Notre Dame Must Regroup in Trenches After Miami Loss, Eyes Improvement Before Texas A&M
If Marcus Freeman wanted outside opinions, he wouldn’t have to look far. Social media and message boards have been buzzing with suggestions after Notre Dame’s 27-24 loss to Miami on Sunday night.
The Fighting Irish certainly didn’t play like a top 10 team at Hard Rock Stadium, but it’s very likely the loss will be the program’s worst game of the year, as players and teams do improve.
Former college head coach Nick Saban, who may know a thing or two about the game, reminded people that teams can improve when discussing Alabama’s disappointing loss to Florida State.
“The good news is, every team has the best opportunity to improve from week one to week two,” explained Saban. “Going into the season, you don’t really know what you have for sure as a coach and you’re always anxious about what might happen in the first game.
“I’m sure they’re all disappointed, but they do have a great chance to improve from week one to week two. That’s when you usually make the biggest improvement. LSU, Miami and Ohio State all really impressed me, but I think Texas, Notre Dame and Clemson all have a really good chance to have great teams this year if they make the progress they’re capable of.”
Notre Dame is in a unique spot following the loss, as they have a bye week. It can be a positive, as it gives the Irish an extra week to find answers and do some soul searching before Texas A&M comes to South Bend. The negative aspect would be that Notre Dame isn’t playing on Saturday, so those emotions from the loss won’t be released anytime soon.
Where does Notre Dame need to improve? It starts in the trenches. The defensive line failed to generate pressure with four for most of the night. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash and defensive line coach Al Washington need to find personnel who can consistently get to the quarterback or find ways to bring more pressure to the home.
“We've got to be better with our four-man rushes,” stated head coach Marcus Freeman. “If we need to blitz five, we will. But you're not going to be really successful on defense if you can't get pressure on the quarterback with four-man rushes. I felt like they did a good job protecting the quarterback.
“We got a little bit better pressure maybe in the third, fourth quarter, but the expectation is throughout those four quarters you've got to be able to get four-man pressure and create some pressure on the quarterback.”
It’s very clear Notre Dame’s defensive line didn’t live up to the program’s standards and it will likely be a long week in Washington’s room.
“D-line, I want to be more dominant,” Freeman explained. “My expectation for that unit is to dominate the game in the run and the pass, put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. And credit to Miami, we weren't able to do that, but that's my expectation for those guys.”
Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph doesn’t need to make wholesale changes just yet. It’s one game and the Irish did face a couple of talented edge players.
There is a need for urgency to perform better across the board, as Notre Dame’s tackles failed at crucial times.
The right guard spot was going to be trial by fire, despite having two former four-star prospects rotating at the spot.
It’s the risk Notre Dame took by letting Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler enter the Transfer Portal. Similar to quarterback CJ Carr, Sullivan Absher and Guerby Lambert are going to have growing pains as they take their first meaningful reps.
“I think it was at that moment good for Sully to go into the game,” Freeman stated. “We kind of had that planned. After Sully got a couple of series, we decided to put Guerby back in the game. Listen, both of them played well. We said it was a competition. We said we could see both.
“You don't often see O-line rotate, but we thought in that certain situation of the game, we planned on getting Sully in, and then we got Guerby back in there the last two series.”
Now, Rudolph has to pick a starter and let him roll at some point. As Freeman stated, it’s rare to rotate offensive linemen as chemistry and communication are essential.
The last time I can recall Notre Dame rotating offensive linemen was in 2017, when Robert Hainsey and Tommy Kraemer rotated at right tackle.
Regardless, Notre Dame’s offensive line has to show up in a big way against Texas A&M and there were signs of life at times in the second half against Miami.
“Our O-line stepped up to the challenge,” said Freeman. “We didn't always run the ball. Listen, that two-minute situation where everybody knows we have to throw the ball. We got Styles (Prescod) in there because (Anthonie) Knapp went down.
“It's a tough situation and so I'm not going to evaluate them just off the two-minute situation. We got to find a way to win the game in that situation, but I thought, for the most part, the O-line did a good job.”
The other emphasis heading into Texas A&M will be to find ways to get Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price involved. Between carries and targets in the run game, Love had the chance to get the ball 16 times, which is normal for him, but in big games, you have to lean on your best players.
Notre Dame’s inconsistent play on the offensive line played a factor in it, but getting behind the chains and trailing by double-digits also impacted the run game.
“We had our plan going into the game,” said Freeman. “The problem with some of our easy throws, we weren't getting enough to get a first down, and we had a couple three and outs.
“I think at halftime we got together and said, okay, we had a plan to get J-Love in the pass game in some of those situations, and they did a good job covering him and doing those things. We made an intentional effort at halftime to say, okay, let's either take away some of those reads or find potential ways to get the ball in his hands, and he made some good things happen.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Under Armour White Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sideline Rival Fleece Crewneck Sweatshirt
