Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman met with the media on Sunday afternoon after it was revealed his team would face Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Freeman took questions soon after the CFP bracket was announced, so he did not have much of a chance to begin preparing for IU. Below are his specific comments about the Hoosiers.
Indiana (11-1) and Notre Dame (11-1) play on Friday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET in South Bend.
See also: IU football opponent preview: Notre Dame key stats and figures
INITIAL THOUGHTS ON INDIANA
” Really good opponent. We haven’t been able to study much on them yet — just briefly started looking at them — but obviously to go 11-1 and done a great job in the Big 10 and as a program this year,” Freeman said.
ON IU COACH CURT CIGNETTI
“I mean, coach [Curt Cignetti] has done a wonderful job to take this program to win 11 games in a Big 10 season,” he said. “And to have this team ready to make a run in the playoffs, it’s a credit to coach. I didn’t know much about him. I took a minute and Googled him and looked at some of the things he’s done in the past at his other places. I mean, he’s won everywhere he’s been. So, he’s done a great job, and we expect a great opponent. I’ve just briefly started looking at them.”
ON INDIANA ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
“They’re a talented team that really takes care of the football. They play complementary football,” Freeman said. “Their defense is a pressure/attacking defense that really makes you earn everything you get. And the offense has done a good job taking care of the football, being consistent at what they do and [has] done some really good things in the red zone. So, that’s just my initial look at them. Obviously, we have a few days to really take a deep dive and figure out a plan of attack as we get ready for a Friday game.”
ON INDIANA’S PASSING ATTACK AFTER JUST PLAYING USC
“USC was a really good offense. It did some good things in the passing game, made some plays,” Freeman said. “I think our guys are able to look at that game and see where some of our mistakes were and some of that you have to take your hat off to that opponent and to those players and that team. But our guys will be ready to go. The stats show that this offense has done a really good job at the passing game and a passing attack, and so it’ll be a great opportunity for us to come up with a good plan and go compete on Friday.”
ON PLAYING ANOTHER TEAM FROM THE STATE OF INDIANA
“Shoot, man, if we could have chosen, I think you would want a team that maybe comes from 80-degree weather,” Freeman said. But, listen, we’ll have a home-field advantage just because of the first ever playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. And our crowd is going to be crazy. I can’t wait for it. The weather obviously isn’t going to give us a huge advantage with them not being too far south from here, but what a great storyline, what a great opportunity it’s going to be to have two in-state teams playing each other in the first playoff game on a campus. And it’s going to be an exciting time and a great game.”
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