"I got a little choked up": Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame left former coach Urban Meyer teary-eyed

On Thursday, coach Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Georgia Bulldogs 23–10 to win the Sugar Bowl and advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals. The Fighting Irish's dominant performance showed that a team not in the Southeastern Conference or Big Ten can go on a deep playoff run.

Former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer, who won three national championships in his career, appeared on "The Triple Option" podcast on Saturday. In the episode, he talked about watching Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame win and how it made him emotional.

"Notre Dame, only a certain kind of player will go there," he said. (13:15) "Academics are a premium, it's not the online. I don't know their NIL, they must be doing really well with that because they have a really good team. But I watched those players speak, I've been there, I know that culture. I got a little choked up watching Notre Dame just put it all over an SEC team that a few years ago you never would have thought that would have happened.

I was at the Notre Dame vs Alabama National Championship and it was big boys vs, I mean Alabama just took them all over the field. So that was a great moment for the subway alums of Notre Dame, for the coaching staff, and most importantly the players. But man enjoy that because I'm telling you look at that, it's seven degrees right now in South Bend, and they're trying to recruit players. I'm telling you, there's only a certain type of player you can get out there. You gotta live in a dorm, it used to be four years. And some dorms don't have air conditioning, and it's just a rugged rugged environment. Academically you gotta be on your toes man. You gotta be real interested in academia to go to Notre Dame."

Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals

Marcus Freeman's team advanced to the College Football Playoff seminals with its win over Georgia. Despite having a great season, it was not favored to get this far but persevered, defeating Indiana and Georgia.

With the win, the Fighting Irish advance to the Orange Bowl where they will play the Penn State Nittany Lions. The game will kick off on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.