Prior to Week 4, college football analyst and former coach Lou Holtz aggressively stood in support of the Notre Dame football program. He boasted about the offensive and defensive greatness of the Fighting Irish, but that was not the issue. Rather, he took a shot at Ohio State and head coach Ryan Day ahead of the marquee matchup. Holtz cherished his time as an assistant coach with the Buckeyes but made it clear that  Day was outclassed.

It is likely that Holtz's comments helped motivate the entire Ohio State football team to prove him wrong, and they did. Ohio State earned the victory after a last-second touchdown. Since his team lost, Holtz felt remorse for his comments and decided to apologize to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. Holtz acknowledged he should not have added fuel to the fire but stands by his comments, per Angelo Di Carlo.

‘Lou Holtz told @dandakich this morning on @DontAtMeDD that he called Marcus Freeman to apologize for providing motivation for Ohio St. He said he shouldn't have said it but that he does stand by his comments that OSU wasn't the more physical team in its losses under Ryan Day.'

Freeman likely does not take Lou Holtz's comments to heart. Instead, he has to worry about helping Notre Dame football bounce back after its tough loss. He said himself, “We tell our players, every play you can't be distracted by the things that don't matter. You have to do your job. The same thing applies to us coaches.” Freeman will not get distracted by the buzz of the game. Instead, he will focus on continuing to elevate the Fighting Irish.