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Notre Dame Football

Instant Reaction | Stanford 16 Notre Dame 14

October 16, 2022
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Things were bad during Brian Kelly’s first season. Notre Dame started 1-3 before getting back to a winning record in October.

Then things got really bad.

Back to back losses to Navy and Tulsa were ugly. It was not looking very promising for the rest of the season and beyond for Kelly while playing a true freshman quarterback, but things flipped in the right direction to close things out. The Irish played dominant defense down the stretch and won their final four games.

This isn’t me saying, “Don’t worry, folks. Things were bad in year one for Kelly and they got it turned around.”

This is me saying, “Remember losing to Navy and Tulsa in 2010? Losing to Marshall and Stanford this year is just as bad.”

That’s the harsh reality of losing tonight’s game for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame. They lost to a very bad Stanford team. Combine that with losing to a Marshall team who we now know is also bad and this is the lowest point for the program in a long time.

- The first half for the offense was as bad as any performance I can remember.

3.3 yards per play was awful. The offense was horrific against a defense that had played as bad or worse than any Power 5 program in the country.

It’s inexcusable and the fact that it happened for the third time this season is beyond comprehension.

My initial reaction is that this game felt worse for Tommy Rees than Marshall. He certainly wasn’t helped by players dropping passes or fumbling the football, but even if someone took those plays away, it would still be bad for the offense.

- The 2nd and long run calls need to die a quick death.

- I have a lot of questions about how Notre Dame uses Chris Tyree and why it took so long to get Audric Estime his first touch in the game.

- This wasn’t Drew Pyne’s first game, although it looked like it at times.

He wasn’t the same quarterback who thrived in the previous two matchups. His completion percentage dropped 31 points and his decision-making, accuracy, and overall consistency made him look like a guy who was filling in as the backup rather than the guy who could possibly take over the job.

I don’t think he’ll lose the starting job over this, but this kind of game is a reminder that Notre Dame needs to have Steve Angeli as ready as possible because if a quarterback is struggling as much as Pyne was in this game, then there needs to be an alternative option.

They need a “break glass in case of emergency” option at the very least because this kind of start can’t happen again.

- Throwing the ball short of the sticks on 4th and 8 to end the game was…a choice. Should it have been a flag? Probably, but if you’re relying on getting a flag in that situation, you’re going to end up with a bad result almost every time.

- 3 of 12 on 3rd downs in this game is bad enough, but this was back to what they did against Cal where they were only 1 of 7 on 3rd and 5+. So many of those were plays where Pyne was locked on to Michael Mayer even when he was covered.

- Notre Dame held Stanford to their lowest point total of the season and their lowest YPP (4.8). They also had the unfortunate luck of forcing two fumbles with both being recovered by Stanford. The one Notre Dame did recover got called back and it probably shouldn’t have been overturned, but that play was not why the Irish lost this game.

Did the defense deserve better? Yes, especially considering they were missing TaRiq Bracy, Jayson Ademilola, and had a hobbled Howard Cross.

- Tobias Merriweather and Prince Kollie…yes, please. The team needs a more dynamic element and these two provided that in this game.

- Could the defense have done more? The answer is also yes.

7 of 16 on 3rd down for Stanford is far too many. They also gave up too many yards on 3rd downs to allow for easier field goal opportunities for Stanford. The defensive backs missed tackles and they desperately need someone from the secondary to make a play.

The Irish came into this game 130th in passes defended and only added one in this game. The Havoc Rate was bad again (7.4%).

The defense lacks playmakers. Sure, Stanford had a specific game plan to avoid Tanner McKee hanging in the pocket, but this is about more than that. I think some of it is scheme and some of it is talent.

The unfortunate part is that the team might need the defense to be much more than they’ve shown they can be if they want to have a 2010 like turn around.

- The honeymoon was over after Marshall, but now this is a different beast. Whereas days ago people were talking about Notre Dame possibly running the table the rest of the season, this game provided the unpleasant reality that this team isn’t good.

Any team that plays like this could take an L to anyone, which means that everyone Notre Dame plays can beat them.

This team isn’t good, yet they still should be 5-1. Even if they did come through in those close losses like some of Brian Kelly’s teams would during the previous five seasons, it would have been more cover for the fact that this program needs to be light years better than they are right now.

If it wasn’t hard enough for Freeman already, it’s about to get much more difficult. He needs to do enough to get the program back on track and might need to make some tough decisions when he evaluates what’s going on at the moment. This isn’t a blip. This is who Notre Dame is.

The vibes might have looked good again for a brief period, but screw the vibes the rest of this season. They need to win and they need to not let things crumble with the current team and the recruiting class. That feels like it’s going to be a lot more work than it appeared to be even a few days ago.

 
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