite little modern evidence to support the position. The Irish roster seemed to buy in anyway, which is how a major conference program goes on the road and loses by seven touchdowns.
“You can see the talent they have. They’re a good team. They have really good players,” Mills said. “Unfortunately for them, you see a lot of times where a guy can’t make a big catch, a guy misses a tackle, just those little things they seem a step away from. They’re a really good team.
“Our thought is we’ve got to beat them on Tuesday and Wednesday before we even get to the game.”
Calling Florida State a “good team” is such a charitable reading of the 1-9 Seminoles that it’s tax deductible. The Irish didn’t need to get out of third gear to make Florida State look like Purdue with better weather. It was the kind of game where Notre Dame had to work to not run up the score. And all that is fine. The Irish don’t need to apologize for putting the Seminoles out of their misery, which was compounded by the Notre Dame Stadium crowd doing the Tomahawk Chop during the fourth quarter.
Jadarian Price and Notre Dame outgained FSU 453-208. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
The entire night felt like a big game without a big opponent, Notre Dame Stadium trying to make the scene feel grand even if the visiting team couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain. It meant there were no big takeaways on Saturday night, no unifying theories about Notre Dame football and its place in the CFP chase.
The Irish are good. But we knew that already.
“We’ve got a mature group,” Freeman said. “We’ve got a bunch of seniors that are continuing to lead this group in the right way, and I truly believe in my heart, Saturday is a reflection of preparation, and they are preparing the right way. They have the right mentality, and they are really going out and playing well.”
But it’s not like Notre Dame (8-1) didn’t get better on the margins.
Mitchell Evans looked like last year’s version of a standout tight end, which could be significant now that he’s more than a year removed from that torn ACL. Jadarian Price hitting the hole instead of trying to break everything to the perimeter looked devastating. Jaden Greathouse playing like a receiver the staff thought might be a WR1 matters. And Mills producing like a future NFL defensive tackle instead of simply looking like one could be critical down the stretch with Howard Cross III sidelined by an ankle sprain
That’s where Notre Dame football is as it charges deeper into November, chasing small-picture improvements even as the sport focuses on the CFP — who’s in, who’s out and who hosts. The Irish are good enough to make it (92 percent chance, according to The Athletic’s model) and good enough to host inside Notre Dame Stadium next month (67 percent), which is probably why Freeman caught himself when talking about next weekend’s home finale against Virginia. Because it probably won’t be the last time the Irish play here.
“We know we’ve got one more opportunity … a guaranteed opportunity … in this stadium,” Freeman said. “So we’ll celebrate tonight and get back tomorrow and start preparing for Virginia.”
Freeman spoke to reporters for barely seven minutes postgame, an unofficial record for brevity. There were star recruits to sway, anyhow, as Notre Dame looks to flip four-star receiver Derek Meadows from LSU and four-star defensive lineman Jalen Wiggins from Florida. Those SEC programs lost by a combined score of 91-30, with one coach getting a vote of confidence last week and the other perhaps needing one these days.
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Meanwhile, Freeman seems to have Notre Dame exactly where he wants it, getting better by the week even if the gains get smaller and smaller at the top. A season of wild swings now feels steady, from the head coach on down. The players are buying what the head coach is selling. They’re even making their own pitches. It’s all turned the Irish into more of a predictable production every Saturday, which has been harder to do than it sounds.
When the next CFP rankings come out Tuesday, No. 10 Notre Dame should hold, maybe moving up a spot or dropping one. The Irish don’t need to sweat that stuff. They’re a control in a sport that runs on variables. And that means when Notre Dame crosses the finish line in three weeks inside the Los Angeles Coliseum, it should be in position for a top-eight seed and a home Playoff game.
If winning is a skill, Notre Dame is mastering it on national television.
The whole thing looks good for Freeman. But it’s sounding even better.
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
