Within the first recreation of the brand new 12-team School Soccer Playoff format, Marcus Freeman led his Notre Dame crew to victory, taking down Indiana 27–17 on Friday. Although the rating ended with Notre Dame taking a 10-point win on the scoreboard, the Combating Irish took management of the sport early on. After quarterback Riley Leonard began a recreation with an interception, Notre Dame’s protection compelled an interception of Indiana Kurtis Rourke. The Combating Irish responded on their subsequent offensive possession with a 98-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love to say a 7–0 lead. From then on, Notre Dame held the lead.
Regardless of a powerful defeat of Indiana, Freeman was complimentary of Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti and his program.
“I informed Coach Cignetti after the sport I feel that’s a heck of a soccer crew we confronted that confirmed they would not give up,” Freeman informed reporters. “Some good instructing alternatives for us. We’ll use that fourth quarter defensively, special-teams smart, we have got to study from a few of these conditions that occurred in that recreation.”
Freeman beforehand revealed previous to the matchup that he googled Cignetti to learn more about his background earlier than the sport.
Freeman’s finding out clearly paid off. Dealing with a resurgent Indiana program that went 11–1 throughout the common season, the Combating Irish utterly stifled the Hoosiers’ offense and game-plan. Indiana got here into the sport ranked No. 2 in scoring offense and No. 2 in complete protection within the FBS. They averaged over 43 factors per recreation throughout the common season, however scored simply three factors till the ultimate two minutes of the sport.
As Freeman stated, Cignetti nonetheless deserves credit score for his program’s success this season. In simply his first season teaching a Energy 4 crew, Cignetti led Indiana to their first CFP look. He took them from a 3–9 report a 12 months in the past to a crew that received all however one common season recreation. Indiana was finally outclassed by Notre Dame, however they already made extra strides than many believed potential in a single season with this system.
