Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman drops truth bomb on winning Navy turnover battle by 6
10/27/2024 01:42 PM
Since being stunned by Northern Illinois on September 7th, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have outscored their next six opponents by a total of 256 to 68. Marcus Freeman has made good on his promise that he and his team would get things back on track after a performance in which they failed to force a turnover and committed two of their own.
What looked like it would be Notre Dame’s toughest test since that game against Northern Illinois turned into a laugher on Saturday afternoon, as the Irish trounced the 24th-ranked and unbeaten Navy Midshipmen by the final score of 51-14. Sparking this victory was a defensive effort in which Notre Dame forced six Navy turnovers.
After the game, Marcus Freeman spoke about how winning the turnover battle was a key to victory for Notre Dame.
"That was a point of emphasis. This team is No. 2 in the country in turnover margin," Freeman said after the game, per the Associated Press. “To be plus-6 in turnovers is a straight reflection of complimentary football."
To be fair, most of these Navy turnovers were self-inflicted wounds, and Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath admitted as much after the game.
"When you look at almost every single turnover or fumble, it was something we did," Horvath said. “They almost didn't touch the ball. That is the most frustrating piece from our point. We wanted it really bad and we bit ourselves."
With that said, Notre Dame deserves credit for being the first to the ball, and for turning those six turnovers into 27 points.
Ranked 8th in Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff destiny is very much in their own hands, and until their season ends, they’ll continue to use that embarrassing home loss to Northern Illinois as fuel.
“We can’t lose the pain,” Freeman said after the game, per Heather Dinich of ESPN.com. “That’s what I want to make sure our guys understand. I don’t want to lose the pain from that game because at times we are motivated by fear. We don’t want this to repeat itself. We’ve got to use that.”
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