College football’s Week 3 will see two ranked teams come to the area.
No. 4 Oregon visits Northwestern, while No. 16 Texas A&M will play at No. 8 Notre Dame. Meanwhile, No. 9 Illinois hosts Western Michigan.
As the teams prepare for their weekend tests, here are three things we heard from the weekly news conferences of Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, Illinois’ Bret Bielema and Northwestern’s David Braun.
1. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said the Irish turned their frustration into work.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love leaps over Miami Hurricanes defensive back Dylan Day during a game on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)
Because of its Week 2 bye, Notre Dame had all of last week to process its 27-24, season-opening loss to No. 5 Miami. And in some ways, that wasn’t ideal.
“The first thing you want to do after you lose is go play again,” Freeman said. “You want to show everybody that we’re good, we’ve got a good team. But we didn’t get that opportunity.
“When you invest a lot into achieving a certain outcome and the work they put in, and you don’t get the outcome you desire, it hurts. There’s sleepless nights. There’s loss of appetite. We had to turn that frustration into work, and we did.”
The bye gave the Irish a chance to get healthy, to be competitive in practice with what Freeman called “good on good” reps and to talk about some of the issues against Miami.
On defense, the lack of takeaways in the opener for a group that led the nation in that category last season was a focus.
“We’ve got to go make plays,” Freeman said. “Balls in the air, if a ball is not coming to you, you’ve got to go get it. We’ve really worked on trying to high-point the ball, going to get it, not letting it come down to you, being aggressive and getting the ball at its highest point.”
On offense, a point of discussion was how to ensure running back Jeremiyah Love is getting enough touches while also taking advantage of what a defense presents. Love had just 10 carries for 33 yards, while Jadarian Price had six carries for 45 yards against Miami, in part a product of the run-pass options by rookie quarterback CJ Carr.
“I think there’s RPOs that you’re reading a defender. Like if they’re putting an eighth man in the box, then we’ve got to throw it out to really take advantage of the numbers,” Freeman said. “But then there’s sometimes where it’s a little bit gray, and we have to be very clear with our quarterbacks. If it’s gray, what do we want them to do? Do we want them to hand it off? Do we want them to throw it? … We have talked as a coaching staff, are there times we need to take out the read and say, this is what we want to do, hand the ball off here? Or hey, let’s continue to throw it out if they’re going to bring that extra guy in the box.
“We know we want to focalize our offense around J-Love. He’s a special player. But we’ve got to make sure we’re taking advantage of what each defense is trying to do with us.”
2. The Illini are trying to focus on weekly improvement — and not their top 10 ranking.
Illinois’ Ca’Lil Valentine carries the ball for a touchdown during the second half of a game against Duke in Durham, N.C., on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
Illinois coach Bret Bielema was on the phone with athletic director Josh Whitman on Sunday, running through a long list of topics. Near the end, Whitman remembered something he wanted to say.
“He said, ‘Oh yeah, you’re ranked in the top 10. Congrats!’” Bielema recalled. “I kind of laughed and he laughed because it really wasn’t a part of our conversation. Obviously very excited and there are a lot of great things out there for people to talk about. … But I really do think these guys are all about the game in front of them.”
Illinois’ 45-19 win over Duke helped legitimize the hype that surrounded the program heading into the season. It also pushed the 2-0 Illini to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, their highest ranking since December 2001.
Bielema said he shared the ranking with his team Sunday but reminded them, with a home game against Western Michigan on tap Saturday, that “every week is an opportunity to improve.”
After reviewing the Duke film, Bielema was particularly pleased with the way the Illini turned things around in the second half.
The Illini had minus-5 rushing yards in the first half, and quarterback Luke Altmyer was sacked four times before halftime against what Bielema said was a “very talented” Duke defensive front. But they bounced back to finish with 123 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and Altmyer didn’t take another sack.
“Super excited about not just the results of the game but the things we had to go through to get there,” Bielema said. “I talked about after the game, it’s not what happened, it’s how you react to what happens. The awareness of our staff to make some adjustments, the comprehension of our players to make those adjustments, the communication to make it all unfold in front of us was really awesome.”
3. Northwestern running back Cam Porter is out for the season.
Cam Porter of the Northwestern Wildcats runs the ball during the first half of the game against Western Illinois Leathernecks at Martin Stadium on Sept. 5, 2025, in Evanston. (Michael Hirschuber/Getty Images)
Cam Porter, in his sixth year at Northwestern, suffered a lower-body injury during Friday’s win over Western Illinois.
Coach David Braun announced Monday that Porter will not play again this season.
“All of us are crushed for Cam,” Braun said. “There’s no one that has worked harder, there’s no one that has invested more in this program than Cam Porter. The thing I’ll also say is there is no one more suited and prepared to still have a profound impact on their team with these types of circumstances than Cam Porter.”
Porter is just the second three-time captain in Northwestern history, along with former Wildcats linebacker Paddy Fisher. He was in meetings Monday morning, and Braun expects him to continue to be present to help lead the team.
“That dude will continue to be one of the best captains we’ve ever had and will continue to lead this football team,” Braun said.
Porter’s injury is an obvious blow for the Wildcats offense as they prepare to face No. 4 Oregon. He rushed for 1,908 yards and 18 touchdowns over four-plus seasons at Northwestern, including 651 yards in 2023 and 501 last season.
Caleb Komolafe (20 carries, 97 yards) and Joseph Himon II (16 carries, 78 yards) are next in line to get more carries with Porter out.
“We’re going to have to be solutions-based here,” Braun said. “But the ball in Caleb Komolafe’s hands, the ball in Joe Himon’s hands, those are things we’re excited about, and they’re going to have to carry on a heavier load with the loss of Cam for sure.”
Originally Published: September 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM CDT