(Photo: Joe Weiser/Fighting Irish Preview)
Marcus Freeman has won some big football games at Notre Dame. He knocked off No. 4 Clemson in 2022, beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Penn State in the Orange Bowl on the way to the national championship game. But Saturday night’s 31-24 victory over No. 1 Miami was different. And he knew it.
With the roar of thousands of fans still celebrating on the field echoing through the walls of the postgame media room, Freeman struggled to put the moment into words.
“This is as good of a win as I’ve ever been a part of,” Freeman said, calling it one of the most special moments of his tenure as Notre Dame’s head coach.
He wasn’t exaggerating. As enormous as this victory was for Notre Dame’s season, the consequences of losing might have been even greater.
Think about what was at stake. Notre Dame arguably has the most talented collection of football players in the country. Jordan Faison, Boubacar Traore, Drayk Bowen, Adon Shuler, Leonard Moore — and that’s just scratching the surface. A roster loaded with future NFL players, assembled to compete for a national championship. Yet another loss, especially with the Irish already sitting at an inexplicable No. 11 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, would have put their postseason hopes on life support.
For the second straight year, a team with national championship talent could have been watching the playoffs instead of playing in them. And here’s the part that makes Saturday night so important: This team isn’t going to be together forever. Several of those stars could be playing their final season in an Irish uniform. For some, this might be their last realistic opportunity to win a national championship at Notre Dame.
And then there’s CJ Carr.
The young man is an exceptional quarterback, perhaps one of the best Notre Dame has had in years. He has all the tools to play on Sundays someday. But opportunities to build a lasting legacy at Notre Dame aren’t unlimited, even for quarterbacks as gifted as Carr.
Imagine how his Notre Dame career might eventually have been remembered had the Irish lost Saturday night and missed the playoffs. Terrific talent. Great numbers. No playoff appearances. No signature victories. Fair? Maybe not. But that’s how legacies are written in college football.
Carr offered a revealing glimpse of just how far he’s come. Speaking with his father in the days leading up to the Miami game, the two reflected on Carr’s first collegiate start against the Hurricanes a year ago. His father told him that when he watched the tape of that game, he saw a boy playing quarterback. Saturday night, there was a grown man running the Notre Dame offense.
And what a performance it was. Carr completed 29 of 40 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns, including a critical 36-yard fourth-down completion to Nolan James Jr. that set up Notre Dame’s final touchdown. When Miami threatened to steal the night, Luke Talich and a battered Irish defense refused to let it happen.
And here’s another measure of just how significant Carr’s performance was: By Sunday morning, he had become the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. A week earlier, his odds were 12-to-1. Following Saturday night’s performance, they had improved to little better than even money. That’s quite a transformation in seven days.
Afterward, Carr was in no hurry to leave the field. He wanted to celebrate with his teammates and the thousands of Notre Dame fans who had waited so long for a night like this. “Dude, let me go celebrate this sucker,” he said, recalling his reaction to being summoned for postgame interviews.
Freeman understood the feeling. He admitted he wished time could stand still, knowing Sunday morning would bring another opponent, another challenge and another week of work.
Notre Dame didn’t win a national championship against Miami. It didn’t even clinch a playoff berth. What it did was preserve the opportunity to do both.
For Marcus Freeman, CJ Carr and a remarkable collection of talent that may never be assembled quite like this again, Saturday night was more than a great victory.
It was a season-saving win. And quite possibly, a legacy-saving one.