- Freeman said tackling breakdowns were mostly in the box, not in space.
- Notre Dame failed to start fast in either half against Miami.
- The Irish defense lacked four-man pass rush pressure.
- Freeman emphasized “clarity equals velocity” as a defensive mantra.
- Practice during the bye week targeted ball security, short-yardage execution, and finishing stronger.
Notre Dame’s season opener against Miami didn’t just end in disappointment — it exposed familiar flaws. Missed tackles, struggles in short-yardage situations, and sluggish starts to both halves haunted the Irish in a game that slipped away late. As Marcus Freeman addressed the media following the early bye week, he laid out in detail what went wrong, how it was addressed in practice, and why he believes the fixes are already taking root.
Tackling Troubles
Freeman was direct about where Notre Dame’s tackling issues showed up.
“Most of our missed tackles probably weren’t in space. They were more in the box and the ability to make sure we’re driving our feet, we’re wrapping up,” Freeman explained. “We can’t go live tackling just for the safety of our team, but we have to be intentional about finding ways to tackle. And then when you thud, you got to thud, right? And thuding means you stop the ball carrier’s feet. That doesn’t mean you take them to the ground, but you got to stop their momentum before you let them go.”
The Irish spent the bye week focusing on those details in practice, knowing that correcting such fundamental mistakes will decide games against physical opponents.
PFF credited Notre Dame with 12 missed tackles in the loss to Miami, with captain Drayk Bowen leading the team with four. Karson Hobbs added three, and another two from Adon Shuler.
“I think Drayk would be the first one to say that he didn’t perform at the level he has for himself,” Freeman said of the junior linebacker. “Drayk has been a guy that has constantly improved from the minute he stepped on campus till now. He is really good, and he’s improved tremendously. It helps with having a guy like JD Bertrand to learn from and Jack Kaiser and he’s the leader. He’s a captain. He’s the vocal leader. He’s always going to want to play better. That’s who he is. He is a perfectionist. And he will because he works tirelessly at it.
Starting Faster, Playing Longer
Slow starts to both halves were a recurring theme in Miami. Freeman acknowledged it bluntly.
“Really starting fast out of each half, right? The first half starting fast, we didn’t start fast. And in the second half, coming out of the locker room, we didn’t start fast,” he said. “Starting fast is I think a general term but I mean what’s how do you change that is you are the focus and intention is where it needs to be on that play at that given moment and the execution will follow.”
Freeman also noted Notre Dame’s inability to finish the game with the necessary execution.
“You really look at the last drive of the game and defensively and offensively. We couldn’t get the stop defensively that we needed. We let them into field goal range. There was a couple times where they were displacing some of our guys, we were missing tackles. It’s not a lack of effort, right? It was just a lack of execution, but also credit to them in terms of those guys played extremely hard and they finished the game better than we did.”
Pressure and Clarity on Defense
Another glaring issue was Notre Dame’s lack of pass rush with its front four.
“I’ve always said we got to be able to get four-man pass rush pressure on the quarterback,” Freeman said. “We all know we didn’t get enough four-man pressure on the quarterback last week, and credit to him. He got the ball out of his hands. He’s a great quarterback. But that can’t be an excuse for us.”
Freeman stressed that better clarity in assignments would lead to faster, more aggressive play.
“This maybe builds on that like you say clarity equals velocity. Was there enough clarity on defense?” Freeman asked. “There were a couple plays that we probably were paralyzed a little bit based on what they were doing offensively. They did a little bit different stuff on third down we hadn’t seen, and we have to be able to make adjustments. I believe there’s clarity.”
“There wasn’t a lot of situations where our guys didn’t know what they were doing,” Freeman said. “It was, okay, you’re supposed to be in this gap and we got to make sure we stay in our gaps. And that’s at all three levels. You’re got to fit here.”
What It Means
Freeman’s diagnosis was clear: Notre Dame’s problems weren’t about effort, but about details. Tackling, gap discipline, situational execution, and the ability to start fast and finish stronger must improve immediately. The bye week gave the Irish extra time to hammer those points home in practice.
Against Texas A&M, a team Freeman described as “tough, physical, and they won’t beat themselves,” Notre Dame will find out quickly if the fixes have taken hold.
