Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has had a rough two years as head coach of the Fighting Irish in a program that expects national title contention annually. But while he couldn’t deliver a title this year, he did make a little bit of noteworthy history.
On Friday, the Fighting Irish clobbered the Oregon State Beavers to win the Sun Bowl 40-8. As SportsCenter noted in a post on X, it was the largest margin of victory for a Notre Dame bowl win in school history.
The Fighting Irish scored 33 unanswered points before the Beavers finally got on the board with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Quarterback Steve Angeli was nearly perfect, going 15 of 19 for 232 yards and three touchdowns through the air and another 27 yards on the ground.
Running back Jadarian Price was nigh unstoppable with 106 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries.
But college football fans didn’t appear all that impressed with Notre Dame’s win in a non-title game:
Notre Dame with the largest bowl win in school history‼️ pic.twitter.com/ZhIvTjSi1N
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 29, 2023
“No one cares about bowls anymore with opt-outs and the transfer portal,” one user replied.
“For a bowl game that doesn’t matter, nice!” wrote another.
“Wow! They beat an 8 win team!! Notre Dame will surely compete for a natty next year,” a third wrote sarcastically.
The quest for a title begins for Marcus Freeman in 2024.