After holding Fordham to 10, Boston College has failed to hold an opponent to under 28 points, a key reason for their current skid. It is tough to find a bright spot on a defensive unit that fails to create pressure, stop the run, or make plays in coverage. There are a couple of promising underclassmen, including freshman nickel TJ Green, but it looks like it might be another long Saturday with a top-20 Notre Dame offense in their way.

The Fighting Irish, coming off a bye week, will embark on a five-game stretch to close the regular season featuring three road contests. Notre Dame’s defense will look to continue its dominant run after holding an elite USC offense to a season-low 24 points. Chris Ash and Co. have another opportunity to display their elite talent against a struggling Boston College offense.

In the five games since the home loss against Texas A&M, the Notre Dame defense has been flying around the field for the most part. This past week, we saw them hold the top offense in the country to a season-low 24 points. Late last month, the Irish defense traveled down to Arkansas and held the Razorbacks' offense to just 13 points, an offense that has scored at least 31 in every other game.

Coming into this game, there was so much talk surrounding the rivalry between Notre Dame and USC. Would this be the last face-off between the two storied historic programs for the foreseeable future? With no contract extension agreed upon by either team, we may have seen the final game between these two, which would be awful in my opinion, as this is truly one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, dating back to 1926.

Notre Dame put on a show for the Irish fans at Compton Ice Arena in a sweep of the St. Lawrence Saints. The Irish outscored the Saints 11-2 in the two games, with newcomers leading the way offensively and solid performances from sophomore goalie Nicholas Kempf.

On defense, USC is led by second-year Defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn, the former UCLA DC and son of former Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Anthony. Lynn’s defense has had its share of struggles this year, but last week was an impressive showing. Throughout this year, the Trojans’ front seven has been solid, but the secondary, minus S Bishop Fitzgerald, is where USC is getting burned consistently.

This week should provide a test for the seemingly improved Notre Dame defense against an electric USC offense. Offensively, the Trojans are led by Head Coach and playcaller Lincoln Riley. The former Oklahoma HC has compiled a 31-15 record at USC since taking over in 2022, with no conference titles or playoff appearances on his resume. For these reasons, Riley entered this season in a bit of a hot seat. However, a 5-1 start and top-25 ranking have quieted his critics for now.

Fast forward to today's announcement coming out of Happy Valley that Head Coach James Franklin has been fired, and shortly after, it was announced that Kemon Spell was decommitting from Penn State and moving on with his recruitment. Was he already planning to bolt prior to Franklin being let go? That answer we may never get, but from the outside looking in, it appeared this was bound to happen whether Franklin retained his job or not.

On Saturday afternoon, the 16th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-2) hosts the NC State Wolfpack (4-2). The Irish look to keep their CFP hopes alive amidst the chaos of last weekend. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack would love to prove they are back on track, following two early ACC losses, with a big-time road win.

This Saturday afternoon, the 16th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosts 4-2 NC State. The Irish look to extend their win streak to four as College Football Playoff hopes are in the air in South Bend following an upset-filled weekend.  The Wolfpack were able to get back on track with a dominant win against Campbell following back-to-back ACC losses to Virginia Tech and Duke.

This Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame welcomes Boise State to South Bend for a matchup between two CFP teams from a year ago. The Irish offense looks to continue its roll, coming off of back-to-back 56-point outings, while the defense slowly figures itself out after holding an explosive Arkansas offense to just 13 points.

Monday, Notre Dame Hockey held their preseason kickoff press conference with first-year Head Coach Brock Sheahan joined by recently announced co-captains Michael Mastrodomenico and Danny Nelson. We recap the presser and offer some preview notes for the upcoming season:

The bright side of the Irish season thus far, especially last week, is how the offense has looked under new starting QB CJ Carr. The young gunslinger has improved each week, and the offense as a whole has benefited. Carr and the Irish could be in store for another big day against an Arkansas defense that has had lapses through four games.

Notre Dame travels down south this week to take on a 2-2 Arkansas squad with hot-seat rumors surrounding the Razorbacks program following brutal, back-to-back, late-game losses on the road. The Irish defense will need to be better than they were two weeks ago against Texas A&M’s dual-threat QB Marcel Reed, as Arkansas offers a potentially larger problem with its more experienced signal-caller, Taylen Green.

Notre Dame, now 0-2 for the first time since Marcus Freeman’s inaugural season, seeks to get back on track on Saturday afternoon against a 2-1 Purdue squad that is completely different from the one that the Irish beat up on in a 66-7 route last year.

When Notre Dame announced the hiring of Chris Ash, many Irish fans were underwhelmed; however, the trust Marcus Freeman earned during last season’s CFP run was enough to overlook the move at the time.

Texas A&M’s defense has played well against inferior opponents. Meanwhile, Notre Dame struggled at Miami, most notably with a lack of a pass rush, which led to coverage getting burned all game. In the young season, missed tackles seem to be a theme for both of these top-25 squads.

The dual-threat Reed and skilled RB Le’Veon Moss can run loose behind an experienced and elite line featuring two strong tackles and one of the best guards in the nation, who are all on track to be future NFL Draft selections. Since the start of the 2024 season, Texas A&M is 7-0 when they rush for over 170 yards compared to 3-5 when they do not hit that number. Keeping the Aggies contained on the ground will be vital to any defensive success for the Irish.

While Notre Dame is currently in the midst of a bye week after their loss to Miami, here are a few players they will need to turn their attention to ahead of their matchup against Texas A&M.

Notre Dame is just one of two “power” programs to have a bye week following their first game of the year. We examine whether the early bye will have a positive or negative impact.