Marcus Freeman Talks Notre Dame Punt Blocks, Drew Pyne's Hit To The Head, And More After UNLV

NOTRE DAME, IND – Notre Dame’s 44-21 win over UNLV wasn’t exactly just what the doctor ordered, but it accomplished what Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish needed Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.

It was a notch in the win column. There were enough missed tackles and a couple of long runs by Rebel running back Courtney Reese to induce hair-pulling, but it was still a win with a tough two-game stretch against Syracuse and Clemson on the horizon.

“This place is special,” Freeman said after his second home win. “Notre Dame Stadium and the history and tradition of this place is something we all respect. We haven't had the greatest of showings in our home games. You can name a list of reasons why. I don't know. But we needed to make sure our players understood the importance of performing well at home. This is an advantage for us. It has to be an advantage for us. That's why I made that comment about it was great to get a good win in Notre Dame Stadium.”

More Punt Blocks

Two of the biggest early plays in the game came when UNLV lined up to punt on their third and fourth possessions of the game. The Irish defense forced 3 and outs both times and both times Isaiah Foskey blew them up by blocking them (the second one was with an assist from Prince Kollie).

Notre Dame was able to turn the two blocks into 10 points – a 20-yard TD pass to Michael Mayer and a 27-yard field goal from Blake Grupe.

“(Special teams) Coach (Brian Mason) has done a great job with all of our phases of special teams,” Freeman remarked. “Every week we've been an aggressive punt block unit, and we've gotten two before this game. We just got home. It wasn't that, hey, they had something in particular that we're going to exploit. Every week we feel like we can take advantage of a punt team, and Coach Mason does a great job of executing the game plan.

“Today we were able to get two and those are game changers,” Freeman continued. “Those are momentum shifts, to be able to capitalize off them and get points. I don't think both times got a touchdown, but to get points, it's huge. It's huge. And last week we didn't. That's part of making sure that we're able to execute. Those are huge.”

Foskey is the first player in program history to block two punts in a game. They are also the third and fourth blocked punts of the season for the Irish, which is a single season program record.

A Big Goal Line Hit On Drew Pyne

Drew Pyne scrambled for 21 yards late in the first half to give the Irish the ball at the UNLV one-yard line. Pyne took a hard hit from Rebel linebacker Fred Thompkins and got up slowly after the play.

“He went to the doctors and he tried to stay in the game,” Freeman recalled. “The doctors pulled him out to make sure they evaluate him. Then after that series, a couple plays, they said he was ready to go. He wanted to keep going, but the doctor said, you're out. So they did the evaluation and they gave him the thumbs up to go back in the game.”

Instant replay appeared to show Thompkins laying a helmet-to-helmet hit on Pyne, but officials on the field didn’t throw a flag. Freeman called timeout and asked for the replay booth to look for targeting.

“From my viewpoint, just looking at the replay, I thought close to helmet to helmet,” Freeman said. “They said they reviewed it and contacted Greensboro, the (ACC) headquarters, and they said it wasn't helmet to helmet.”

Steve Angeli’s Debut

Freshman Steve Angeli made his Notre Dame debut on Notre Dame’s next drive. He handed off to running back Logan Diggs on the first two plays and then gave way to Pyne, who emerged from the sideline injury tent with clearance to play.

Freeman considered putting the freshman back in later in the game, but the score remained closer than he would have liked to go back to the freshman

“Before that last series, I said, hey, if they don't score here, let's get Angeli ready to go,” said Freeman. “Unfortunately, (UNLV) went up and scored. I wasn't going to put Steve in right at that moment. I wanted to stay with the offense. We were able to go down and score and move the clock the way we wanted to. But I wanted to get him in the game, yeah.”

Mitchell Evans Under Center

Sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans had a pair of runs on the series. He got behind center on a 3rd and one play earlier in the drive and followed the offensive line forward for a gain of four yards to convert the 1st down. When Pyne left the field after taking the hit to the head, Evans ran the same play for his first career touchdown, a one-yard run.

“That was something we wanted to use in short yardage,” Freeman gauged. “Coach Rees creativity, right, short yardage. I challenged our offense. We've got to be more successful on short yardage attempts. That was part of the creativity, and it worked on third and one, and then it worked on that situation. I don't know if he would have called it if Drew was still in the game, but it executed, so maybe we'll expand that package a little bit.”

JD Bertrand’s Close Call

Linebacker JD Bertrand has already been flagged for targeting in the second half of games twice this season. He was nearly penalized for the same thing again on a hit on UNLV wide receiver Kyle Williams in the fourth quarter.

Bertrand was initially flagged for targeting on the field, but the replay booth overturned it and he stayed on the game.

“I was pleading with the refs,” Freeman remarked. “Do you understand, if he gets targeting he's out for the game. He's a difference maker when he's in there and he's a really good football player. He's a physical football player. He is an extremely physical football player. With that comes those helmet-to-helmet opportunities. It looked like the helmet hit the shoulder pad, which obviously they overturned it, and thank God it did because we can't afford to lose him for a game. He's doing a great job. He's a guy that just practices his tail off. He maximizes every ability he has, so he makes us a better defense when he's in there.”

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