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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman did not mince words after his eighth-ranked team suffered a 41-40 loss to No. 16 Texas A&M on Saturday night in College Station.
Speaking to reporters for roughly 10 minutes, Freeman acknowledged the disappointment of an 0-2 start but emphasized improvement over panic.
“You gotta go to work and practice and get better. We’re 0-2. So what do you control? You control getting better and getting ready for the next one,” Freeman said. “I can’t sit here and dwell on being 0-2 as much as I need to dwell on how do we find ways to improve.”
The Irish led most of the contest, with running back Jeremiyah Love delivering 94 yards on the ground and adding 53 more as a receiver. Yet defensive breakdowns proved costly.
With only 13 seconds left, Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed connected with Nate Boerkircher for an 11-yard touchdown, and the extra point secured the one-point defeat.
Notre Dame’s defense gave up 488 total yards, including 360 passing yards on 17 completions from Reed and two touchdowns. Texas A&M added 128 rushing yards and three scores on 32 carries.
Freeman downplays postseason talk, focuses on next week
Asked about the long-term outlook, Freeman responded that postseason speculation matters little at this stage.
“Sure. We’ve got to focus on getting better for the next week. The future is uncertain. I don’t know what’s the playoff number. It doesn’t matter. We need to focus on getting better and getting ready for next week.”
The defensive issues were a recurring theme in his remarks.
“Probably multiple, different things,” Freeman said of the coverage lapses. “Early in the game, we were playing a little bit more zone and not getting enough pressure on the guy, and some guys were running free, made some big plays.”
Freeman dismissed the idea of changing play callers, stressing execution over scheme. Notre Dame will try to rebound at home Sept. 20 against Purdue at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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