The Notre Dame Fighting Irish punched their ticket to the national championship game thanks to a second half comeback in the Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions. And in the aftermath of the game, two things quickly became apparent.
Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman helped spark his team's comeback with a powerful message to his team at the half. And Freeman, a fierce competitor and former college football player himself, used everything at his disposal, including a joint news conference with Nittany Lions coach James Franklin, to motivate himself and his own team to face the huge moment.
There is no doubt that the Fighting Irish coach had his team locked in after halftime. As part of its Irish Access series, which chronicles the program's games, Freeman's halftime speech was recorded on camera, and it is certain to induce goosebumps.
(Speech begins at 45-second mark in video below)
"It's a seven-point game," Freeman said. "We get the ball first. So just understand, that's all it is right now. Now, what do we have to do to change it? We got to be able to run the ball, right? We got to be able to run the ball and we got to stop the run. That's all it is, man! We ain't about to panic!"
"Ain't no need to be nervous! It's a fight! It's a seven-point ballgame, and we get the ball first. It's a fight! Go out there and fight!"
Notre Dame went on to score 24 second-half points, including a game-winning field goal by kicker Mitch Jeter with seven seconds left, to win the Orange Bowl.
The Fighting Irish will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the title game at 7:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 20.
More of the Latest Around College Football
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Marcus Freeman's Electric Orange Bowl Halftime Speech Had Notre Dame So Fired Up.
