Why Marcus Freeman still plays Notre Dame football backups in blowouts
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PALO ALTO, Calif. — For the third straight game, Notre Dame football allowed a meaningless touchdown in the final minutes of a blowout win.
On Saturday night at Stanford, that came on a 3-yard scoring toss from third-string quarterback Charlie Mirer against his father Rick’s alma mater. Just four minutes remained in a 49-20 win for the No. 9 Irish.
The previous two weeks, with Miami and other programs tacking on late scores with their starting offenses to sway the impressionable College Football Playoff selection committee, Notre Dame gave up touchdowns to Syracuse and Pittsburgh in the final seven seconds.
The Irish won those games by scores of 70-7 and 37-15, respectively.
Despite that trend, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman stands by his decision to empty his bench at the end of one-side victories, even if that concept has gone away in the era of the 12-team playoff.
“We were at a point where we felt like we had the game in hand,” Freeman said after the regular-season finale. “You have to make decisions at the end of the game that you believe are best for your team. What’s best for our team in that moment is you get a chance to get some backups in; that’s going to help them improve. You might need those guys — this season.”
Notre Dame had key members of its starting secondary on the field as Stanford drove 80 yards in 12 plays for its cosmetic, spread-beating touchdown, but the Irish refrained from putting their starting offense back on the field, even with plenty of time left to offset that Mirer moment.
In their 10-game winning streak, the Irish never scored a single point after the 5:13 mark of the fourth quarter. That came on Jeremiyah Love’s 1-yard touchdown run in a 36-7 win over N.C. State.
Miami, by contrast, scored 45 points this season in the final three minutes of seven one-sided wins. All but seven of those points came in the final two minutes, including touchdown passes the past two weeks by Carson Beck with 20 seconds left at Virginia Tech (34-17 win) and 41 seconds remaining at Pittsburgh (38-7 win).
“When I know we have a game won,” Freeman said, “it’s more important for me to make decisions that are best for our team, which is going to be getting some younger guys or maybe some backups in because they’ll get valuable reps in that game.
“The same thing happened at Pitt; the same thing happened versus Syracuse. We’re going to put those guys in because they’ve earned it, but (also) because it’s going to help our team. It’s going to help our team improve when the backups and the third-strings can get some real game reps.”
Snap-count distribution for Notre Dame football at Stanford
Here’s a breakdown of offensive and defensive snap counts in the win over Stanford, according to Pro Football Focus.
Quarterback
56-CJ Carr
17-Kenny Minchey
Offensive line
56-Anthonie Knapp, Sullivan Absher, Joe Otting, Guerby Lambert, Aamil Wagner
17-Styles Prescod, Devan Houstan, Cam Herron, Chris Terek, Matty Augustine
Running back
27-Jeremiyah Love
21-Jadarian Price
19-Aneyas Williams
6-Nolan James Jr.
Tight end
44-Eli Raridon
21-James Flanigan
18-Ty Washington
15-Jack Larsen
Wide receiver
46-Jordan Faison
42-Malachi Fields
39-Will Pauling
25-Micah Gilbert
21-Elijah Burress
6-Logan Saldate, Cam Williams, KK Smith
5-Matt Jeffery
Cornerback
71-Leonard Moore
57-Christian Gray
35-DeVonta Smith
18-Dallas Golden
12-Mark Zackery IV
Safety
71-Adon Shuler
68-Jalen Stroman
10-Luke Talich
Linebacker
56-Jaiden Ausberry
51-Drayk Bowen
39-Jaylen Sneed
23-Madden Faraimo
Defensive line
36-Jason Onye
33-Boubacar Traore
31-Elijah Hughes, Jordan Botelho
30-Bryce Young
26-Junior Tuihalamaka
23-Donovan Hinish
22-Jared Dawson
18-Josh Burnham
10-Armel Mukam
5-Loghan Thomas, Cole Mullins
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football reserves still get to play late in blowouts
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