Time to Bounce Back: Notre Dame’s Loss to Miami Brings Both Change and Hope
- Bruce Straughan
- Sep 1
- 4 min read
Art by The Irish Tribune
Notre Dame fans had high hopes coming into last night’s game at Hard Rock Stadium for Notre Dame Miami. Coming off a national championship game appearance, the buzz surrounding this team was at an all-time high. The summer was marked by a QB competition that seemed to be a back-and-forth battle between CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. After a long fall camp, Notre Dame announced that CJ Carr would take the reins and lead the team into battle at Hard Rock Stadium.
It was always gonna be a tough task for a freshman QB in his first start, on the road, and in a hostile environment, taking on a top 10 team. Carr started out shaky, and you could tell the big game nerves were a factor early on (which is to be expected for a freshman QB in a hostile environment), but as the game went on, his confidence grew and he became more poised. It’s a wonder he was able to perform as well as he did, as the play-calling in this game did Carr no favors whatsoever.
Use code "IrishTribune20" to get $20 off your officially-licensed Notre Dame pickleball paddle here!
I understand getting your rookie QB comfortable and easing him in, but the number of WR screens that were called, in my opinion, was not a great way to go about it. It became extremely predictable and eventually resulted in an interception. If Carr is the QB you decided to roll with, then you have to trust him more and put him in a place to be successful by letting him take more risks and air it out. Carr will get better if the coaching staff allows him to and stops handcuffing him with short gimmicky plays.
Allowing Carr to have more carries as a first-time starting freshman QB than either of your two running backs, who are arguably the best tandem in college football, is insane! They put too much pressure on a first-time starter instead of relying on their stellar running backs that helped get them to a national championship appearance. That cannot continue going forward and expect to beat big opponents like Texas A&M, among others.
The offensive and defensive line was my most concerning part of the entire game. Neither side could get any push at the line of scrimmage and were bullied off the ball all night long. Is this just a scheme issue that can be corrected? Or is it something much worse? That remains to be seen, but something has to change as the game of football is won in the trenches.
Subscribe here to support our independent journalism.
The defense, as bad as it seemed at times, really stepped up in certain crucial situations and kept the first half from being a blowout. With the offense stalling the entire 1st quarter, they were on the field way more than they should have been. The biggest problem they faced was that they only got to Beck once, but DC Chris Ash didn’t do them any favors by running a very vanilla defense with little to no creativity or exotic blitz packages to create pressure. The Defensive Line getting no push and getting bullied all night off the ball was the most concerning to me.
The game plan after an entire off-season to prepare for Miami was mind-boggling all night long. With that being said, to take a freshman QB on the road against a top 10 team in a hostile environment like Miami and come away with a chance to win it is impressive. As bad as it looked at times, they came away with a loss of only 3pts which says with the right fixes in schemes, they could turn this around fast. As Marcus Freeman has shown after the NIU loss, he is very capable of making the right changes quickly and efficiently.
However, it won't come easily as Notre Dame now faces a very talented SEC team in Texas A&M at home in less than two weeks. This is an absolute must-win game for the Irish if they have any hopes of making it back to the College Football Playoffs. Will they do what is necessary to complete the task? Only time will tell, but I know neither Marcus Freeman nor this team will go down without a fight!
Want the latest intel on Notre Dame football? Subscribe to Tribune+ and get access to recruiting and team intel from The Irish Tribune team, as well as access to our intel community, exclusive app, and more Notre Dame content: Subscribe here to support our independent journalism.
Follow The Irish Tribune on social media:
Follow @bruce_straughan on X
Liked this story? Subscribe to our mailing list and get every story in your inbox.
Check out our Irish partners:
TMPR Sports - Use code "IrishTribune20" to get $20 off your officially-licensed Notre Dame pickleball paddle here!
Comments