Marcus Freeman, Deion Sanders & Reacting to Dead Ball Penalties

While Notre Dame suffocated Michigan State by a 27-10 score Saturday night, that didn't feel like a contest for most of the second half, much of the discussion following the game went to an event that happened with 4:46 to play before halftime.

Running back Aneyas Williams fought with all his might to get in the end zone, and extend Notre Dame's lead to two touchdowns at the time.

After getting the touchdown call, he coordinated a celebration with teammates that looked like he was trying to start a faulty piece of lawncare equipment.

Whistle.

Flag.

15-yard penalty accessed on the kickoff.

And one very ticked off Marcus Freeman.

The extended version of Marcus Freeman’s reaction to Aneyas Williams’ unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the sideline exchange that followed… before Luke Talich pulled Williams away.

Freeman said he was disappointed in Williams’ celebration but apologized for his own reaction… pic.twitter.com/izsTEQVTxN
— Talia Baia (@taliaontv) September 21, 2026

The amount of times Freeman has reacted to anything like that during a game as Notre Dame's head coach are extremely few and far between.

When meeting the media on Monday, Freeman essentially stated that he wasn't proud of his reaction, even if the team has to be smarter about doing things that draw penalties. He also went on to say that he is "really proud of who he (Williams) is, the way he goes about his business".

Freeman went with the tough love at first and then focused on the more tender part of coaching in a situation like that.

The Notre Dame head coach might not have been proud of his reaction, but it was certainly a coaching point that was clearly made considering Notre Dame had just gone up by two touchdowns when it occurred.

It was also the polar opposite of how Deion Sanders handled a similar situation at roughly the exact same time.

Deion Sanders Has Different Reaction to Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalty

While Notre Dame was growing its lead against a Big Ten team, roughly an hour-and-a-half down the road, Colorado was falling behind to a different Big Ten team, at Northwestern.

The Wildcats led the Buffaloes 14-0 with roughly three minutes to play in the second quarter when Boo Carter of Colorado threw a punch, and gave Northwestern a free first down instead of making it face what would have been a third-and-11.

Would have been 3rd&11 instead Boo Carter throws a punch Northwestern gets a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty 😒 pic.twitter.com/yvyZ1yrthp
— BuffBoy 🦬 (@skobuffss) September 21, 2026

As you can tell when you watch above, Sanders clearly isn't thrilled by Carter's behavior, but does nothing besides yell at the field for a second, and keeps Carter in the game.

It's worth noting, in a video recorded in the Colorado locker room after the game, Sanders did call out Carter by name for his actions.

“(Discipline is) the ability to control one’s own behavior, right Boo?” Sanders asked. “You’ve got to control your behavior, right Boo? Control your behavior, right Boo? You’ve got to control your behavior, no matter what’s going on, to reach your goal…

“You can’t be undisciplined off the field and expect to be disciplined on the field.”

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway

Freeman reacted with strong anger at first and made sure Williams knew exactly what he did wrong before he even made it to the sideline.

He then followed it up with praise of Williams to anyone who would listen, and talked about how he still loved the young man.

Sanders went the other rout, yelling a little bit from the sideline, but singling out Carter's actions after the game, when Colorado had already lost 41-7.

I'm not here to tell you one way is the automatic right way and one is automatically wrong. Obviously, the two coaches were on different ends of one-sided affairs against Big Ten opponents on Saturday night, and handled very similar situations the exact opposite of one another.

However...

I tend to think Freeman's intense, in-the-moment reaction spoke a bit to the team motto to "Leave No Doubt," as he wasn't about to let any of the focus drift from completing a job, even if it was to celebrate.

The Sanders reaction was much stronger well after the fact Colorado gave away a free first down instead of making Northwestern face a third-and-11. It came after Northwestern used that to its advantage, to stretch the lead to 21-0 on the same drive.

Freeman may have apologized for how he reacted to the situation, and yes, Notre Dame was playing a team it was significantly better than compared to what Colorado was playing at Northwestern, but the reaction seems to have been more beneficial in the moment than the initial hands-off approach Sanders seemed to initially give.

He might not love it, or at least love answering questions about it, but I'd rather Freeman stay with that sort of reaction than sitting back regarding it.

Something tells me excessive celebration penalties won't be a concern for Notre Dame going forward this year, however.

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