Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks Jordan Botelho, Fiesta Bowl History, Covid Protocols
There were a number of interesting topics and comments from yesterday's press conference with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. The Irish (11-1) arrived in Phoenix yesterday in advance of Saturday's Fiesta Bowl matchup against Oklahoma State (11-2).
BOTELHO IS A ROVER .... FOR NOW
Botelho, a 6-2 1/2, 245-pound sophomore, was listed as a Vyper all season, but that wasn't where he lived up in November. The Hawaii native is now listed at the position he's actually played the last month, and that is Rover.
Classmate Xavier Watts, who has played safety for most of the season but was listed as third-string at rover, was moved to safety on the depth chart behind Ramon Henderson.
Botelho has been effective in a part-time role. He has 17 tackles, two sacks, and three tackles for losses, impressive for a player that was expected to be an edge player.
Freeman wasn’t sure if the move would be permanent.
“That's a move for right now. We will kind of dive in and see if that's the best for his future after the season,” Freeman said. “He's able to play out there in space, be disruptive and he's athletic as heck.”
Freeman said that Botelho has all the tools.
“He can cover guys man to man but then on the perimeter screen games and perimeter running games, he's a disruptive factor,” he said. “We looked at more so the fact that Isaiah Foskey and Justin Ademilola have done such a good job at that Vyper position, and Jordan being able to rotate at the rover position will have more impact being able to be on the field a little bit more at the rover position. His future is to be determined, but I know for this game that I'm excited for him to help us at the rover position.”
FREEMAN AND THE FIESTA BOWL
This isn’t Marcus Freeman’s first Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl experience. He was on the 2006 Ohio State team that played the Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl. Freeman was injured for that game, which OSU won 34-20. He was also back in 2007 when OSU lost the national title game 41-20 to Florida and the 2009 Fiesta Bowl game, in which OSU lost 24-21 to Texas. Freeman is hoping to get his record to 2-2 when Notre Dame plays Oklahoma State on Saturday.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
It’s an issue that just won't go away. Boise State just dropped out of the Sun Bowl because of a rash of Covid-19 diagnoses. Texas A & M had to bail out of the Sun Bowl for the same reason.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy revealed that several of his players had tested positive for Covid. Gundy was adamant that nothing would stop his team from playing in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.
Freeman said the team doctors are on high alert for anyone with Covid symptoms, but the team was not doing additional daily testing. They do have a weekly test.
"We're just continuing to follow the protocols that we've had and that I think the biggest thing now is just the awareness,” Freeman explained. “This is bigger than it's ever been. We have to be smart in terms of what we're doing out here in Arizona. We have to wear our masks when we are supposed to and be really, really smart about the people we’re around. You cannot come down here and just go out and hang out and treat this like a normal bowl trip. We have to be really smart and I think our team is definitely understanding that and understanding what we have to do.”
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