Irish Breakdown

Marcus Freeman Takes a Stand on College Football Controversy

It wouldn't seem that Notre Dame will be planting its flag on an opponent's field anytime soon
Nick Shepkowski|
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman during a game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman during a game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Rivalry week capped the college football regular season the last weekend of November and with it came plenty of controversy as seemingly every game you turned on ended with a team flag being flown in the middle of the rival's field.

Alright, perhaps that's an exaggeration but Michigan did so after upsetting Ohio State, Florida did the same on Florida State's field, and Arizona State planted the Sun Devil mascot's spear on Arizona's midfield logo. All three occurances were met with fights and regrettable scenes for college football.

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman on Flag-Planting

One rivalry game you didn't see the winning road team plant a flag on the 50-yard line of was when Notre Dame won at USC.

Marcus Freeman was a guest on former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III's podcast this week and was asked his thoughts on the whole flag-planting saga that has erupted across college football.

Freeman admitted he wouldn't be too keen on an opponent planting their flag in the middle of Notre Dame Stadium, but made it clear that his message to his team is to do their celebrating elsewhere.

"Let's get our butts in the locker room and celebrate team glory together" said Freeman, "Let's go in the locker room and spend that time together and celebrate in a way we need to."

"You put so much work into this thing," Freeman added, "It's a bad look for college football, you don't want people looking saying 'well, that's how college football players act, they're fighting each other after the game, that's not what this is about."

"It's a physical, violent game, but I like to say it's a beautiful game."

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Take:

Sure, the theatre is undeniable when rivals like Ohio State and Michigan brawl after a hard-fought upset, but I was glad to see after Notre Dame ended USC's upset bid that the most controversial sight was a few Fighting Irish players who threw USC's "Victory V" hand signal down as they walked off the field.

And I struggle to reach and actually consider that controversial.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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