ND’s Freeman stayed with 10 players during OSU’s game win to avoid playing a “freebie.”

Trailing 14-10, Ohio State had the ball on the one-yard line on third down, when Chip Traianum ran up the middle and scored the winning touchdown with one second remaining. Freeman, a former full-back, was asked after the match whether he should take the penalty and try to get the full back XI onto the field.

“For me, it was like, ‘Hey, don’t give them another chance to settle down and try to make a different call, right?'” said Freeman, who didn’t have any timeouts left. “Guys, stay out of the field. Let’s not give them a freebie from the half-yard line and let’s try to stop them.

“I thought they might be doing the same thing they did before, and then they ended up running with the ball,” he said. “So I had to watch the game and see where I hit the ball. But, yeah, that’s why I made that decision.”

Many caught Notre Dame’s shorthanded defense when the officiating crew paraded the winning touchdown.

“Everything was going so fast. I’m trying to do my job, and I get the call,” safety Thomas Harper said. “This is something we have to do better. We can’t be in this position. We have to do better, players and coaches. We will learn from it and grow.”