No. 5 Notre Dame looks to stay focused against Northern Illinois in its home opener

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman received a phone call from former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel two days after the No. 5-ranked Fighting Irish won 23-13 at then-20th-ranked Texas A&M.

Freeman expected praise from his college coach, but Tressel issued a warning.

“What they told me was, ‘Hey, I just want to remind you that the biggest danger is the illusion that everything is fine when, in reality, everything is not fine,’” Freeman said. “That’s the reminder we need more than anything. It was a great win for our program against a good opponent, but we have a lot of work to do to get better.”

Freeman doesn’t need to be reminded how one result can affect the next game.

All you have to do is remember his freshman season, when Notre Dame lost to Ohio State in the season opener and then lost its home opener to Marshall in Week 2.

This time, the scenario is the reverse.

With a marquee road win already under their belt and a favorable schedule ahead, the Fighting Irish (1-0) can’t afford a hangover Saturday afternoon against Northern Illinois. That’s why Freeman wants his team to stay focused in Notre Dame’s home opener.

“You have to look at the film with a critical eye,” Freeman said. “You can’t let the emotions of a win or a loss affect how you evaluate what you need to do to improve.”

And that means they can’t overlook the Huskies (1-0), who have been regular Mid-American Conference contenders. Last week, they defeated Western Illinois 54-15.

Quarterback Ethan Hampton was named the league’s offensive player of the week after a nearly flawless game in which he completed 18 of 20 throws for 328 yards and five TDs.

But the first matchup of this series will put the Northern Illinois program on a different level, looking for perhaps the most important win in school history. Coach Thomas Hammock knows it will be an uphill battle.

“We have to focus on ourselves and how we prepare,” Hammock said. “We know it’s going to be a physical game. Notre Dame is going to be in the middle of the ring and we have to walk up to the middle of the ring and match their intensity.”

That won’t be easy against a foe that withstood a massive challenge in the season opener by playing in front of more than 100,000 hostile fans with a new quarterback, Riley Leonard, and a young offensive line.

Leonard responded by completing 18 of 30 passes while rushing 12 times for 63 yards as the Irish produced 356 total yards, 85 of them on a key drive late in the game to seal the victory.

“I thought (Freeman) did a really good job in some of his decisions,” Freeman said. “There were also some decisions I probably wish I would have seen or made differently. He really played the quarterback position well. He did what we asked him to do. He took care of the ball. We weren’t asking him for explosive plays.”

Notre Dame’s defense also did its part, throwing two interceptions and limiting the Aggies to 246 yards.

But as Tressel noted, it was far from a perfect performance. The Irish finished with 11 fouls for 99 yards and were 2-for-12 on third downs, and Freeman knows those things need to be corrected.

Big game

When Northern Illinois beats an opponent from a power conference, coaches call it a “Boneyard” win. The term also applies to Notre Dame. And because MAC schools almost always schedule out-of-conference games against power conference foes, Hammock doesn’t expect his team to be stunned.

“We just want to play our best football,” Hammock said. “We just have to handle the situation from the start and adapt to the game and then play the way we know how to play. I tell the players all the time: I don’t need you to be Superman. I just need you to bring your best.”

Apparently it worked. Northern Illinois has won 18 Boneyard titles since 1983.

Technological impact

Having radios and tablets in helmets on the sidelines was a big hit for Freeman, and he believes they made a big difference for the Irish last week.

“I think the iPads were key,” he said. “Those iPads really help the players see the adjustments we need to make and see what the opponent is doing. I think both our coaches and our players did a really good job of using the iPads as a teaching tool, a learning tool. It was efficient. The feedback from the coaches and the players was great.”