Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman found this week’s lesson close to home.
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lesson → find → home
Back in 1993, the Fighting Irish were flying high when they beat No. 1 Florida State 31-24 in yet another game-of-the-century contest.
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they → fly → contest
One week later, the nation’s new No. 1 team hosted Boston College and the Eagles left with a 41-39 upset, ending Notre Dame’s national championship hopes.
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Eagles → host → hopes
Thirty-three years later, the Irish face a similar situation after taking down top-ranked Miami 31-24 ahead of a game against Boston College, and Freeman wants to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself Saturday when the Eagles come back to town.
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Eagles → face → town
“It’s easy to say that’s not going to be us, but it’s a real thing,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
“If you do enough studying on it, there’s an issue with, after big wins, teams having letdowns the next week.
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teams → do → letdowns
I even did a little study of like, what do the coaches say after they lose?
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they → do → what
It’s very common themes, right?
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It → ’ → ?
It’s ‘we weren’t disciplined,’ ‘we didn’t have a great week of prep,’ ‘we’re not mature.
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we → ’ → prep
It’s not just Notre Dame.
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It → ’ → ?
Twice this season, the winner over the No. 1 team lost the following week.
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winner → lose → team
Oklahoma beat Texas then fell to Kentucky, and Auburn beat Georgia before losing to LSU.
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Auburn → beat → LSU
Freeman wants to ensure Notre Dame (8-1, No. 5 CFP) doesn’t join that club as it pursues another playoff berth and the school’s first national championship since 1988.
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it → want → 1988
And Freeman believes it starts with him.
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it → believe → him
“It’s our job as coaches to make sure we’re prepared, and you don’t blame the players,” he said.
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he → ’ → players
“You mandate that we prepare in a way that doesn’t allow us to have a letdown.”
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us → mandate → letdown
Freeman’s message is already sinking in.
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message → sink → ?
Not a single player on Notre Dame’s roster was born when Boston College pulled that upset decades ago.
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College → bear → upset
Yet, these players are familiar with what happened way back when.
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what → happen → ?
“Obviously, like we’re not the ’93 team, but there are lessons,” tight end Cooper Flanagan said.
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Flanagan → ’re → ?
Flanagan doesn’t need to go that far back, either.
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Flanagan → need → ?
He was with the Irish two years ago when Notre Dame followed its impressive season-opening victory at Texas A&M with an incomprehensible 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois at home.
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Dame → follow → home
It’s one that still resonates with him — and everyone else who was around for that defeat.
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who → ’ → defeat
“I think we learned our lesson from (beating) Texas A&M and then losing to (Northern Illinois),” Flanagan said.
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Flanagan → think → Illinois
“I think the biggest thing is just going into next week, going through the same process.
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thing → think → process
Every week, no matter the opponent, it’s just as big a week, and you need to prepare like that.
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you → ’ → that
You need to practice like that and just keep getting better.”
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You → need → that
Freeman knows Boston College (4-5) can be dangerous despite its record and current reputation and he can point to how difficult it was last year for then-No. 12 Notre Dame to put away one-win Boston College 25-10.
The Fighting Irish led 12-7 at halftime and were up only 18-10 early in the fourth quarter when the Eagles were threatening to score.
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Eagles → know → quarter
Notre Dame defensive back Adon Shuler’s interception at the Notre Dame 6-yard line snuffed out that scoring chance, and Jeremiyah Love broke free for a the game-sealing 94-yard touchdown run.
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Love → snuff → run
By his weekly news conference Monday, Freeman had already diagnosed what to avoid.
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Freeman → diagnose → what
“What you’ll see is third downs are an issue, turnover margins are an issue, penalties are an issue,” Freeman said of what fuels a letdown.
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what → see → letdown
“There are some common themes that we have to understand, it’s a real thing, and we have to make sure we remember that as we prepare for this next opponent.”
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we → be → opponent
And Notre Dame doesn’t intend to let off the gas after jumping from 11th to fifth in this week’s playoff rankings.
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Dame → intend → rankings
“Boston College is a really good team,” Flanagan said.
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Flanagan → say → ?
“Maybe it’s easier to be amped up for (Miami), they’re the No. 1 team in the country.
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they → ’ → country
Regardless, it’s a football game, and Boston College is a great team, so we have got to prepare.”
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we → ’ → ?
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