Defense Saves Shaky Irish

On an afternoon when it seemed that neither team wanted or deserved to win, Notre Dame’s defense had the final say. Trailing by 31-24, Louisville took possession near midfield but could not gain traction as Tyler Shough’s long fourth down pass sailed into oblivion. A fitting end to an ugly game marred by turnovers, coaching blunders, injuries, and a few spectacular pass plays.

The first play of the afternoon set the tone for what was to come. Devyn Ford took the opening kickoff for the Fighting Irish and promptly fumbled it away at his own 24. Shough quickly capitalized by hitting Isaac Brown in the corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Undeterred by the awful start, Notre Dame came right back with a well-conceived 75-yard drive. Jeremiah Love covered the last four yards to tie the score at seven.

Then things got weird. The Cardinals fumbled the ensuing kickoff but somehow managed to recover it inside their own ten. On first down, Shough took off on a 40-yard ramble before he was caught from behind. Cornerback Leonard Moore stripped him of the ball and Jaiden Ausberry recovered at the Irish 47. Notre Dame moved into scoring territory before Riley Leonard stunned the Louisville defense with a downfield shot to a wide-open Jaden Greathouse. The 34-yard touchdown gave the hosts a 14-7 advantage just ten minutes into the contest.

The Cards stalled on their next offensive series and dropped back to punt. A poor snap skidded past Brady Hodges and a mad scramble ensued. When the dust cleared, Kennedy Uhrlacher had scooped up the rolling pigskin and advanced it to the Louisville four. Leonard needed only one play to pound it into the end zone for a 21-7 lead.

Notre Dame could not handle prosperity, though. After forcing a Cardinal punt, Jadarian Price promptly fumbled the ball away at his own seven-yard line. Shough turned this gift into seven points with a ridiculous off-balance slingshot to Ja’Corey Brooks at the back of the end zone.

Xavier Watts celebrates after intercepting a Tyler Shough pass

Later, Shough threw his first interception of the season. His pass over the middle hit Brooks in the hands but clanked off them into the grasp of Xavier Watts. Notre Dame had good field position but could not convert a third and one. Mitch Jeter came on and drilled a 48-yard field goal for a 24-14 halftime lead.

The Irish offense went into a coma in the third quarter. Penalties and missed blocks by the offensive line kept punter James Rendell busy. Fortunately, Notre Dame was winning the field position battle and the Cardinals could not sustain their drives. A sack by linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa ended Louisville’s most promising threat in the period.

Notre Dame opened the final stanza in search of a clinching score. Leonard sustained a drive with a fourth down run but came up short on the next series. The Cards responded with a 56-yard field goal by Brock Travelstead to cut the margin to 24-17.

Jeremiah Love reaches the end zone on a 32-yard screen pass.

Leonard regained the momentum for his team on the ensuing possession. His 34-yard pass to Jayden Harrison crossed midfield and lifted the Irish morale. Two plays later, Leonard retreated to his right and threw a screen pass to Love in the left flat. The Louisville defense was nowhere to be found, and Love crashed into the end zone from 32 yards out. Notre Dame led by 31-17 with 9:16 remaining.

Shough was unwilling to concede defeat. He drove his team down the field and hit Brooks with another perfect pass for a 24-yard score at the 5:17 mark. Leading by a touchdown, the Irish had a chance to burn the clock as Louisville had exhausted its timeouts.

At halftime, Coach Marcus Freeman had talked about being aggressive rather than playing not to lose. Unfortunately, Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock did not get the message. He called three successive runs by Leonard into the teeth of the Cardinal defense. These plays gained all of four yards and brought Rendell back onto the field. His short punt gave Louisville a chance to tie the game from its own 45.

Coach Jeff Brohm inexplicably chose to run the ball. Three plays later he faced a fourth and inches at the two-minute warning. When Louisville returned to run its fourth down attempt, the play clock expired and cost them five precious yards. Now forced to pass, Shough heaved one under pressure toward Caullin Lacy. The ball sailed long as Lacy was well covered by Jordan Clark and Adon Shuler. Denbrock then reached into his bag of tricks and called for a kneel down by Leonard to end the game.

Both teams and coaching staffs will have plenty of mistakes to review early this week. When Freeman said in his postgame remarks that he wanted his team to be consistent, I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Once again, the Irish took their fans on a rollercoaster ride. This time, the football gods were merciful.

Let’s look at the answers to our pregame questions:

  • Which defensive line will be able to stuff the run? Louisville’s front four dominated the Irish offensive line and rushing attack. Leonard had 52 of Notre Dame’s paltry 117 yards on the ground. The Irish were gashed for 173 yards on the ground, although the stat sheet shows 131 to account for 42 lost yards on the misfired punt snap. Notre Dame finally stiffened against the run in the fourth quarter, which was very helpful to their cause.
  • Can Notre Dame’s secondary prevent big plays by the Cardinal passing game? No. Shough and his receivers made several outstanding throws and catches. Even Benjamin Morrison was victimized for the Irish. Christian Gray did not play due to a shoulder injury. Freshmen Leonard Moore and Karson Hobbs filled in and did a credible job overall.
  • Will Brohm catch Notre Dame off balance with a trick play? He didn’t need to resort to gimmicks. The Cardinals outgained Notre Dame by 395-280. Their total is really 437 yards when you add back the 42 yards lost on special teams.
  • Can Leonard improve his accuracy and minimize three and out series? Leonard got off to a hot start and made quality throws on the touchdowns to Greathouse and even the screen to Love. He is showing improvement although there is plenty of room left for more.
  • Will the Irish offensive line rise above its recent mediocrity? No, they were awful again and got worse as the game wore on.
  • Can Notre Dame’s special teams contribute in a positive way? A mixed bag. Ford’s fumble was inexcusable. The recovery by Uhrlacher to set up a touchdown evened the score in this department. Notre Dame won the battle of field position most of the day until the last series when Rendell hit a lousy punt at the worst possible time.
  • Which team will commit key mistakes and turnovers? Louisville had not committed a turnover this season until they hit the trifecta in this game. Numerous penalties and horrible play calls by both coaches were also part of the equation. Two fumbles by the Irish were particularly careless.
  • Will Denbrock be predictable or can he keep the Louisville defense off balance? Denbrock looked competent on the opening drive by Notre Dame but he quickly reverted to awful. His final series was undoubtely the worst representation of Notre Dame football in the history of the program. Is it entirely his fault? Maybe not. He has to call the plays he believes the team can execute (see below).

There were three other notable takeaways from this game. One was the disturbing number of injuries suffered by both teams. Notre Dame’s Boubacar Traore appeared to have a lower leg issue that did not look good. Jack Kiser limped off the field in the final period as did guard Sam Pendleton. Jack Swarbrick may be gone but his awful fake turf will continue to haunt the program.

The second was the difference in tackling prowess and overall aggression by the back seven of each defense. Louisville’s linebackers and secondary flew to the ball and arrived in an angry mood. Comparatively, the Irish had far too many whiffs, arm tackles, and yards surrendered after contact. That needs to be fixed.

Third, Notre Dame’s offensive line is a hot mess. Attrition has wreaked havoc with this group as several backups have been forced into action. Still, the execution should be better. Intensity is lacking, which is why there are so many penalties. Too many plays go nowhere due to breakdowns up front. Love rarely has room to run while Leonard is taking some vicious shots. Denbrock gets much of the blame but his play calls are not all bad. The players would make him look a lot smarter if they did their jobs more often.

It was an exhausting afternoon for everyone who played or watched this drama. It contained an endless supply of momentum swings fueled by great plays and boneheaded errors. The Irish have a bye week before playing Stanford on October 12. While the players could use extra time to deal with their physical infirmaries, the fans are much more deserving of a mental health break.

Tell John what you think in the Comments section below.

78 thoughts on “Defense Saves Shaky Irish

    • John: I checked this site about midnight EDT and didn’t see your post. Glad to see it this afternoon.
      As a Domer living in Louisville I can now better deal with the local Cardinals fan base, but I harbor the same concerns about our Irish that you mentioned.

      It’s nearly October and we still have so much to correct!

      Thanks as always for your column. Go Irish!☘️🍀

    • Probably bc it was hot garbage. You continue to be a miserable buffoon.
      Your take on this game is much different than many well respected journalists who actually earn a living from their work.

      The retirement home is calling. You should answer it.

      • Jerome McKeever says:

        Is “Mike” the screen name of Riley Leonard’s mother?

        The freshman, C J Carr, is the best quarterback on the roster, but since the Irish O-Line is such a clear and present danger to anyone playing in the Notre Dame backfield, it’s probably best for Carr’s future that he watch and not play.

        • I am taking my grandson to the ND/Navy game. I am x-Navy and root for Navy except when they play ND. The way ND is playing now, Navy could give them a run for the money.

    • Well it was nice to see Leonard make some good throws this game. Also nice to be wrong in that Louisville didn’t eat ND’s lunch. But your summary, John, is accurate – so much is lacking. There is evidence this team is improving but it still feels like the program is run by novices who have a lot to learn. Did Faison get hurt?

  1. Your column just appeared on my phone, John, so technical glitches went along with all the glitches on the football field 🫣
    That last series of plays when ND couldn’t manage a first down was just awful. You’re right, John, our mental health needs a two week break

  2. Time To Admit, we are a mediocre football team that on occasion will rally. Leonard is a bad portal choice, develop the QB talent we have! Freeman is inconsistent and shows bad judgment time and again!

    • Agree completely! I hope that ND will do away with this business of one year quarterbacks from the portal. Angeli played very well when he had to step in for last year’s bowl game. He deserves a shot. Of course if we can’t fix our offensive line issues it will all be moot.

  3. I didn’t get it on my TV – I only get NBC and from this description I didn’t miss much at all.

    Watching Kentucky beat Ole Miss was a pleasure, but the Bama – Georgia game was a whizbanger from start to finish – the last few minutes were amazing!!.

    So far Texas, Bama, Georgia, OSU and (I HATE to say this) UM look good – Texas whipped their butt good a few weeks ago in Ann Arbor and they seem to have learned from that. To me it looks like this – we can’t compete with those 4 or 5 athletically and they can’t compete with us scholastically.

    One more thing – UCLA and USC in the Big 10 – that ain’t right.

    • You think UM looks good and if on par with those teams? Their offense is even worse than NDs! And this is against defenses such as Arkansas St, USC, and Minnesota. They will soon be exposed.

  4. A bit more negative than need be. But the two deep fumbles were terrible, and should lead to a loss. If you took all 4 turnovers away( not the int) I think we come out even better-maybe 21-10. And Love did Love things on the screen TD. At least 3 defenders had a shot but hipped by them.
    Finally, progress from Riley the most important development
    And I love the young defenders! Only going to get better.

  5. I looked for your recap last night and it wasn’t here? Anyway, it was no surprise to me we would depend upon the defense to end the game. It’s an awfully frustrating pattern. Louisville was in our backfield all day long. I wonder how Price and Love are feeling about this mess, injuries to the OL notwithstanding. John, in addressing the lack of intensity, it sounds like you’re saying we’re soft. That sounds like a cultural problem.

  6. This game went pretty much the way I expected. After the opening fumble recovery and ensuing touchdown by Louisville, ND took the lead and never gave it up. Two things impress me about this team: 1) the young talent is very good and speaks to Freeman’s ability to recruit (Hint to Marcus: you don’t need to use the portal…just keep recruiting good players out of high school) and 2) Coach Freeman is finally maturing as a sideline coach. I like his future. This won’t be THE year but the future is very, very bright. After 30 years of frustration I’m starting to enjoy ND football with real hope for the future. NIU was the turning point for Marcus Freeman. He’s a changed man.

  7. As usual Mr Vannie your synopsis is spot on. Watching this version of Irish football is like getting a tooth pulled without pain numbing save for the Purdue game. Is it me or does ND fail to improve as season progresses? This goes back to Kelly years.
    I’m still going back to what I said when Freeman was hired. Other than Rockne, name a ND head coach hired with no HC experience that was successful. You can’t or ever will. WE ARE ND! I wish the administration believed that.

  8. I didn’t watch the game, but it’s obvious from the box score and play-by-play, the offense is a joke. The head coach isn’t HC material, proved by the offense and his overly emotional and unintelligent approach on offense. He reminds me of Bob Davie.The bright spot is the defense, but the D-line is too weak to compete at the highest levels. Obviously, Angeli needs to start, Riley is overrated.

  9. 1) So we know for sure we have a mediocre team. A lot of good players but a QB who can’t throw downfield and an injured offensive line. And it takes 3 opponent turnovers to put a basketball school away at home despite the promise to “start fast,” “be consistent,” and “play to win rather than to not lose.” All talk, no understanding of how to implement. Just another year.
    2) How do we possibly have the ball with more than 5 minutes left and only a 7-point lead and, instead of driving down the field as winners do to put the game away, we go three and out and the calls are two runs directly into the line of scrimmage and a third that results in a sideways/backward run and giving Louisville the ball with plenty of time to tie the game? Playing to win versus to not lose? What a joke. Thank goodness Louisville self-imploded with the penalty because it was about to get ugly. Back up your words, Marcus.
    3) Our offense is bad and is certainly not good enough to overcome the frequent self-inflicted penalties.
    4) Louisville ran all over us.
    5) JV, thank you for this beauty: “…Riley Leonard stunned the Louisville defense with a downfield shot…”
    6) Very much agree with the turf comment—the Kentucky blue grass was special and consistent with the past authenticity of the program and its values
    7) I’m tired of Jason Garrett complimenting the sprint-out passes that are either dropped, thrown poorly, or result in 2-yard gains. Actually, I’m just tired of Jason Garrett and his useless comments. I’ve learned nothing from him.

  10. My impression of the first half was the coaches are lost and Leonard’s performance was only fool’s gold. The never ending self-inflicted penalties are best exemplified by a DB who head butted a receiver after the play was over, giving Louisville’s offense new life. That happened last week. First Pete then repeat. Clearly the coaches cannot instill discipline as the same dumb mistakes continue unabated.
    Leonard put on a clinic in the second half for all opposing coaches to see how to stop him. Just crowd the line and you stop his runs. Occasionally he hits some big passes but those are few and far between. A championship team doesn’t go 3 and out at a critical juncture. Everyone knew Leonard would run all three downs and not get a first down. The coaches were clearly afraid to attempt any passes because a scatter-shot arm and a QB who can’t find an open receiver is riskier than relying on our defense.
    The team is painful to watch. They will need every bit of the next two weeks to get ready for a lousy Stanford team. I think I’ve seen this movie before.

  11. I also didn’t see the post until an hour or so ago.

    This is a decent top 25 team, but clearly not a top 10 team in the same league as the front runners. The easy schedule makes this top 25 ranking possible. If this team were playing in the SEC, I dread to think of its record.

    Plus, those white pants were stupid……

  12. Your excellent summary did not come up until just recently.

    After watching the end of GA and AL, plus a bunch of other games, I have reluctantly concluded that our offense is not in the same league with these top teams and is not going to be this year. Without a competent dynamic qb, I think we will lose at least one more game, not including usc.

  13. Hi John- laser sharp post game analysis, as always, thank you.

    I believe the lack of aggression is at the base of a lot of ND’s angst. We don’t seem to have any Goolsby’s, Waltons, or Stam’s out there- or Aaron Taylors either. There are football drills to work on this- wonder if Marcus knows any of them?

  14. Mark Policinski says:

    There are two overriding questions: What did Freeman see in Leonard to make him THE portal QB to pursue? His strength is running. What was the last team to win a Nati with a running QB?

  15. Your summary is spot on. Its clarity and accuracy can not be reasonably questioned by anyone who watched the game closely. thank you. FWIW, for where I stand, the problems with the offense are all due to the O-line, and are worsened by the all-too-often sketchy at best play-calling. PS: Only able to find the summary this afternoon. Thanks for your efforts.

    • V you on the money with your analysis of the game ; your last paragraph is a great summary. I was listening to the game when we hit 31 , I felt a sigh of relief , only for Louisville to strike back for a TD. Now I’m going to say what the radio announcer said we can put this game away with two first downs. Didn’t happen then of all things at the worst time a short punt. Thanks to our defense they shut Louisville down . An ugly win but a win . Go Irish!

  16. I know I am not the only one to think this. ND is good enough to finish the year 11-1 but unlikely. Even if they do, I cannot see them winning a playoff game against a higher ranked team. The D is very good but not great. The offense, and I’m being Mr. Obvious here, just cannot compete with the elite teams. I fear ND would get crushed by 21+ points.

  17. John – thanks for another honest recap. This was by far one of the most bizarre wins by the Irish. From a positive standpoint with all the injuries ND underclassmen are getting valuable playing time. The negative is the lack of basic football fundamentals of blocking and tackling. Careless penalties – 15 yards because the ND defensive back head butts the Louisville receiver away from the ball ! False starts by offensive line and even watching on Tv i read Coach Freeman saying ” we are F-ing undisciplined ! ” Who is responsible for that ? The Head Coach. Stop coddling and start showing leadership. Again way too many 3 and outs – the defense is on the field way too much. Open it up on offense , show some deception. Was that the first screen pass that went for a TD we have seen this year ? The bye week comes at a good time for the players who need to decide what direction they want to go,for the Coaching staff to get back to basics and put in a more fast paced offense and for the fans who have been waiting for all the preseason hype to show on a consistent basis.

  18. The Purdue game was a total aberration. A team that depends on their opponent’s mistakes, instead of their own skilsl, will usually lose.

    That is this year’s Irish.

  19. Hey John, I know you said it was an ugly win. However, it was a win vs a good team!! This win now gives Coach Freeman 9 victories vs top 25 teams!! I feel that is pretty impressive for just 2.5 years as a head coach!! Go Irish beat Stanford!!!!

    • Joe, ND got a lot of help from Louisville to come away with a victory. They made more mistakes than the Irish and are probably kicking themselves today. As you say, we will take a win any way we can get one but this team has plenty of issues to address.

      • John, I generally agree with 99% of your write-ups but really didn’t get the feeling that this was that bad. I watched game with a bunch of Domers drinking Teeling Irish whiskey at a great Irish bar in Northern New Jersey. Agree with a lot of what you said ,certainly the fumbles,stupid penalties and late game play calling. But I saw progress with Riley and some good defensive play. The 3 touchdowns that Louisville got through the air were pretty spectacular ( at least the first and last) . Don’t think our really good d backs could do much more as a perfect pass is hard to stop. And Louisville is a good team . The injuries are really mounting up and, yes, O line is not good – I believe lack of experience and injuries. Still I felt progress and maybe the bye week will help. And after bama georgia game , I agree not at that level. Still with our weak schedule could still make playoffs. I think a lot of the younger guys are going to improve by end of year. So i guess i am more optimistic or maybe it was just the Irish Whiskey.

    • @Joe barrett

      You are so on point here–ND under Freeman is 9-4 against Top 25 teams–yes, some maddening losses–(Not sure how Wittingham, Kiffen and their respective fan bases are feeling today) and Freeman is recruiting at a very high level. There is no longer a massive Catholic HS infrastructure that feeds the ND machine that ran so smoothly under Ara and Lou (Air Force v Holtz anyone?) and managing the portal -or not-(see Dabo Sweeney critique) is a skill that every coach is learning on the fly.

      FSU is a perfect example of how quickly things go sideways in college FB these days. Freeman is going to continue to develop, he’s going to continue to be a fantastic representation of what young players aspire to as people–and when a critical mass of those players are on the sideline–3&4 deep at critical positions–ND wins a natty. Right now, there is only a 2-3 deep group and injuries are super impactful.

  20. To drive home the point of your last sentence, I was 76 years old at kickoff and 86 at games end. As to your column, like others it didn’t appear until much later.

  21. JVAN,

    What drives many of us crazy, is that the Irish are always around the top ten recruiting classes every year, and yet, they never seem to play like a top ten team consistently..

    Poor coaching by MF, and many of his staff. As I’ve said a hundred times, the OL is a mess…

    We’re no way near being able to compete with Alabama, Georgia etc… And that is not acceptable anymore…

    Another year of the same mistakes and excuses.

    We’ll take the win but it’s just bad football on many levels..

  22. John: Congratulations for being the only one in the media who accurately indicated that Christian Gray was injured and unlikely to play.

    I do have to call you out though for blaming the browsers of those of us who faithfully read your articles and post their own thoughts on this board for the fact that your article did not post until sometime around 1:00 p.m. EDT. I checked several times starting around 7:30 a.m. It was still not there when we returned from church around noon. So, it is clear that the problem was on your end.

    I have to also say that this was one of the most negative articles that you have ever written, to the best of my recollection. In reading it, if you didn’t know the final score, you would have thought we lost the game. I additionally have to call out your comment about Denbrock’s play calling where you said: “His final series was undoubtedly the worst representation of Notre Dame football in the history of the program.” While I agree that the play calling on that series of downs was very questionable, candidly, that comment was over the top.

    My overall take on the game is simple. With the huge number of injuries that we have had this season to starting players, including several more during this game, to still emerge victorious against a very good football team like Louisville is terrific and should be celebrates. IMHO, the better team won and deserved to win. But who cares? The bottom line is that we won the game. That’s all that matters. As for Leonard, it should be obvious to anyone who has even a modicum of objectivity that his passing is improving game by game.

    Final thought – I think there is a very good chance that ND can run the table for the remainder of the regular season, provided we can get some of the injured players back onto the field and avoid additional injuries to other players.

    • Mike Coffey is looking into the delay with the posting. It worked for me and I got confirmation it was published and viewable. The rest is beyond my technical expertise.

      As to Denbrock, I did say later that he is limited in what plays he can call because the execution is so poor. The offensive line is not good.

      Yes, the Irish won and that’s always good but this team is playing below the talent level and won’t finish 11-1. God help them against a really good team if they sneak into the playoffs. Louisville is not that good which is why I picked ND to win.

  23. An ugly win is better than a loss and an ugly win it was. This was a weird game where aside from the miscues ND looked like a playoff caliber team in the first quarter then during stretches of the second and third quarter looked like the team that lost to NIU. Then in the fourth quarter it was somewhere in between with ND making just enough plays to escape with a win.

    The offensive line gets blown up and manhandled at times. I realize three guys are second stringers but they were highly rated out of high school. On the last drive I was scratching my head at running Leonard three times straight up the gut. It’s easy for me to say but a first down would have iced the game but it seemed Denbrock wanted to go ultraconservative and avoid a turnover.

    There have been so many special teams miscues this year that I don’t see how special teams coach Biagi keeps his job.

    I expect more ugly wins but if ND makes the playoffs they will definitely get exposed and it won’t be pretty.

  24. Get rid of the poor play ay QB. My god we have a qb that can change the game with his arm, but we sit him on the bench. If you spread out the defence then the run game comes back, dont our coaches see that

  25. This is a very frustrating team to watch on offense.. the coaching appears to be all over the place at times.. it also seems like we rarely see a well coached team in all phases of the game..However, it is nice to emerge with a victory even though this is a very flawed team. We need help on the defensive line with some beef up front and more consistent offensive line play although we are a mash unit out there with myriad of injuries. I’m not sure how Freeman’s tenure will turn out but am hoping he is able to progress and develop quarterbacks and stop going to the portal while hopefully getting much needed receiver help. This program has been inconsistent for decades and needs to show that they can win often and be explosive in order to attract the best players academic requirements notwithstanding. Stanford actually plays smart football and doesn’t have the talent we have these days. Watching Notre Dame has been difficult these days. It would be nice to witness a team that can seriously compete for and win a title in my lifetime..

  26. ♥️#501988🍀🏈💪 says:

    What am I going to say that you haven’t hit on JV? On target as usual! Well here is mine….
    1.) We are not a PLAYOFF Team so leave it there.
    2.) Denbrock better use these two weeks to FIX this Lethargic Offense will MANY weapons!!!!!!
    3.) Someone better kick Rocco Spindler in his butt!!!!!
    4.) For the LOVE OF GOD NO MORE FRIGGIN GREEN JERSEYS!!!! WE ARE NOTRE DAME, GOLD AND NAVY BLUE!!!!! WE HAVE THE BEST NAME IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE OREGON!!!!! 🙄

  27. Final thought. In order to make the playoffs Notre Dame needs to win the rest of their games. And even that might not be enough due to the failed “eye test” of the loss to NIU. A change at QB changes the narrative, which centers on our struggles at the quarterback position. Even die hard fans struggle to watch our ineffective offense. No one wants to watch Notre Dame embarrass itself again in the playoffs and that will be the perception of the media and the selection committee. Give new teams like Ole Miss and UNLV an opportunity to showcase themselves vs. an uninspiring, cringe-worthy Irish team may be an unspoken mindset that hurts us in the final analysis. A new, play-making QB can catch people’s imagination and excuse the worst loss in our history.
    BTW, why did Freeman bring in wide receivers from the portal for a running QB that can’t get the ball to them?

  28. As much as I hated ND’s final offensive series with three QB runs, it took a lot of time off the clock. Looking back, I think USC would have liked to have called three runs before kicking the ball to Michigan last week taking valuable time off the clock.

    Ugly win, however, taking time off the clock and relying on your defense, I think was the right call by the Coach. Showed in game coaching growth to me. I still think ten years big time college football head coaching experience is minimum for a championship head coach, though

    • Kevin, I think you miss the larger point. ND took time off the clock but a first down there would have ended the game. After Rendell’s poor punt there was plenty of time remaining for Louisville to tie the score. Their delay of game blunder gave ND the win. As many mistakes as the Irish made on Saturday, Louisville uncharacteristically made more. You can’t count on that happening every week (see the Ohio State game last year).

      ND’s offensive series flew in the face of Freeman’s stated intent to play to win rather than play not to lose. It was crap football but ND got lucky this time.

  29. It was really encouraging to see some of the freshmen step up in this game the way we did. The depth on defense is really showing. While not pretty, ND found a way to win this game, which likely wouldn’t have happened in prior years. The good news is that the team still has a chance to get it right and find a way to get better, which needs to happen quickly if it will have any chance making it to the playoffs (like over the next 2 weeks). The offense is still too one dimensional and overly dependent on Riley who has somewhat helped to mitigate a weak offensive line. If you contain Riley as Northern Illinois did, who else is much of a threat? A passing oriented QB won’t do much without an effective offensive line or any speedy receivers. While the defensive depth has improved, they are still getting gashed, especially on the ground. How many times have seen opposing teams pick up a first down running the ball on 3rd and long? Until these areas improved, there are no gimme games on the schedule this year, and making the playoffs is a pipe dream. If anyone thinks Southern Cal is the next big test, think again. Navy has a QB that can both run and pass – a type of QB ND has not really faced yet. I just hope the team finds a way to improve and pleasantly surprise us down the stretch. At least we have a coach now that understands it starts and ends with him, and that’s why I remain hopeful.

  30. This is a good team, but it is nothing special.

    And – is anyone as sick as I am about their bringing out the green jerseys all the damn time? It seems that right now they’re expected about once a year, and to me that means next to nothing – it’s nothing more than a marketing tool. .

    On the other hand – When you haven’t seen them in years and you DON’T expect to see them – Especially the team – what a blast they are – e.g. USC in 1977.

    They’ll sell a lot of them, but that is getting a bit old.

    like me

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