6 Thoughts on a Thursday
Notre Dame had several players injured during camp. That’s not atypical in the month of August, but it’s also not ideal, especially when the first game of the season is against Ohio State.
They lost Avery Davis to a non-contact injury and Marcus Freeman did say that Jarrett Patterson is practicing, but questionable for the game. Outside of that, the roster is healthy and should be ready to roll into Columbus.
All of those injuries scared some Notre Dame fans. They know they can’t expect the Irish to beat OSU if they aren’t healthy. I know one thing, though. There is zero chance Notre Dame is going to come out of there with a win if they aren’t physically prepared to dominate, which is why the early part of camp was essential in preparation for this game.
Now, some people might think that this is a new coach laying the foundation for what he wants the program to be. There may be some truth to that. Freeman has admitted he wants to be an offensive and defensive line driven program and he can’t preach that if they aren’t practicing in a way that backs up his words.
I happen to believe that it has as much to do with knowing that the path to beat Ohio State is to be the better team up front on both sides of the ball.
Freeman spoke about the injuries this week and the intensity of camp early on and it’s clear there was a reason behind why he chose to run camp the way he did. He explained it to the players as well.
"I told them, you gotta trust me. You gotta trust me. We're gonna beat them up the first couple of weeks of practice. It's the only way I know and it's what I believed it was going to take to really get this team ready to play football. But once we got to that point where I said, OK, we're ready to go, this team is ready physically to play at a game level.
“Now we got to be smart in terms of getting these guys that are game ready to get back for the game. I'm really pleased with our athletic training staff and the work they've done. It's also a credit to our guys that have worked their tails off in the training room to get treatment and rehab to get them back here. Those guys are ready. They're ready to go. Now, the preparation doesn't stop. The mental. A little bit of the physical, but we're not tackling guys to the ground and things like that anymore.
“I believe that's what it took to get this team really to get ready to go in. We had some injuries. That is what the fall camp is about and what training camp is about. I wouldn't change it. I think they'll be ready to roll on Saturday."
As mentioned in this week’s Ohio State scouting report, in OSU’s 11 wins they rushed for 6.5 yards per carry. In the two losses they rushed for 3.1. On defense they gave up only 2.93 YPC in their wins. In their losses they gave up 7.16 YPC.
If Notre Dame tries to go back and forth trading explosive plays with the Buckeyes, it’s a game they are going to lose 10 times out of 10. They need to make this a 12-round slugfest so they have to be ready to go the distance. The plan has to be that and the camp they just went through should have them prepared to do so.
2. I love the confidence of Jayson Ademilola going into this game. It’s not something that most guys aren’t thinking anyway. He just said it out loud.
Talking about it is one thing and backing it up is another, but that’s why they play the games. One reason why I think Ademilola is going to back up those words is how he played at the end of the 2020 season. He was banged up for a good chunk of that year, but came back and played his two best games against Clemson and Alabama. I don’t think the moment will be too big for him.
Even for the guys who still have a lot to prove this year, there’s a lot of them who have stepped up in big spots.
Tyler Buchner hasn’t started a game, but he did lead a two-minute drill for a touchdown in a hostile environment in Blacksburg. Marist Liufau disrupted the North Carolina offense with his blitzing in a huge game on the road in 2020. Lorenzo Styles had big plays against USC and North Carolina in prime time last season and had a monster performance in the bowl game. Brandon Joseph made a ridiculous one-handed interception against Ohio State in a Big Ten Championship game.
There’s a lot of players on this Notre Dame team who should come in with confidence that they can make plays in this type of game because they have proven they aren’t scared of the moment.
3. One guy who definitely isn’t scared of the moment is Isaiah Foskey. He’s been turning heads since he blocked a punt that helped swing the momentum of the 2019 Stanford game and last year he broke through as a consistent pass rush threat. Notre Dame needs him to take that next step this season and it sounds like he has.
The bigger issue for him is that he’s going to receive a lot more attention when it comes to protection schemes. He’ll be chipped by tight ends and running backs way more and will see a much higher percentage of double teams. One way to combat that is to move him around so the offense isn’t quite sure where he’ll be rushing from. I think we’re going to see more of that on 3rd down this season with him lined up inside more often than he has been to take advantage of his explosiveness against guards. I’m thinking of something similar to Julian Okwara lining up as a 3-tech against Clemson in 2018.
The Irish were running a Bear front in that game and that’s something I wouldn’t be surprised to see on Saturday night against OSU as well. Foskey told PFF that there is a chance we might see him in a three-point stance in some instances this season and this could be when we first see it.
4. There’s going to be a big emphasis on not giving up big plays in the passing game against CJ Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and everybody else and the problems JSN presents as a slot receiver are why it’s hard to imagine Al Golden not playing with some version of a nickel on the field on most snaps.
I do think they are going to be in 11 (one back, one tight end) and 10 personnel (one back, no tight end) on a significant amount of plays and that will force Notre Dame to match personnel. They can’t stay in base against those receivers.
At the same time, Ohio State will have TreVeyon Henderson in the backfield and they have to stop the run as well without dedicating a ton of extra bodies in the box.
This is where “big nickel” could factor in with three safeties and Ramon Henderson playing as that nickel defender. It would be more on early downs than 3rd down. It’s one solution to being able to defend the run better with that third linebacker off the field.
Michigan played with their nickel, Daxton Hill, on the field on 71 of 81 defensive snaps versus OSU last season. They still managed to shut down OSU’s run game allowing only 64-yards on the ground (2.13 yard per carry) and they did it with a front six, not seven.
5. To have a game like this on a college campus to open the season and then to have Ohio State come to Notre Dame next year is special. It is different from Oregon playing Georgia in Atlanta. How much better would that game be if it was being played in Autzen Stadium?
Most programs don’t want to travel to play tough games on the road against non-conference opponents. Some might even be allergic to it.
For all of the credit Nick Saban has received and deserves for building a dynasty at Alabama, it is a complete joke that their game at Texas this season will be the first time they have faced a non-conference Power 5 opponent in a true road game since 2011. They have had some early season matchups with big opponents, but all of them have been played at a neutral site.
Imagine if Notre Dame only agreed to play Ohio State or Georgia in a Shamrock Series game. The outrage from everyone who hates the Irish would burn brighter than a thousand suns.
I get why no one would want to play a top tier program like OSU on the road to open the season. I get why Notre Dame fans would be against it as well because it would be a lot better to play a middle tier Power 5 team at a neutral site because the odds of winning would be a lot higher. That all makes sense.
However, there is something undeniable about how special this type of game is compared to it being played at an NFL stadium. I wish we saw more games like this every year and it wasn’t just Notre Dame playing in them.
6. We’re going to see Marcus Freeman coach his first game with his staff this weekend. No matter the result, there are going to be overreactions to it.
If Notre Dame gets run out of the building, there’s going to be a lot of people suggesting that he’s in over his head.
Or maybe he was just put in an incredibly difficult situation for his first game having to face an offense that some are suggesting could be as good as the one LSU had in 2019.
If the Irish upset the Buckeyes or lose a tight game against what could be a national championship team, a lot of people will be saying he is going to be the guy who is finally going to lead Notre Dame to a national championship again and this was the start of something special.
Or maybe it’s just one game and coaching at Notre Dame is a marathon, not a sprint. (See Weis, Charlie)
I’m excited about the start of the Marcus Freeman era. Very excited. I do think that, regardless of the result on Saturday, he’s someone who could end up taking Notre Dame to the level that Brian Kelly couldn’t. I think that’s true, but I don’t know if it will happen yet. I still won’t know after Saturday either.
It will be just as important to see how he and the program reacts after the game, win or lose. That will tell me more than one game because I think Charlie Weis thought Notre Dame was close after losing the Bush Push game. That ended up being fool’s gold.
If Notre Dame beats Ohio State this weekend, there is still work to be done to get Notre Dame to where they want to be. The one thing I do feel confident in is that Freeman is supremely motivated to not stop working until he gets them there.
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