Riley Leonard won’t let Marcus Freeman be humble on game-changing play call

When a team's star quarterback is forcing his coach to take credit for a great play call, things are probably going pretty well — and they are for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who knocked off Georgia on Thursday and will play Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinals. With a chance at a national championship on the line, you'd think the stress would be weighing on Notre Dame's players and coach — but they seem loose and relaxed, at least at the moment.

In their postgame press conference, head coach Marcus Freeman tried to deflect praise about a play call in the game, but quarterback Riley Leonard wouldn't let him; "He's being humble," said Leonard, adding that it was "completely his play," and calling it a "great call, great execution." Freeman couldn't help but smile — that's a clear sign Leonard was telling the truth.

Notre Dame aren't pretenders anymore, and it's because of Marcus Freeman

For about the past decade, the prevailing opinion about Notre Dame football has been one of ambivalence because although they've been good enough to crush lesser teams in the regular season, they haven't been good enough to compete with the best programs in the country. That's not the case anymore, and Marcus Freeman is a big reason why.

In his first season heading the Fighting Irish, Marcus Freeman has vaulted this team past any talk of fraudulence and into the CFP semifinals, where they will take on Penn State — a program that has dealt with its fair share of criticism in recent memory, as well.

Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois earlier this season set off some alarm bells around college football; it looked like Notre Dame was heading toward another weird middle-ground season where it can't be classified a disappointment, but not a raging success, either. Well, their quarterback and head coach are fighting to give each other praise after a CFP win, so this one feels like a success.