Discipline could be the difference for Notre Dame football in the CFP

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame’s road to Friday’s opening game of the College Football Playoff against Indiana was lined with a number of teachable moments, if not blessings from above.

In several cases, from Beaux Collins’ shoving at Texas A&M to Jordan Clark’s headbutt against Louisville, penalty flags for unsportsmanlike conduct could have been thrown, should have been thrown, but were not thrown.

The most recent encounter with a possible ejection occurred in the regular season finale at USC. The Irish could have easily lost defensive tackle Rylie Mills due to a sprained ankle without nose tackle Howard Cross III after CBS replays clearly showed him hitting fallen offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon.

Incredibly, 30-year official Ron Snodgrass and his Big Ten crew completely missed the goal-line exchange, even as Jayden Maiava’s 1-yard quarterback sneak was reviewed on video. CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, a former NFL referee, noted during the broadcast that personal fouls are not reviewable.

Had Mills’ hit to the facemask been noticed in real time, it would have resulted in an “immediate disqualification,” Steratore said.

“If you know Rylie, you know this is an extreme,” Irish linebacker Jack Kiser said of his fellow captain and roommate. “I don’t know if I ever saw him… and I don’t even know if he really had any intention of doing that, but we were very lucky that nothing came of it.”

The loss to Mills in the final 42 minutes might have been the deciding factor in Notre Dame’s eventual escape, 49-35. USC shredded the Irish defense for a total of 557 yards anyway.

Replays also showed Pregnon, a 6-foot-1, 320-pound left tackle, tugging on Mills’ left knee behind the pile. Mills’ uncharacteristic response was retaliation, but that’s usually the action that gets reported.

“If you look at the video, the guy is pulling his leg,” Kiser said. “It’s an environment full of emotions and stress. Something like that will happen. (Mills) will learn from this.”

Kiser paused and smiled.

“He forgot he left his ‘Hulk’ hands at home,” Kiser added.

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Notre Dame football players strive to be “wise men.”

Mills, a fifth-year graduate student, was in no mood to rehash the Nov. 30 piece when the topic was brought up this week.

He had been reminded of his sin often enough in team meetings.

“Coach (Marcus) Freeman is always showing plays from other teams, other college teams, NFL teams during the week,” Mills said. “We call them ‘Wise Men,’ things you can learn from. I think there might be some things we can learn from.”

Mills, who tied with second-year cornerback Christian Gray for the most penalties (four) against the Irish defense, heard the message loud and clear.

“As Coach Freeman always tells us, nobody is worth 15 yards,” Mills said. “I don’t want to put the team in this situation. That’s something where I don’t want us to lose the field advantage. These are things that can influence the game. You just don’t want that to happen.”

No olive branches were extended between Mills and Pregnon in the wake of the innocuous encounter.

“We didn’t say anything,” said Mills, who had a career-best 64 defensive snaps against the Trojans. “However you want to cut the piece or whatever, I think whatever happened happened. We mastered it as a team. I will refrain from doing this.”

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The emotional tenor that afternoon at the Coliseum was so emotional that even Notre Dame receivers coach Mike Brown called a 15-yard misconduct penalty on the sideline. This happened midway through the fourth quarter when the Irish were clinging to a seven-point lead.

Brown didn’t like the way the USC defenders were holding receiver Jordan Faison and he let Snodgrass’ team know about it. Notre Dame stumbled four plays later, needing consecutive pick-six interceptions from Gray and Xavier Watts to hold off their old rival.

“That’s something Coach Freeman preaches all year long — no is worth 15 (yards),” Kiser said. “Yes, it’s playoff time, but that’s always the standard. Know where the boundaries are, know where the line is and respect it.”

A leash limit for the “dogs” of Notre Dame

Freeman has been in this area before in his three seasons at the helm at Notre Dame. As a former linebacker and defensive coordinator, he wants his team to play with emotion and urgency, but also relentless discipline.

Irish players are expected to have a lot of “dog” in them, but there is a limit to how far the leash extends.

These transgressions by Mills and Brown against USC were just the latest reminder of the importance of maintaining poise at all costs.

“They will be the first to tell you,” Freeman said. “No one is worth 15 yards. We cannot react to a situation and allow it to harm our team. That was them both. They were poor decisions in the way they responded to a situation. And these are the first two people who will own it.”

Mills and Brown are not alone when it comes to accountability. This message comes from above and is reinforced daily.

“That’s what I love about this program,” Freeman said. “I don’t have to humiliate you and attack you. Sometimes I will, but these guys own it. They get it, and we all need to learn from it. For me as a head coach it is a memory. Let’s make good decisions. No matter what happened in the previous game or the previous moment, we have to be smart about the way we react.”

Second-year safety Adon Shuler, who received “tough love” from Freeman after an unsportsmanlike penalty against Miami (Ohio), paid his penance after that gaffe in September.

“I knew it was a mistake on my part,” Shuler said. “I was just getting into the game and into the moment. Coach Freeman always talks about how no one is bigger than the team, no one is worth 15 yards. I apologized to the team and the coach. It just wasn’t good for my character.”

With the national championship game limited to 12 teams, including Notre Dame, discipline could be the deciding factor.

“You have to be disciplined,” Shuler said. “Being disciplined is something I think we do really well and we just need to continue to be great at it. Just getting into the playoffs, every possession, every moment is such a big deal. We just make sure we stay on the right side, stay in line and let the referees do the work.”

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The 2024 Irish are ranked 80th^Th among FBS teams with 53.7 penalty yards per game. With 5.8 penalties per game they are at 65^Th with a group that includes No. 2 seed Georgia awaiting the winner of Friday night’s game in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Indiana is ranked 29th^Th in penalty yards per game (43.8) and is 16^Th with the fewest penalties (4.8).

When asked Wednesday about the possible “unsettling” nature of a matchup between coach Curt Cignetti’s freshmen and a Notre Dame team riding a 10-game winning streak, Freeman shook his head.

“Listen, you’re talking about a college football playoff game,” he said. “Any college football team that is in the playoffs is going to have a chip on their shoulder. Nobody will lack motivation.

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Discipline could be the difference for Notre Dame football in the CFP

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