Marcus Freeman feels Notre Dame can 'reach full potential' against Ohio State
When Marcus Freeman arrived at the "College GameDay" set prior to Notre Dame's primetime matchup against Ohio State, he marveled at his surroundings.
"We're going to embrace this atmosphere because not every Saturday is like this in South Bend," Freeman said.
Notre Dame faced Ohio State in Freeman's first game as the Fighting Irish's full-time head coach, losing to the Buckeyes 21-10 to begin the 2022 season. To Freeman, who played linebacker for Ohio State from 2004-08, there was a "lot of distractions" in that game, distractions that he said are not there in this Week 5 matchup.
"For me to go fast forward a year to Week 5 for us, the experience, there's no substitute for it," Freeman said.
Notre Dame has won its last seven games inside Notre Dame Stadium, last falling to Stanford Oct. 16, 2022.
In the days leading up to Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, Freeman said he encouraged his players to "turn down the noise" and "focus on the things that matter."
"This is a special team," Freeman said. "And it starts with a special coaching staff. We have a high ceiling of potential. As I'm telling our guys all the time, this is about us reaching our full potential. There's many different ways that we have to make sure we execute to do that, but this really is about us and it's about what we do and can this group reach its full potential against a great opponent tonight at 7:30?"
Ohio State will kick off against Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Marcus Freeman feels ND can 'reach full potential vs. OSU
