Notre Dame’s defense has emerged as one of the nation’s elite units this season and the numbers back it up.
The Fighting Irish rank No. 1 in the country in total defense and top five nationally in several key metrics used to measure defensive success.
That’s a dramatic change from the first four games of 2025, when defensive coordinator Chris Ash and his players were desperately trying to get on the same page.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman saw the defense eventually turn the page last season and he admitted there wasn’t any special sauce that suddenly got the Irish on track.
“Coaching,” Freeman stated when asked the difference between last year and the present. “They're executing better. There's no magical formula. It's work, it's practice, it's understanding the what's, the why's, the how's and executing on game day.
“The belief in what we're doing and in playing fast with velocity and violence. That's kind of the evolution, but it isn't a different call, a different player. It's work.”
One underrated piece of the puzzle could be the cohesion between Ash and his position coaches.
Co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Aaron Henry played for Ash at Wisconsin and has coached with him. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was a college teammate of Ash and this is the fifth time the two have been on the same coaching staff.
Freeman often talked last season about the marriage between the front and secondary not always working as the Irish learned Ash's scheme, which Henry and Partridge knew when they arrived in South Bend.
This year, that connection has become much more consistent and it has helped produce game-changing plays while holding all four opponents under 300 yards of total offense.
The play that immediately came to Freeman's mind was Bryce Young's sack of Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne, which forced a fumble that Drayk Bowen scooped up and returned for a touchdown.
There is no sack if the coverage doesn't force Browne to hesitate long enough for Young to get home.
“It all started with the coverage,” explained Freeman. “We're in man coverage. We had an idea of what they were trying to do from a previous play. We were able to take away his first read.
“Once you do that, Bryce was able to get the pressure, create a sack, force a fumble, and Drayk scoops and scores. That's the front and coverage working together, right? If he can make that first read, I don't care how well Bryce rushes, that ball's out.”
That's the kind of complementary football Notre Dame's defense didn't consistently play a year ago. But it isn't all perfect.
Freeman also highlighted a miscommunication against Purdue that allowed Browne to scramble for a first down. It didn't hurt the Irish on Saturday, but it's exactly the type of mistake the staff can address before the schedule gets tougher.
“There's a little bit of miscommunication and we ended up being in a three-man rush to quarterback scrambles for a first down,” recalled Freeman. “We had a big open B-gap. We can't let vertical lanes for the quarterback to escape. The front and coverage were not working together there.
“The front was on a different plan than the coverage and so it led to a QB scramble for a first down. That's where we have to work together. Understanding that the coverage aspect, but also the rush lanes.”
Perhaps the best example of how far Notre Dame's defense has come is what has happened at safety.
All-American Brauntae Johnson went down with an injury in Week 1 and Luke Talich stepped in without missing a beat. Then Talich was sidelined Saturday, forcing true freshman Joey O'Brien into his first career start.
O'Brien played 51 snaps and there was little indication that Notre Dame was relying on a freshman making his first start.
Having three different players start at one position over four weeks isn't easy, but it speaks to both Notre Dame's talent at safety and the staff's ability to have multiple players prepared to contribute.
“He didn't get a whole bunch of game reps before this one, but in practice, he kept getting better, kept doing exactly what he's coached to do,” Freeman said of O’Brien. “I had a lot of confidence going into the game with Joey out there.”
That confidence was earned on the practice field. O'Brien's ability to consistently practice at a high level allowed him to build the trust the staff needed to feel confident in his ability to execute.
“He had to go and go do it,” said Freeman. “It's a lot of work to build that trust amongst your coaching staff, especially for a young guy. But then you go do it in the game.
“I remember telling him pre-game, ‘Man, this is just like high school. Joey, go play, go play. You're ready, you're prepared.’ Deep down in my heart, I knew he would play well just because I've seen it in practice, but it was great to see the way he performed on Saturday.”
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