Marcus Freeman Gets 1st Win with Notre Dame as Twitter Questions His Job Security

Marcus Freeman is finally in the win column as Notre Dame's head coach after the Fighting Irish earned a 24-17 victory over California on Saturday in South Bend, Indiana.

Drew Pyne hit Michael Mayer on a six-yard touchdown pass to put Notre Dame ahead 24-17 with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for Freeman, his team's performance won't help to get the skeptics off his back.

The logic behind promoting Freeman to the top job was sound. The 36-year-old was a high-level assistant on the rise and poised to get a head coaching opportunity somewhere in the near future. Given his age, he can lead a program for a decade or more and provide a lot of long-term stability as well.

But the extent of Freeman's learning curve was clearly underestimated.

Freeman's defensive influence was evident toward the end, though. Isaiah Foskey in particular wreaked havoc on the Cal offensive line in the fourth quarter.

Things don't get much easier for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish hit the road to play 3-0 North Carolina, which has had a week off to prepare. From there, they have a date with 12th-ranked BYU on Oct. 8 in Las Vegas.

Maybe Saturday represents a turning point. Freeman will certainly hope so.