Marcus Freeman Shares Insanely Dumb Explanation For Having Only 10 Players On The Field For Ohio State's Game-Winning Play

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Marcus Freeman's explanation for Notre Dame only having 10 players on the field for the final play against Ohio State makes zero sense.

Ohio State beat Notre Dame 17-14 under the lights Saturday, and punched the ball in from the one yards line as the clock hit zero.

It was quickly revealed the Fighting Irish had only 10 players on the field for Ohio State's final two games. How could such a mistake be made?

Freeman reacts to only having 10 guys on the field at end of Ohio State game.

Well, turns out Marcus Freeman was aware, but didn't want to draw a flag by rushing a guy onto the field.

"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. We couldn’t afford a penalty there. You know, It’s on us. We gotta be better," Freeman told the media after the game.

Marcus Freeman's explanation makes no sense.

This is a display of some serious mental gymnastics from Freeman. Ohio State had the ball on the one yard line.

A penalty would have made virtually no difference. The ball would have been moved up a few inches, but would have given the Fighting Irish time to get a guy on the field.

Perhaps there's an argument to be made if it's 4&4 from the 12 yards line. Maybe if it can reset the downs and move the team up the field with plenty of time left, then you risk one game with just 10 players.

However, that's not what happened. Ohio State was going to get one final play from the one yards line. Freeman 100% should have taken a penalty. Losing a few inches of ground to get another defensive lineman on the field is 100% worth it.

Marcus Freeman says Notre Dame had 10 guys on the field against Ohio State because he didn't want to draw a penalty. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

If you're going to blow arguably the biggest game of the year, then at least have a much more solid excuse than not wanting to draw a penalty from the one yard line.