Marcus Freeman confirms multiple players to return against Ohio State

Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are preparing to face Ohio State in a rematch of last season’s thrilling opener. Now, the pair of undefeated teams and top-10 programs will face off for a major Week 4 showdown.

During his Monday press conference, Freeman announced some good news for the Fighting Irish. The head coach announced linebacker JD Bertrand, safety DJ Brown and tight end Mitchell Evans will all return in Week 4 after missing time. Evans has 5 catches for 63 yards in 3 games so far this season.

Defensively, Bertrand has 13 tackles and a TFL to go with a pass breakup while Brown has 9 tackles and 1 of Notre Dame’s 5 interceptions on the season. Going against a team as talented as Ohio State — particularly on the offensive side of the ball — the Irish will want to be at full strength for the game.

Heading into the week, Notre Dame is a slim home underdog for the top-10 primetime battle. That is not a common place to be for the Irish, particularly with how Ohio State has played so far this season.

Notre Dame and Ohio State have played 3 times since 2006 with the Buckeyes winning all of them. That includes a 21-10 win for Ryan Day’s program last season in the season opener, though that game was played in Columbus.

We’ll see if playing in South Bend makes a difference this time around.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.