Why Notre Dame trusted three freshmen on the biggest drive of the season
It started with Jaden Greathouse. Jeremiyah Love got Notre Dame within striking distance. Rico Flores Jr. finished it off.
Early in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame trailed Ohio State 10-7 and regained possession at its own 4-yard line. The Irish were set for the most important drive of the season to that point. Six of the 11 plays offensive coordinator Gerad Parker called, including the first and last, went to true freshmen. Even more impressively, it worked.
It’s a sign of how much Notre Dame trusts Greathouse, Love and Flores — a slot receiver, running back and wide receiver, respectively — and how much potential the Irish coaching staff believes the three of them have. And they’ve been proving them right every chance they get.
“I personally feel like [the coaching staff’s trust has] been adding up since I got here in January,” Flores said. “I’m a hardworking player and I’m going to keep going.”
Greathouse got the ball rolling with a three-yard run and a 28-yard catch over the middle, where he often finds himself open out of the slot. Graduate quarterback Sam Hartman’s next pass went to Flores, but Ohio State sophomore cornerback Davison Igbinosun broke it up.
No big deal. Notre Dame kept going back to its freshmen.
“I don’t feel like we was really paying attention to that,” Flores said, when asked if the three freshmen playing massive offensive roles right away gave them confidence as a group. “We was just going. We was just working. But there’s a lot of confidence built. But we’ve been adding that from day one.”
Love got the ball later in the drive, once the Irish got down to the red zone. He ripped off gains of 6 and 10 yards, respectively, showcasing his incredible combination of size, speed, physicality and agility.
Then, it was Flores’ time again.
Lined up against Igbinosun again, Flores broke his ankles with his inside release. With one fake to the outside, Flores made Igbinosun sit down. It was, as oft-Notre Dame announcer Jac Collinsworth described it, a veteran route by the freshman. All Hartman had to do was float the ball toward the back of the end zone, and Flores did the rest.
In discussing the route, Flores sounded like a veteran, too.
“It was a tremendous feeling,” Flores said. “I don’t even remember. I’ll have to watch it later. I seen it all coming from how he was playing, had a little outside shade and I’m pretty sure I had a post. It was like a weird post that we run. So I executed the play and it was hype after that.”
Even in a gut-wrenching, last-second loss, Notre Dame left Week 4 with at least one “glass half-full” takeaway: the future at wide receiver and running back is bright in South Bend.
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