Freeman Addresses Playcalling Criticism After Notre Dame Falls to Miami

The head scratching from Notre Dame fans began long before the clock hit 0:00 in Miami Sunday night as the offensive game plan was very much in question from jump.

Despite having an All-American running back, Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame's first possessions didn't try to establish the run. The Irish received to start the game and came out: pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass, pass.

Those passes were mostly all different versions of a screen, pushing the ball no more than a couple yards downfield at the time. They also were very quickly covered up by the Miami defense and easily contained most the night.

As you'd expect, Marcus Freeman was asked about that immediately following the game.

Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame's Offensive Play Calling vs. Miami

"It was creating some easy throws, some easy decisions," Freeman said of the screen game, "Obviously some RPOs and hey, you can hand the ball off or depending on what the defense does, pull it and throw it.

"We started to say later in the game that stop reading it, hand the ball to J-(Jeremiyah) Love, and we need to establish this run game."

Marcus Freeman on Notre Dame Quarterback CJ Carr:

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr throws a pass against Miami in 202 — Aug 31, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) drops back to pass against the Miami Hurricanes during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

"He (CJ Carr) was doing what he was coached to do on a lot of those pulls and throwing," said Freeman, "We got to block better on the perimeter, you know, the one interception we can't have. But there are times that we got to take away the read and say, just hand the ball to running backs and, you know, do that."

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

Jeremiyah Love hurdles a Miami defender in 202 — Aug 31, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) hurdles over Miami Hurricanes defensive back Dylan Day (23) during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Hats off to CJ Carr for battling and coming on as the game went on Sunday night, but common sense needs to take over sooner for Notre Dame. Jeremiyah Love is the most talented running back Notre Dame has had in probably 30 years. Under no circumstance should he only get four rushing attempts in the first half.

I don't care what you have to do to get the ball in his hands, you do it. You find a way to do it and before long, you're rewarded for doing so.

They used to say during Rocket Ismail's time at Notre Dame that the only person who could stop The Rocket was Lou Holtz. I really hope we don't get another couple weeks into what will almost certainly be Love's final season at Notre Dame, and think the same of his touches.