Notre Dame football: Breaking down Marcus Freeman’s key decisions in the Fiesta Bowl

The Notre Dame football team lost their bowl game against Oklahoma State, and here, we look at the key decisions by Marcus Freeman.

Everyone knew new Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman’s strengths coming into the Fiesta Bowl. He’s an elite recruiter and has proven to be an excellent talent developer. He develops relationships incredibly well, especially with his players. The culture he brings, on top of that, is incredible. However, there was and still is a major question, what will his game management look like?

If Mike Tyson was right when he said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” then he was right about college coaches. As fans, we tend to fall in love with new coaches, until the games start. Then, we want to see results. Once a coach makes a bad decision, everything changes, just like how everything changes once you’re punched in the mouth.

That’s true for Marcus Freeman, as much as it is for anybody else.

For all the good, Marcus Freeman has never been a head coach before. That means that he’s never had to manage a game before. Do you go for it on 4th down? Should this be a two-point try? How do you use your timeouts? This game, for all the value of it being the Fiesta Bowl, would serve as insight into how Marcus Freeman is going to manage games and strategize for the future.

So, let’s break down a few of those key decisions that he made throughout the game.