Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman knew his team had just 10 players on the field for Ohio State’s winning touchdown Saturday night.
The Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish 17-14 as Chip Trayanum got into the end zone with one second left on a run play that went where a fourth Notre Dame defensive lineman should have been lined up. After the game, Freeman said Notre Dame’s coaching staff knew the team was shorthanded but didn’t want to risk a penalty by running a player onto the field late.
“Yeah, we were trying to get a fourth d-lineman on the field and I told him just stay off because we can’t afford a penalty — I didn’t have any timeouts,” Freeman said in his postgame news conference.