Notre Dame will enter Saturday’s game against Navy with the No. 6 scoring offense in the country.
The Fighting Irish are one of eight programs averaging at least 40 points per game, but the focus over the last week has been on improving an offense that struggled when it mattered most in a disappointing loss at BYU.
Plenty of questions have been raised about Chris Ash’s defense over the last week, but Mike Denbrock’s offense also failed Notre Dame in Provo.
The Fighting Irish went 8-of-19 on third down and 3-of-5 in the red zone, including a lost fumble and settled for two second half field goals when they could have taken all the momentum.
Marcus Freeman has established himself as one of the more aggressive coaches in the country and won’t hesitate to go for it on fourth down. However, Notre Dame’s struggles on third down limited his ability to maintain that aggressive approach against BYU.
“We've been pretty good in two-down situations to at least have an efficient amount of yards on that third-down play if we decide to run,” Freeman said. “But those ones that you don't, I gotta make a decision that's best for the team. That might be punt or that might mean kick a field goal and take points. We just gotta make sure if we decide to run the ball, we prevent one-yard or negative-yardage plays. That can't happen.”
Notre Dame didn’t execute at the level necessary to win the game, and its struggles also made it more difficult to extend drives. There have been several instances this season, including against BYU, when the Fighting Irish failed to gain enough yards to make going for it on fourth down a viable option.
Freeman doesn’t believe Notre Dame is being conservative on third down simply because it knows it has another opportunity to move the chains.
“Let's just make sure if we decide to run the ball that it's efficient,” explained Freeman. “I don't think it's conservative. It's more just like, what happened? Why do we only get one yard here? Where was the misexecution in terms of blocking or in terms of checking versus a certain look?
“I don't think we're being conservative. I think that's just part of these two-down situations, if we feel like we got a good enough look at a run, let's run the ball and go for it on fourth.”
The communication between Freeman and Denbrock remains strong when it comes to those decisions. The two coaches are on the same page, but Freeman needs better execution from Denbrock’s offense to give Notre Dame more opportunities to stay aggressive.
“A lot of times I'll tell Denny, we got two downs here,” stated Freeman. “As long as we get enough yardage on that third down, we'll go for it on fourth. But a couple of those situations just weren't efficient enough and I had to make a decision to kick it.
“We gotta continue to find ways to put the ball in the end zone. The one, two minute before the half, we're on a five-yard line and we fumble the ball. Those are things that we gotta correct. You can't just say it happened. How do we continue to attack that in practice, which we have this week.”
Nobody in the Notre Dame program wanted to experience a disappointing loss to a less talented BYU team. Freeman is trying to turn the setback into an opportunity for growth.
The loss can ultimately benefit the program if the right changes are made and embraced.
“After every game, win or loss, you try to identify the deficiencies and come up with some solutions in your process to fix it,” explained Freeman. “But when you lose, there's the physical pain that really encompasses losing. The pain mandates that you do one or two things to make it go away.
“You pass blame on somebody else and you have no physical pain. Somebody else's fault, you really don't have pain. Or you own it, you identify what the issues are, you look at the process and how you can really fix or attack your process to produce a better result.”
Freeman’s message over the last week has centered on accepting responsibility for the loss and finding ways to make Notre Dame better moving forward.
“If it's not about Notre Dame football, and it's about you, then you probably belong in that first group where you blame somebody else,” said Freeman. “It takes humility and sacrifice to make sure you put something greater than yourself.
“I always remind them, if they do what's best for Notre Dame football, at the end of the day, it will be what's best for them. We attacked some of the deficiencies during the bye week, as well as prepared for Navy.”
Want the latest scoop on Notre Dame Football and Recruiting? Become an ISD Premium Subscriber and never miss the inside information. Sign Up for ISD
