Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman emphasized a key point this week as the No. 12 Fighting Irish prepared to face Georgia Tech on Saturday in Atlanta.
According to Freeman, the team needs to stop being good and start being great.
“We have to continue to recognize we can play better,” Freeman said. “There’s plays all over the film that we could perform at a higher level.”
Notre Dame (5-1) and Georgia Tech (5-2) will kick off on an NFL field when they play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, just a couple of miles south of the Yellow Jackets’ campus.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a 49-7 win over Stanford last Saturday, which marked their fourth win in a row. Notre Dame will play away from home for the first time since Sept. 14, when it crushed Purdue 66-7.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is looking for its third straight win. The Yellow Jackets beat Duke 24-14 two weeks ago and followed that with a 41-34 win over North Carolina last Saturday.
The latest win came at a cost for Georgia Tech. Starting quarterback Haynes King left in the fourth quarter with an unspecified injury, and his status for this week’s game against Notre Dame was uncertain.
“He’s day-to-day,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are banged up right now. (We) played a physical game, 60-minute game on Saturday. That’s what this time of year is. …
“If you still get to the point we are right now in the season and you have things to play for, that’s a blessing. And it’s what we want. But are we banged up? Yeah, we’re banged up. And we have several guys who will be day-to-day. We’ll make a decision at game time whether they go or not.”
If King cannot go, Zach Pyron is likely to start at quarterback for Georgia Tech. Pyron replaced King late in the game against North Carolina and completed his only pass attempt for 7 yards.
Jamal Haynes provided much of Georgia Tech’s offense as he rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the team with 536 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Notre Dame also features a run-first offense led by dual-threat quarterback Riley Leonard and a one-two punch at running back that includes Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Love has rushed for 426 yards and six touchdowns, Leonard has rushed for 405 yards and eight scores, and Price has 260 rushing yards to go along with three touchdowns.
On defense, Howard Cross III has a team-high four sacks for Notre Dame. Xavier Watts leads the team with two interceptions.
Georgia Tech defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen leads the team with two sacks. Ahmari Harvey has the Yellow Jackets’ lone interception.
Freeman said he would prepare his team for an indoor game and possible crowd noise issues that could come with it.
Most of all, Freeman said, he wanted his team to think about being great.
“For us, that means we’re playing at our full potential,” he said, “the best we can. … Everybody’s definition of great can be different, but it’s really a challenge for us as a program to elevate and take that next step to make sure we’re performing at our full potential.”
