Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman held a press conference on December 23. Here's what Freeman said about Georgia in advance of the teams' meeting in the Sugar Bowl on January 1.
"Looking ahead to Georgia, as I told the team all week last week, we had one guaranteed opportunity to earn one more. And, you know, as we get ready for Georgia, again, we'll understand we have one guaranteed opportunity as a football program to try to go and earn another one. And we're excited and looking forward to playing in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 1 versus a very good Georgia football team who is 11-2 and the SEC champions. So we all know the challenge that lies ahead, so preparation will be as critical as it is every week as you prepare for an opponent. So with that, I'll open up for questions."
On how Notre Dame's preparation changes given Georgia's change at quarterback: "You evaluate obviously schematically what they've done all season, and then you have a separate tape of what (Gunner) Stockton, the new quarterback has done. You know, I think we have 80-something plays of him playing quarterback. You know, he can run their offense. He does some things a little bit differently. He's got, you know, he can extend plays with his legs. He's a good athlete. The thing I probably noticed most about any, probably noticed more than anything in watching those 80 plays is he's an ultra competitive individual. You can just tell, you know, by the way he celebrates, by the way, you know, he goes and finishes plays. He's a competitor. I don't see it being tremendously different than what they've done all season. But we'll prepare or anything."
On Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker: "He's one of the, one of them, if not the best linebacker we'll face all year. He's a problem. He does some really good things in the run and the pass game. He's physical, strike you, good instincts. He's a really, really good football player. You can't run around linebackers. You gotta go and you gotta attack. And so it's gonna be a great challenge for us. I think he's a heck of a football player. Got a lot of respect for him."
On similarities between what he does now and what he did at Cincinnati, who played Georgia in 2020: "There's some similarities, I would say, defensively, some philosophies that obviously I had then and I still have now. Our defense here is different than what it was at Cincinnati, but again, I'm sure their offense is different now than it was when in 2020. I haven't gone back and looked at that game, but maybe now that you mention it, I will."
On if the 1981 Sugar Bowl affects players ahead of this matchup: "Oh, you're going to give me a little history, okay. I've been preparing for Georgia. The history of the 1981 Sugar Bowl, is that Herschel Walker beat Notre Dame? Oh, I didn't, I'm sorry, I didn't know that, but I know Herschel Walker was a great player, I'll tell you that. That's what I'll tell you about that. Is that the only time we played Georgia, is that right? No, no, yeah, okay, yeah, I know we played, what, 17, and yeah, yeah, but no, I didn’t. I'm sorry about that."
