The #20 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-3) will host the Navy Midshipmen (3-4) on Saturday, as Notre Dame strives to keep their winning streak alive. This is a familiar opponent as these two teams have faced each other almost every year since the 1920s. Even though there have been some excellent games between these two teams, Navy appears to be on the downward swing of college football. However, Navy presents a unique challenge to any team because of the triple-option attack that is rarely seen in college football today. Coach Marcus Freeman had this to say on Thursday on facing Navy… "I think there is a whole bunch of different things that go into this game. The history of the rivalry and the meaning behind it and how it came about, but also its Veterans Weekend. It's personal to me with my father serving and being a veteran. It's a great reminder of the bigger picture. We're fortunate enough to play and coach this game that we love. We're fortunate to live in this country because of the many people that fight for our freedom. There's a lot of meaning behind this game.” Game Details Date: Saturday, November 12 Time: 12:00 PM ET Where to Watch: ABC Series History 2021- Notre Dame 34-6 2019- Notre Dame 52-20 2018- Notre Dame 44-22 2017- Notre Dame 24-17 2016- Navy 28-27 2015- Notre Dame 41-24 2014- Notre Dame 49-39 2013- Notre Dame 38-34 2012- Notre Dame 50-10 2011- Notre Dame 56-14 2010- Navy 35-17 Notre Dame Leads 80-13-1 Breaking Down Navy Since 2008, Navy has been led by head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Niumatalolo is the all-time winningest coach at Navy, but owns a 3-10 record against Notre Dame. Irish fans may recognize names like Roger Staubach, Malcolm Perry, and Keenan Reynolds, but this Navy team does not currently have players like that. Navy implores the triple option style of offense which can present a problem for many teams, but Notre Dame should be ready for whatever the Midshipmen throw at them. Stacking Up Notre Dame vs Navy Offensive Players to Know Xavier Arline— QB/RB #7 2022 Stats: 191 rushing yards, 1 TD Daba Fofana— FB #45 2022 Stats: 502 rushing yards, 5 TD Anton Hall Jr.— FB #34 2022 Stats: 222 rushing yards, 2 TD; 62 receiving yards, 1 TD Defensive Players to Know John Marshall— LB #1 2022 Stats: 72 tackles, 7 passes defended, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble Colin Ramos— LB #44 2022 Stats: 57 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception Jacob Busic— DE #95 2022 Stats: 29 tackles, 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles 📷 credit: @navyfb on Instagram Keys to Victory 1. Attack the Triple Option that Navy Implores Most coaches agree that the best way to shut down the triple option system is to attack it. Notre Dame must be aggressive in order to put Navy away early. If not, Navy is known for running the clock down and limiting offensive possessions. Marcus Freeman had this to say on Thursday… “They're not just running the triple-option. They do a lot of different things and the offense has expanded. The ability to understand a little bit more on the offensive side of the ball in terms of what they're looking for and it, in turn, helps us defensively to find better ways to defend it.” 2. Notre Dame Must Score Points on their limited possessions. The Irish have been better in recent weeks, but this offense has not been great at generating points when they need to on a regular basis. That must change against a Navy team that likes to limit possessions and drain the clock. If Notre Dame can come out and score points on multiple drives, then they should be able to win rather easily. Final Take This is not the same Navy team that many Irish fans remember from years past, but if the Irish are not prepared mentally and physically, they can lose to the Midshipmen. This will be the game that tells Irish fans whether or not this team has begun to turn the corner and execute at a high level no matter the opponent. This is the type of game that can continue to propel you into next season on a high note. Coach Freeman discussed this on Thursday… “Wins are short-lived around here, especially during the middle of the season. It's the same thing after a loss. You have to move forward. You have to learn from every opportunity you can from the game, but understand the next opponent is on the horizon. Defensively, it's pretty easy to move forward because it's a totally different offense you have to prepare for. Offensively, it's the ability to turn on the film and say ‘this defense does some different things. They're really good at stopping the run and it's another challenge.’ I think our team understands we're on a destination for improvement. We have to continue to find ways to get better. That has been the challenge. Continue to stay focused and not let the praise or criticism really sway them one way or another in how they work, but continue to understand how hard and intentional we have to work to improve. We had a really good week of practice and we'll hopefully go out and have another good day today. We have a tough opponent on Saturday and we have to be ready to roll." Go Irish! Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

Notre Dame dominated the number 4 team in the country last Saturday behind a solid rushing attack and aggressive defense, as the Irish defeated Clemson 35-14. Many think this was the most dominant victory by a Notre Dame team since the Lou Holtz coaching days. Despite playing in games like this under former coach Brian Kelly, those teams never seemed ready to compete or win these types of games. Current head coach Marcus Freeman is beginning to change that narrative as he now has as many top-five wins in his first season as Kelly did in his entire tenure at Notre Dame. After a disappointing start to the season, it is exciting to see this team form an identity and show why they are the fighting Irish. Coach Freeman had this to say at his press conference on Monday… “Obviously, Saturday was a special night, one that you kind of go back and reflect on. At the moment it is kind of chaotic, but you go back and reflect on it and it's so good. The atmosphere was unreal. I challenged our guys on Friday. I said, 'Listen, we create the advantage here. Our fans will always support us, but we make it a home-field advantage by the way we play and they did a really good job.’ But the fans were unreal. The students were great. This is a special place. I think everybody saw that on Saturday. It was really good to see all three phases really come together and execute at a high level. I love the physicality of our team. We really played probably our most physical game on all three phases on Saturday night. To see the effort they played with, the physicality they played with, it was really, really good to see. It's important. That's a part of our culture. That's a part of the things that are going to make us successful. I think you see trust and belief in what we're doing and what's going to give us a chance at this current moment to have success." Players of the Game Benjamin Morrison 7 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 1 touchdown Coach Freeman said this about the secondary and Morrison’s big night against Clemson… “Part of tackling is confidence. It's two things I talk to them all the time about. Great tacklers are confident and great talkers are aggressive. He's confident and he's aggressive and that is what makes him a really great player. Coach Golden did a great job in calling the game, but also our guys did a great job of executing." JD Bertrand 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack Isaiah Foskey 4 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 tackle for loss Audric Estime 104 rushing yards, 1 touchdown Michael Mayer 44 receiving yards, 1 touchdown Offensive Line 263 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns; 85 passing yards, 1 touchdown, 1 sack (Pyne Scramble) Coach Freeman had this to say on Monday about the way the offensive line is playing… “Our offense ran for 263 yards against an extremely talented Clemson defense. I think our O-Line took it as a challenge. They've got NFL guys across the board up front and our guys really did a good job of getting their heads where they needed to be. You're not going to be able to push those defensive linemen 5 of 10 yards downfield but you have to get your placement exactly where it needs to be so your back can cut off them. It's a belief in what we're doing. If you have asked me before the game if I thought we could rush the ball for 263 vs. that defense, I wouldn't say that with 100% confidence. Do I think we can run the ball? Yeah, we can run the ball. But 263 yards is a lot of rushing yards. Run the ball and don't give up the big plays and we'll have success." Bright Spots Huge Recruiting Night Coach Freeman said this on Monday about how big of an impact this game would have on recruiting… “It was electric. You couldn't ask for a better environment or better ending, a crowd rushing the field, for those recruits that were here. I remind our staff, recruiting is so important. The relationships we develop, the ability to sell this university and football program, but the most important thing that happened on Saturday is the ability to win. Those kids that were here, to see themselves as a part of that, that's your future. As we tell them, you're going to be a part of this and this is just the start of something special. When you come here, this can be what you expect, to play in big games. That is why you come to Notre Dame." Areas of Concern Facing Navy’s Triple Option At Monday’s press conference, coach Freeman said this about facing Navy and the triple option… “We have to turn the page and get ready for a Navy opponent that's tough and that is a unique style offense that will present some issues if you're not ready to go. Actually, it's been an interesting day because yesterday I spent some time with him (Al Golden) and there are a lot of really good ideas he has had from previously facing triple option teams. We'll enhance and obviously, there are some things we did last year that we had some success with, but there's a lot of good enhancements I think that the defense will have because of his expertise in defending the triple option." Final Take The Irish are coming off their best victory in years, but the time for celebration is over. If Notre Dame is prepared for Navy on Saturday, the triple option presents a few unique challenges that can cause a team to stumble. Let us hope that the Clemson game was the start of something amazing, and the Irish will finish this season on a winning streak. In light of the recent win, coach Freeman said this in preparation for the week ahead… “It's one thing to say turn the page, let's move on to Navy, but another thing is your actions. Are you coaching with the same intensity that you have after a loss? Everything you do, they are going to look and compare. Is he the same coach after a win and a loss? They hope you are consistent in terms of your actions. It's the constant reminders that you put in their head about how important it is to prepare for your next opponent. We have to prepare. The only thing they are mandated to do is the things we see when we're around them and the expectations we have when we can physically see them. But we have to continue to put it in their minds that when we aren't around them, the preparation will give us a chance to have success and remind them of the feeling we get after victories." Go Irish! 📷 credit: @ndfootball on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-3) will host the Clemson Tigers (8-0) on Saturday, as Notre Dame seeks to defeat the 5th-ranked team in college football. This will be Notre Dame’s toughest test since they played Ohio State to begin the year. Irish fans are hoping Notre Dame can come out with a victory over the heavily favored Tigers. The task is great, but Notre Dame appears to be ready for the challenge. They have experienced their fair share of ups and down this year, but this game should have been circled for quite some time. This game presents the Irish with an opportunity to make a statement win and confidence to finish out the regular season on a strong note. Another priority for Notre Dame this weekend will be hosting over 60 recruits from 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 classes. The group will be led by current 2023 commits: Drayk Bowen, Jaden Greathouse, Braylon James, Christian Gray, and Peyton Bowen, as well as several other 2023 commits. Needless to say, this game will go a long way in recruiting this class and future classes to Notre Dame. Coach Marcus Freeman had this to say on Thursday about the big recruiting weekend… "It's going to be a great environment. I tell them you come to Notre Dame to be part of games like this. The best thing we can do is put on a good performance, but for them to understand this is what Notre Dame is about. You got a chance to be a part of this and the future. It's a big weekend for us. Any time you get these kids on campus, it's important for them to experience this game-day atmosphere. A lot of recruits now take official visits during the summer before they ever get a chance to experience what a game day is like here, especially in South Bend. We want all the kids that come here on campus to really have a great experience, but also understand this is what takes place at Notre Dame. Again, the other part of that is making sure we put on a good performance for them and we execute on the game field." Game Details Date: Saturday, November 5 Time: 7:30 PM ET Where to Watch: NBC/Peacock Series History 1977 Notre Dame 21-17 1979 Clemson 16-10 2015 Clemson 24-22 2018 Clemson 30-3 2020 Notre Dame 47-40 2020 Clemson 34-10 Breaking Down Clemson The Tigers are led by head coach Dabo Swinney, as he enters his 15th season at Clemson. Swinney has turned a mediocre Clemson into a perennial title contender during his tenure. After producing players like Trevor Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Deshaun Watson, Hunter Renfrow, Dexter Lawrence, Tee Higgins, Mike Williams, C.J. Spiller, Vic Beasley, and others, Swinney has established himself as being someone who produces NFL talent. Notre Dame will face one of the best, if not the best, defensive lines in the country on Saturday, as many of those players also have a future in the NFL. This is the type of game that could propel either team into the national spotlight. Stacking Up Notre Dame vs Clemson Offensive Players to Know DJ Uiagalelei— QB #5 2022 Stats: 1803 passing yards, 17 touchdowns; 350 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns Will Shipley— RB #1 2022 Stats: 739 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns; 153 receiving yards Antonio Williams— WR #0 2022 Stats: 364 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns Joseph Ngata— WR #10 2022 Stats: 324 receiving yards, 1 touchdown Defensive Players to Know Trenton Simpson— LB #22 2022 Stats: 47 tackles, 2 passes defended, .5 sacks, 1 forced fumble Jeremiah Trotter Jr.— LB #54 2022 Stats: 35 tackles, 3 passes defended, .5 sacks, 1 interception Bryan Bresee — DT #11 2022 Stats: 9 tackles, 1.5 sacks Tyler Davis — DT #13 2022 Stats: 21 tackles, 1 pass defended, 4 sacks Myles Murphy — DE #98 2022 Stats: 26 tackles, 2 passes defended, 5.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble K.J. Henry — DE #5 2022 Stats: 28 tackles, 4 passed defended, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble 📷 credit: @clemsonfb on Instagram Keys to Victory Shut Down Clemson Running Back Will Shipley In order for Notre Dame to make Clemson one-dimensional, the defensive line and linebacker must stop Clemson running back Will Shipley. Coach Freeman had this to say about Shipley on Thursday… “He's an ultra-competitive individual. I think he runs the ball hard. I think he's fast. I think he has good ball security. He's a wide receiver threat. He looks extremely smart. He has great yards after contact. I could go on and on. I think he's a heck of a football player…He’s an extremely talented football player." The Offensive Line Must Have Their Best Game of the Year Because the Clemson defensive line is one of, if not the best, lines in the country, the Notre Dame offensive line must play its best game of the season. This will not be an easy task, but the way these players are starting to play as a unit, Irish fans hope they are ready for the challenge. They need to be excellent at creating running lanes and giving Drew Pyne enough time to throw. Final Take If Notre Dame can stop the run game, force DJ into making bad throws, and control the time of possession, they will have a chance to come out victoriously. However, this will not be easy and will require Drew Pyne to play much better than he has in the last couple of weeks. As Irish fans, let us hope that Marcus Freeman has pushed the right buttons this week and will lead his football to victory. Despite winning many games at Notre Dame, these are the types of games that Brian Kelly never seemed to be able to win. Can Freeman change that narrative? Only time will tell, but this Saturday gives him the first opportunity to change that. It’s time to put the fight back in the Fighting Irish! Go Irish! 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Written by Liam Gaudet, Senior Editor In a season chock full of emotional turmoil, it was incredibly refreshing for fans to see Notre Dame play their best football this past Saturday against a top 25 Syracuse program on the road - but allow me to play devil's advocate. Although Notre Dame won this game by an impressive margin at first glance, I couldn't help but notice an overarching theme that has been commonplace throughout the entirety of the season. And before jumping to conclusions, no, it has nothing to do with the play calling or the quarterback play as a whole. This theme is all encompassing, and perhaps causes more frustration for the average fan than most of the obvious flaws we have observed. What I'm referring to in this instance is pacifism - or more bluntly, the lack of a killer instinct. And even after what feels like an impressive win, Notre Dame still found a way to make it more stressful than it needed to be. Notre Dame had a stranglehold on the Orange early in the third quarter, up 24-7 with a little more than half the quarter to play. Then in the blink of an eye, Syracuse stormed back into the game scoring 10 points to cut the lead to just seven. Notre Dame's defense, which had been stingy all day, was suddenly being gashed in every facet, whether it be through the air or on the ground courtesy of true freshman quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson. Credit to the Orange for making the necessary adjustments to mount what felt like an Oklahoma State level comeback, but for Notre Dame, what was happening? In every game so far this year, Notre Dame has had opportunities to put the game away on their own terms, and haven't managed to pull through. Thankfully, they were able to grab some momentum back after a Marist Liufau interception and ran with it the rest of the game to close off what could have been an ugly finish for the Irish. I would have been able to look past this short spurt of misfortune for the Irish if this were the first time it had happened this season, but it isn't, and it needs to be a focus going forward. In Las Vegas, the Irish were off to the races and held a three possession lead in the third quarter. They proceeded to let BYU score two touchdowns in a 5 minute span to cut the lead down to just five. The offense stagnated, and the defense couldn't stop anything. After a horrendous start in Stanford, all of the momentum the Irish had after a Tobias Merriweather touchdown was erased and they essentially conceded the game. In last week's game against UNLV, at least three or four touchdowns were left on the board, and the defense gave up multiple big plays leading to scores. I could go on, but the idea is all of these stretches of bad play, whether the Irish were victorious or not, are connected. So what is the problem? Marcus Freeman often cites execution as the cornerstone of all Notre Dame woes, but it might actually be deeper than that. The majority of Irish fans may agree that this passive approach to the game has existed in this program long before Freeman’s tenure. Coasting by on mediocre play, and barely doing enough to win games where the Irish were heavy favorites was not uncommon during Notre Dame’s impressive stretch of five consecutive ten win seasons dating back to 2017. In fact, this was often pointed out in discussions on why the Irish shouldn’t be considered for the college football playoff, as they lacked any ability to consistently dominate against lesser opponents. Scraping by against teams like Vanderbilt and Ball State in the 2018 playoff campaign had a lot of analysts conflicted when it came to determining whether the Irish were legitimate contenders, and rightfully so. It did eventually come to fruition that the upper echelon of college football was more than a stone's throw aways for the Irish, after being completely dismantled by Clemson in the playoff later that season. Still, the Irish were winning, but doing almost everything possible to get in their own way until the final whistle. That brings us to today, where we have seen this scenario play out time and time again. Big leads diminished, and either a tight victory or crushing defeat. After weighing my thoughts, I believe that there might be a need for a small culture shift at the university. I think hiring Coach Freeman was a terrific start, as he’s proven to be more aggressive, both in his first year as defensive coordinator and as a head coach. Maybe in time, we will see the Irish develop the ability to smell blood in the water and finish a game, or at the very least, not stoop to the level of competition of an inferior opponent. I would like to see Coach Freeman and his staff take a less conservative approach when leading in games, and not fall asleep at the wheel when leading by a few scores. We saw the results of that against Oklahoma State, and it has almost played out twice this season against BYU and Syracuse. It is absolutely imperative for the success of this program long term to win a game before it’s over. It might not be an easy fix, as I see this issue extending from the staff downward to the players, but I have faith that in time we might see something different. I hate to nitpick after a tremendous win, but to be fair, there is always something worth improving. Whether the issue is big or small, it is possible for progress to be made on a week to week basis. I would absolutely love to see Notre Dame maintain the momentum in a football game from start to finish, and that starts next week against a top five team at home.

Stock Up/Stock Down ☘️ Written by Nick Kremer, Editor for The Irish Tribune The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made the trip to the JMA Dome to take on #16 Syracuse on Saturday. Syracuse came into the game with momentum coming off their close loss to Clemson. The Irish excelled in all three phases of the game to beat the Orange 41-24. Stock Up 📈 ☘️ Offensive Line/Running Game The Notre Dame offense has officially found its identity. The game plan in this one was clear from the start; run the ball down their throat until they stop it. Audric Estime had 20 carries for 123 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. Logan Diggs had 20 carries for 85 yards (4.3 YPC) and 1 touchdown. Many times throughout the game Syracuse had better numbers in the box, but it was not enough to stop this rushing attack. Harry Heistand’s offensive line is playing some phenomenal football. We are seeing the OL come off the ball well, get a great push, and finish their blocks. The group is working well together, knowing when to leave double teams, working to the second level, and knowing their pass protection assignments. Add in the excellent blocking by the TE group, and it's clear why the Irish running game has been dominant. Look for this group to continue to excel in the coming weeks. ☘️ Defensive Gameplan Al Golden and the Notre Dame defense led the way for this victory over the Orange. Garret Shrader and Sean Tucker were playing impressive football and putting up good numbers coming into this game. Al Golden and the defense minimized their impact throughout the entire game. The Irish defense played with a different energy and swagger in this game, and when your game plan is right, it is much easier to do that. Golden took a more aggressive approach in this game; well-timed blitzes, stunting/slanting up front, and disguised coverages. This led to Shrader going 5/14 for 35 yards (Shrader left the game at the half). Sean Tucker, arguably their best player, was held to 60 yards rushing (3.8 YPC). Golden’s game plan was highlighted by Isaiah Foskey, Jordan Botelho, JD Bertrand, and Brandon Joseph. Isaiah Foskey finished the day with 2 tackles for loss and a sack. Jordan Botelho, who has not seen much action on defense, found himself getting some snaps and didn’t disappoint as he finished the day with 2 sacks. Bertrand has received a lot of criticism from Irish Nation throughout this year, but he was outstanding in this game. Bertrand finished with 5 total tackles and one of those being a tackle for loss. Bertrand, and the rest of the linebackers looked extremely improved in this game, and it paved the way for the defense in this game. Brandon Joseph started off this game the right way with a pick six. Joseph finished with 2 total tackles, 1 interception, and 3 punt returns for 23 yards. ‘This was a coming out party for Joseph, who played his best game of the year so far.” (God Country Irish) ☘️ Special Teams Brian Mason has been an outstanding addition to this coaching staff. With all the Special Teams success Mason had at Cincinnati, it was likely that Notre Dame’s Special Teams was going to look improved, but nobody predicted it would be improved this much. For the second week in a row, Notre Dame was able to block a punt. This brings their total to 5 blocked punts this season which is tied (South Carolina) for most in the country. God Country Irish has also been impressed with this unit “ This continues to be the most exciting and impactful unit on the team.” ☘️ Deion Colzie The Wide Receiver unit has struggled all year, and that starts with a lack of quality depth. Deion Colzie finally made an appearance in this game, and made his first significant impact in his Notre Dame career. Deion Colzie finished the day with 3 catches for 44 yards. The emergence of Colzie could be huge for this receiver room for a variety of reasons. First, at 6’4 210 pounds, Colzie adds a combination of size and speed that is missing on the depth chart. Additionally, having more players in the rotation will help to keep the receivers fresh throughout the game and season. The Wide Receiver group is slowly starting to come together, and we just need to hope that Pyne can continue to get them the ball. Stock Down 📉 ☘️ Passing Game Drew Pyne finished the day 9/19 for 116 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Pyne does not seem to be improving much from game to game, and this forced the Irish to run the ball on almost 75% of the snaps against Syracuse. While the run game should be a focus against Clemson, they will not be able to control the game by just running the ball against the Tigers like they did the Orange. If we want to beat a team like Clemson or USC, we are going to have to throw the ball more effectively. Clemson’s defensive coordinator had this to say about the upcoming game against the Irish : “You know what you have to stop. You have to stop the run game and the ball is going to No. 87” (Wes Goodwin) Tommy Rees and Drew Pyne are going to have to be better this week. Rees has to find a way to get Pyne to calm down, build some confidence, and find open receivers. If our offense is forced to be one dimensional on offense against the Tigers, the Irish may be in for a long night. All in all this was a big win for Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame football team. The Irish showed that they have the ability and talent to win any game that they play. For the Irish to pull off the win against #5 Clemson, Tommy Rees and the offense are going to have to find a way to get the pass game going to compliment their running game. Either way, this is setting up to be a classic, heavyweight battle at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame dominated the number sixteen team in the country last Saturday behind a solid rushing attack and improved defense, as the Irish defeated Syracuse 41-24. The Irish opened the game with a Brandon Joseph pick-six, but little did Irish fans know that this would seem the tone for the rest of the game. The Notre Dame defense played one of its best games of the defense behind strong performances from JD Bertrand, Isaiah Foskey, and the rest of the defensive line. The offense relied on a strong comeback game from Audric Estime. Despite impressive performances from the Irish offense and defense, the best unit on this team was special teams, who had another blocked punt on Saturday. Coach Freeman had this to say at his press conference on Monday… "It wasn't perfect and that's the game of football, but in all three phases, you saw some really good things and that's what you want to be able to do and truly play complementary football and control the clock. We won the turnover margin. Those are some of the challenges that each week you try to present to your team and it was good to see us accomplish that. The message to our guys is to continue to embrace who we are, embrace our identity, enhance the things that we're doing, and truly try to work at the deficiencies that we're having. That's a challenge every single week. As we move forward to this week, we obviously know we have a huge challenge ahead of us. A well-respected football program and coach, and a great football team that's coming into Notre Dame Stadium. Our team will be ready to roll. We're excited for the opportunity to play Clemson.” Players of the Game Brandon Joseph 2 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 touchdown JD Bertrand 5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 2 quarterback hurries Coach Freeman had this to say on Monday… “I would say JD Bertrand probably sets the standard. He probably doesn't want to hear me say it, but I don't know if he has as much ability as everybody in that room, the linebacker room, but he maximizes what he can be because of the way he prepares, the way he takes care of his body, the preparation, he's a guy that is on a timer and times when he goes to sleep, how many hours he goes to sleep, and what he puts in his body. A guy I remember similar to that was probably AJ Hawk. I'm not saying JD Bertrand is AJ Hawk, but he maximizes his god-given abilities and you're seeing the rewards of it in the game." Audric Estime 123 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns Coach Freeman had this to say on Audric’s bounce-back game… “I think it's really important as a coach to make sure players know you believe in them. That's the one thing that never wavered with Audric, the belief in him being productive and the things he can do as a running back. Belief and work in practice are two different things. We had to be very intentional about the things we did with ball security with him in practice. This week in practice we did some different things in terms of ball security with Audric, and with all the running backs, and coach McCullough brought some different ideas. It was really good.” Offensive Line Coach Freeman had this to say about the challenge that lies ahead for the offensive line against Clemson… “You're gonna go against the best. There are a few schools that have elite defensive lines, and this is one of them. Across the board, they are so deep and talented, and disruptive. It's not just one guy. It's gonna be a big challenge. Our offensive line is playing at a high level and they are getting better, but let's measure ourselves against the best. Across the board, I can name every single one and they got NFL defensive linemen across the board that's going to be a huge challenge. But I know our guys are ready. They're excited.” Bright Spots Young Players Receiving Snaps Specifically, coach Freeman singled out Jordan Botelho on Monday… “Jordan Botelho got the opportunity to play in the game and with that opportunity, he was productive. But that doesn't have anything to do with this week. The message will be the same thing. Your playing time will be determined by how you practice. I think what he sees is, well, if I practice, I'm going to get an opportunity, with an opportunity to show them how good I can be, but there is no room, as I've said this before, there's no room for gamers. We need great practice players. That's what our team needs them to be.” Special Teams Has Become the Best Unit of the Team Coach Freeman had impressive comments to make about his special team's coordinator, Brian Mason… “Mason has those qualities in terms of work ethic, intelligence, and the ability to connect with players that you see here 10 or 11 years later that to me in my mind, he's one of the best. He does a great job because of his work ethic, his intelligence, and of his ability to teach and relate to players. You can have all these thoughts in your head, but if your players can't go out and execute it and have a belief in what you're presenting, you're not a great coach. You might be really smart, but coaches are as good as their players can perform. That's what really continues to make my belief in Brian Mason so strong. He's continuing to get better." Areas of Concern Red Zone Defense This continues to be an area that presents problems for the Notre Dame defense. Despite not allowing a lot of trips to the red zone, they continue to have issues defending against it. Irish fans have to hope defensive coordinator Al Golden can figure this problem out soon in order for this to be a more well-rounded unit. Quarterback Play Coach Freeman said this about Drew Pyne’s recent quarterback struggles… “He’s got to improve. He's got to improve his accuracy. But there's a whole bunch more that goes into that. We got to continue to improve our protection. It is not just the offensive line. Protection can be with running backs. People are in the throwing lane. I wrote down a couple of notes as we were watching the film as an offensive staff and just saying, okay, we gotta get the running back here to step up or step out of his way so the quarterback has a lane. Then the other thing is we got to, at some point, if we're not running the ball, we're going to throw it more. Right now we are running the ball pretty well. If we don't run the ball well, I think it will force us to take more opportunities in the passing game." Final Take Notre Dame is coming off one of its best games of the season, but there will not be much time to celebrate. The Irish will need to play even better this coming Saturday as they face Clemson. Let us hope they can improve on their weaknesses and continue to maximize their strengths. In light of the recent win, coach Freeman said this in preparation for the week ahead… “Victories do two things for you. One, they give you a great feeling. Anybody in this room that has been victorious, no matter what you've done, you get a feeling, an emotional feeling of being victorious. The other thing is it builds confidence. Those two things are important. That's the chase that we all have, to chase that feeling of being victorious, but also that confidence. That's what losing sometimes does, is it takes away confidence. You obviously don't get the feeling, but you take away confidence. But there are a lot of lessons you learned from failures. That's what I told our team. The challenge is to, within a win, we know we're going to get that great feeling of being victorious, you're going to gain confidence, but can you take some of those lessons that you learned from failures, the ability to be selfless, the ability to be urgent in fixing our mistakes, the ability to be really intentional in our work, all those things really come to fruition when you lose, so the challenge for us is to continue to be able to have victories and to get that reward, but also continue to have that sense of urgency that you have during the failures. What would a win like this do for our program? It's going to continue to help us gain confidence in what we're doing, and who we are, but it's also that emotional feeling that you get when you're victorious. I have a belief in what we're doing. I think what I have learned in these eight games is that it's never as you plan. You have those bumps in the road that you have to kind of figure out and really learn as a leader. This is what you thought you should do, now how do you adjust? It's not just trusting the process. How do you fix it to get the results that you want? Yeah, would a win vs. Clemson help me build confidence in the things we do? Absolutely! That's what the victories do.” Go Irish! Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-3) will host the Syracuse Orange (6-1) on Saturday, as Notre Dame seeks to defeat the 16th-ranked team in college football. It will not be easy, but Syracuse provides an opportunity for Coach Freeman and this football team to build confidence for the second half of the season. The schedule does not get any easier from here on out, with teams like Clemson, USC, Boston College, and Navy left on the schedule. Despite playing without a few key contributors last week against UNLV, Coach Freeman gave an update on Jack Kizer, Brandon Joseph, and Jaden Mickey at his press conference on Thursday… "All of them are expected to play. They've all been practicing and expected to play." This is good news for a team that has had several players injured this season. Now more than ever, this Irish football team needs leaders to step up and play at a higher level for Notre Dame to come out victorious. If Notre Dame hopes to finish the season on a high note and earn a ticket to a bowl game, it begins on Saturday against the Orange. Game Details Date: Saturday, October 29 Time: 12:00 PM ET Where to Watch: ABC Breaking Down Syracuse Head coach, Dino Babers, enters his seventh season for the SyracuseOrange with an overall 35-44 record. Babers came to Syracuse after coaching Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green, while also spending several seasons as an assistant at Baylor and UCLA. Even though many in the media thought this may be Baber's last season at Syracuse, the Orange are off to one of their best starts in years. Even though Baber’s built his reputation on high-powered offenses, the 2022 Orange are built around their defense. They rank first or near the top in every defensive statistic in the ACC, including points per game, yards per game, and pass yards. In other words, this is an impressive defense that comes ready to play every Saturday. Stacking Up Notre Dame vs Syracuse 3 Offensive Players to Know Garrett Shrader— QB #6 2022 Stats: 1601 passing yards, 13 touchdowns; 371 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns Sean Tucker— RB #34 2022 Stats: 698 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns; 216 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns Oronde Gadsden II— WR #19 2022 Stats: 593 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns 3 Defensive Players to Know Garrett Williams— CB #8 2022 Stats: 32 tackles, 3 passed defended, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 2 interceptions Mikel Jones— LB #3 2022 Stats: 52 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble Caleb Okechukwu — DL #93 2022 Stats: 21 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 touchdown 📷 credit: @cusefootball on Instagram Keys to Victory 1. Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees Needs to Call a Better Game Despite scoring more points last week, the Irish offense did not impress very many people. Tommy Rees must call a better game this Saturday to defeat the Syracuse Orange. The offense needs to put players in better positions to be successful, become less predictable, and be much more dynamic. 2. Shut Down Syracuse Quarterback Garrett Shrader Shrader is the type of dual-threat quarterback that has given the Notre Dame defense a lot of problems the last couple of seasons. Foskey, Mills, Cross, Rubio, Smith, the Ademilolas, and others must keep constant pressure on Shrader to throw him off his typical game. If not, this will be a long day for Notre Dame. Coach Freeman had this to say about Shrader at his Thursday press conference… “You're just going to have to limit their big plays. He's going to get yards and yards running the ball. He's going to make some throws. To eliminate the big plays and be physical with him and make physical tackles on him. He's a talented football player you can't just say we have to stop him running because he can throw the ball well. You can't just play 8-man drops because they can run the ball with Tucker. It's a really good offense. That's going to present a huge challenge for our defense.” 3. Wide Receivers Need to Step Up At times, Notre Dame appears to forget they have wide receivers playing in the football game. Outside of Michael Mayer, fans would be hard-pressed to name one wide receiver that has played good football this year. That needs to change this week against Syracuse, and it needs to change quickly. Coach Freeman said this on Thursday about his wide receivers… “They’ve had a really good week. I challenged them Monday and Tuesday, we have to continue to gain confidence in practice in terms of how to expand our passing game. That’s the wideouts, the quarterback, the offensive line, and everybody. They’ve had a really good week. I look forward to seeing what they do on Saturday.” Final Take Despite Notre Dame being the more talented team on Saturday, Syracuse presents a huge challenge for the Fighting Irish. Syracuse plays good defense, has an improved offense, and is coached by someone with a lot of experience. This has not been a remedy for the success at Notre Dame this year. Despite all of this, Irish fans are hopeful that Coach Freeman and his staff can take the necessary steps to become a better football team this week. If Notre Dame is going to win on Saturday, it needs Drew Pyne and a plethora of wide receivers to step up and lead this team to victory. Let us hope that the Irish come ready to dominate Syracuse on Saturday afternoon and come away victorious. Go Irish! 📷 credit: @ndfootball on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

Despite winning by a large margin on Saturday, Notre Dame continues to find itself needing to improve in many areas of the game. For the first time all season, the Irish dominated the first half of Saturday’s game against UNLV, scoring 23 points in large part because of two blocked punts by Isaiah Foskey. Special Teams Coordinator Brian Mason has turned a poor special teams unit under former coach Brian Kelly, into one of the biggest strengths of this football team. Notre Dame leaned heavily on the running game for the remainder of the game, winning 44-21. Coach Freeman had this to say at his press conference on Monday… “It's obviously a better feeling being up here after a win. Going back and evaluating the game, I was really pleased with the big picture of the game. There are so many plays in the game we have to be better at and we have to be more consistent in what we're doing. But the big emphasis this week was starting with a sense of urgency and I think we did that. We were able to jump out to a pretty good lead. The challenge for our group is to come out in the second half with the same consistency and urgency that we had in the first half.” Notre Dame needs to figure out a way to play with the same emotion, attitude, and competitive spirit for an entire game if it hopes to have success against upcoming opponents. Syracuse, Clemson, USC, and Boston College will present many challenges for this football team to overcome. Playing more consistent football on defense and being more creative on offense will help this football team take the steps they need to be successful. Players of the Game Logan Diggs 130 rushing yards Joe Alt Isaiah Foskey 5 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 1 quarterback hurry, 2 blocked punts Clarence Lewis 5 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries Areas of Concern Red Zone Defense Coach Freeman had this to say about his red zone defense on Monday… “It's frustrating because it isn't like we do a whole bunch of different things in the red zone. As you look at the UNLV game, a couple of self-inflicted wounds in terms of mistakes that we shouldn't make. I would hope it's not confusing, but you got to look at yourself as a coach and look at the players and say, Okay, where's the miscommunication coming from? This is what we want you to do and you're not doing it. Is it a teaching error, or an understanding of the execution error? We got to make sure that we know exactly what we want to do. If they beat us doing what we want to do then take your hat off to them. But we can't have unforced errors in the red zone, especially with the simplicity that we pride ourselves in and what we do in the red zone." Estime Fumbles Coach Freeman had this to say about Audric on Monday… “He's tough on himself, as we are on him. He has high expectations for himself. He understands the reality of how important it is to make sure we have that ball when we have the chance to have it in our hands. He understands the importance of that. But at the same time, we got to find ways to make sure that doesn't happen." Quarterback Struggles Coach Freeman had this to say about Drew Pyne’s recent struggles… “I think some can be decision-making. Every pass play has a progression and sometimes you come off your progression too fast. There are very few times I see him going incorrectly through his progression, but sometimes he comes off the progression or he stays on a progression too long. Another part of that is we got to help him. We got to protect him. We got to make sure that if he throws a catchable ball, we got to catch it. All those things are going to help him have confidence. We got to call plays that help him have easy completions and success like we started the game off with. Drew Pyne is a warrior and he's done a really good job. He takes a lot of heat and he gets a lot of praise. That comes with the position." Final Take With Syracuse, Clemson, Navy, Boston College, and USC still on the schedule, the Irish need to find answers to these questions sooner rather than later. If Coach Freeman can see progress in these areas, then this football team will make the kind of strides to be more competitive down the stretch. When asked about his goals this week, Coach Freeman said this… “Urgency. As I told them, it's not urgency to start the game now but it's urgency throughout the entirety of a game. A sign of a dominant football team is a team where no matter what the series is, or what the score is, you're able to be effective in what you're doing. We have to continue to be a mature football team and progress towards improvement and being a dominant football team. That comes from the top down in making sure that every critical thing we looked at last week, the sense of urgency we had, we got to increase that, we got to enhance that. That starts with me. That's my message to the team this week.” Go Irish! 📷 credit: @ndfootball on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-3) will host the UNLV Rebels (4-3) on Saturday, as Notre Dame seeks to make amends for their embarrassing performance against Stanford last Saturday. UNLV presents an opportunity for Marcus Freeman and this Notre Dame football team to correct their mistakes and prove that this team can face and overcome adversity. After losing a plethora of players, captains, and leaders on this team, it is time to see if this team is ready to go to battle on the football field with the Rebels on Saturday. If not, it may be time for some coaching changes, but if they are willing to make the necessary changes then it should give Irish fans something to look forward to for the rest of the season. Coach Freeman had this to say at his press conference on Thursday… "One, it's a mentality. That's what I just told the team and the staff. We're not judged off mentality, but you have gotta have the right mindset because that will dictate your actions and how you start the game. We got to come out of the locker room ready to go with the right mentality. We can't be soft. We got to challenge our opponents. Both sides of the ball have to come out with no mental errors and really focus on challenging the opponent on both sides of the ball." Game Details Date: Saturday, October 22 Time: 2:30 PM ET Where to Watch: Peacock Breaking Down UNLV The Rebels are led by head coach Marcus Arroyo, who owns a 6-19 overall record after three years at UNLV. Despite a losing record, Arroyo appears to be turning the UNLV program around with better recruiting and taking advantage of the transfer portal. The Rebels currently rank second (2-2) in the Mountain West Conference, behind San Jose State. Despite their record, this is a team that can score a lot of points if the defense does not come prepared to play good football. On two occasions this season, the Rebels have scored over 50 points, which is something Notre Dame has not done in several years. Coach Freeman had this to say about UNLV… “It's a talented football team that started off the season 4-1 and we know is going to present a challenge to our team. That's what I told our players. We have to respect our opponent and you don't have to watch too much of their film to gain respect for the job that coach Arroyo has done with that program and what they're going to bring here to South Bend." Stacking Up Notre Dame vs UNLV 3 Offensive Players to Know Doug Brumfield— QB #2 2022 Stats: 1231 passing yards, 8 touchdowns; 137 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns Aidan Robbins — RB #9 2022 Stats: 591 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns; 78 receiving yards, 1 touchdown Ricky White— WR #11 2022 Stats: 444 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns 3 Defensive Players to Know Austin Ajiake— LB #27 2022 Stats: 72 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions Jerrae Williams — DB #23 2022 Stats: 33 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defended, 2 interceptions Darius Johnson — DL #8 2022 Stats: 29 tackles, 2 sacks 📷 credit: @unlvfootball on Instagram Keys to Victory 1. Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees Needs to Call a Better Game I wrote about this earlier in the week, but Tommy Rees must call a better game this Saturday. UNLV presents the perfect opportunity to establish your identity, build confidence in your players, and run more tempo offense. If Rees can not do this against UNLV, then Irish fans must question whether or not he should be the offensive coordinator at the University of Notre Dame. 2. Drew Pyne Needs to Play Better Despite most of the blame being rightly placed on Tommy Rees, Pyne must do a better job at the quarterback position this Saturday. Pyne has to be more accurate, stop locking in on Michael Mayer, and spread the ball around to his playmakers. If Drew can do this, Irish fans will see an offense that is much improved against the Rebels. 3. The Defense Needs to Force Turnovers Despite several forced fumbles on Saturday, Notre Dame’s defense continues to not come up with the ball. This is a puzzling situation because the Irish media team released practice footage of the defense practicing these situations, but it has yet to translate on the field. That must come to an end on Saturday as they take advantage of an inaccurate quarterback for UNLV, and force turnovers. Final Take Despite Notre Dame being heavily favored in this matchup, Irish fans should not take anything for granted right now. With the way Notre Dame has been playing, UNLV has enough skilled players to come to South Bend and come away with a victory. If Notre Dame can figure out what they are doing on offense, see Drew Pyne play better at the quarterback position, and see turnovers coming from the defense, then the Irish should be victorious. Let us hope that Marcus Freeman has truly been evaluating everything and fans will start seeing the results of that on Saturday. Coach Freeman had this message for his team on Thursday… “Stay together, trust each other, and do not listen to anything anybody has to say positively or negatively about you outside of these walls. Be honest with yourself, coach each other up, coaches coach the players, coaches help each other, and let's use this as a time to really evaluate what we're doing and make sure, not hope and pray and not keep our fingers crossed, but make sure that we're better and we perform better on Saturday when it matters the most." Go Irish! Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

Written by Nick Kremer, Editor for the Irish Tribune Recovering from Vegas can be a challenge at times, but nobody thought the hangover would result in a loss. Notre Dame took on Stanford Saturday night at home under the lights. What was setup to be a big night for the Irish quickly turned to disaster as Stanford beat Notre Dame 16-14. ☘️ Photo from uhnd.com Stock Down 📉 Offense Stanford rolled into South Bend with 11 straight losses to FBS opponents, and their defense came into the game ranked as one of the worst in the country. The Irish offense started the game with a penalty, and that was a sign of things to come for this game. Notre Dame has shown the last couple of weeks that a dominant running game is their identity. With three very capable running backs, the running game was not as effective as it should have been. The Notre Dame offense has shown that they do better when they are running gap-scheme, down-hill plays. This has always been a strength for Heistand coached Olines. For some reason, we did not see as big of an emphasis on this style of running game against Stanford. Rees, instead, opted to go with more slow-developing, zone scheme running plays. This is a Stanford team that gave up more than 200 yards rushing per game. The fact that the running game was not emphasized correctly, and more often in this game, is a huge concern. For a team that claims to start up-front, the play calling did not reflect that attitude in this game. Notre Dame struggled on 3rd down in this game converting only 3 of 12, which is not a ratio that can produce a winning product. On top of that, the Irish struggled to take care of the football with 2 lost fumbles. Additionally, the Notre Dame offense struggled in the red-zone; this is a formula for losing to a bad team at home. The Irish offense has to figure some things out, and figure them out fast. Energy/Fight The most disappointing part of the Freeman Era up to this point has been the lack of energy and fight from this team. Because Marcus Freeman is a young, energetic player’s coach, I truly thought we would see a boost in the demeanor of this team. Even when things are going well for this team, they do not seem to get very excited. Football is an emotional game. Get excited when something good happens, and get pissed off when times are tough. The body language of the team is a huge concern of mine. The leadership of this team needs to step up. The coaches are responsible for ensuring the team is getting the proper preparation and putting their players in a position to win, but the players are the ones that have to execute those plays on the field. There should be a certain amount of pride that comes with playing for The University of Notre Dame, and even more so playing at home for the Irish. If you are going to lose at home, at least do it showing a little bit of fight. ☘️ Photo from NBC Sports Stock Up 📈 Special Teams It’s never a good sign when one of the only positives is Special Teams play. Regardless, this unit continues to be a strength of this team. The Irish were finally able to get home and block a punt, which unfortunately did not lead to points. Additionally, Jon Sot has been phenomenal all year and continues that play with his punting duties. Jordan Botehlo is a monster and a tone-setter on special teams; hopefully we can see him get some action on defense some time soon. DL The defensive line as a whole played solid, but there were some players that really impressed me in this game. Nana Osafa-Mensah had the best game of his career at Notre Dame. Nana finished with 3 total tackles, 2 solo, and 1 tackle for loss, but his impact was felt all game long. Howard Cross continues to be the heart and soul of this defensive line. He finished with only 1 tackle, but his play in the middle of the defensive line has been exceptional. We have to hope that his lingering injuries heal up quickly for this unit to continue to play well. Chris Smith, the transfer from Harvard, has not been talked about enough. He won’t show up big on the stat sheet, but his ability to eat up double teams and disrupt the run game has been great. Running Backs Audric Estime ran for 57 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries. Logan Diggs ran for 57 yards on 9 carries, and Chris Tyree ran for 25 yards on 8 carries. I am still struggling to understand why Audric Estime did not get more action in the first half of this game. Going forward, I hope that Estime is the lead back with Tyree and Diggs filling in as needed. Tobias Merriweather Tobias Merriweather made his debut for the Irish with his first reception going for 41 yards and a TD. Notre Dame nation has been waiting to see the touted Freshman get some reps, and he did not disappoint. Going forward, I will be very disappointed if the Irish don’t find a bigger role for him in this offense. Photo from Sports Illustrated All in all, this Notre Dame team has a lot to get figured out. For those that are calling for coaches to be fired, it’s time to calm down and let things play out. Marcus Freeman will be just fine, but it will take time. As fans of this great university, we have to be patient and support a coach that WILL get it figured out. The ride won’t be without some bumps, but the destination will be worth the tribulation of the trip. ☘️

In an embarrassing loss to Stanford last Saturday night, Notre Dame failed to execute one offense once again. After starting the game with a false start on captain Jarrett Patterson, little did Irish fans know that this would set the tone for the rest of the night. At best, the offense looked out of sync, too predictable, and poorly coached, and players lacked the competitive spirit to win that football game. Coach Freeman had this to say at his press conference on Monday… “It's been a long 48 hours of trying to figure out what the heck happened on Saturday and why we didn't execute the way we have been previously, and what we have to do to fix it. And to do a better job in order to give us a chance to perform better when it matters on Saturdays in the game. I think we've had some really productive meetings and had good practice yesterday. The spirits of the kids in this program are unwavering. That's the thing that everybody has to understand. As disappointed as we all are on Saturday, the fight and excitement to get a chance to play another game here in five days and to play for this university will never change. We look forward to another opportunity on Saturday. We look forward to getting back on the practice field tomorrow and getting back to work and preparing for a tough test at UNLV. We know it will be a challenge and we have to be ready to go Saturday afternoon.” At the end of the day, something has to change it must change quickly. Outside of the North Carolina game, the Notre Dame offense has not been very good this season. Quarterback Drew Pyne did not have his best game and the play calling from offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was one of the least creative games Irish fans have seen in years. On top of that, statements like this concern many Irish fans… “You go to Stanford and you don't execute the way you want to. I don't question who we are on offense. I have the utmost confidence in coach Rees and our offensive staff and what we are doing. We just have to execute better. That to me is the challenge of saying that it's not the play calls or what we are doing, but why we aren't executing and what we have to do to execute." Does Marcus Freeman understand that this is about more than execution? Does he understand that the quarterback problem, offensive philosophy problem, and a plethora of other issues all point back to one coach on his staff? Time will tell if Coach Freeman is just showing respect to his staff or not, but a coach with as much experience as he has knows, deep down, that something has to change on this football team. He has done a good job at elevating recruiting, but now it’s time to elevate his standard for his coaches and the product they put out on the field on Saturdays. Coach Freeman added this at the press conference on Monday… “You're going to have to be able to really stand your ground during these tough times. Our program is different this year than it was in the past. To really establish something that's special, you're going to have to go through some challenges and difficult times. I've been through them. I've been to new places. I've been in new situations where you have to hit tough times. Again, nobody wants to go through them, but I know we're going to be better because of it. As I told the team, you have to understand you can't always win it easy. Nobody wants to lose a game, but this is going to build this program and our foundation to where it needs to be. They're encouraged. We're going to be okay. We know that. We have a good football team. The culture of this program is we're going to have to embrace these tough times and these growing pains of getting this program to where we want it to be." Final Take Irish fans hope these lackluster performances are behind this football team, but they can not overlook UNLV. UNLV is not a great football team, but with the way Notre Dame is playing right now, it is hard to overlook any team. If Coach Freeman is going to right the ship, then it begins with a better week of preparation, execution, and putting the fight back in the Fighting Irish. When asked about his goals this week, Coach Freeman said this… “To beat UNLV. We're not talking about a bowl game. We're worried about this next opportunity that we have on Saturday. We can't worry about six games from now. We have to worry about taking care of what's right in front of us. That goes into the messaging for this week. But the minute you start daydreaming and drift into, 'Okay, if we win six in a row, okay, we're gonna go to a bowl game and what bowl game we're gonna play,' you're losing the attention that it takes to have success versus a team like UNLV. One, we can't disrespect that team, because they're a good football team. Two, you're doing a disservice to the seniors and the guys in this room right now.” Go Irish! Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish

Irish fans were left dumbfounded as they watched Notre Dame lose its third game of the season to Stanford last Saturday. Outside of the North Carolina game, Notre Dame’s offense has been abysmal so far this season. According to ncaa.com, Notre Dame ranks 80th in total offense, while teams like Central Michigan, Buffalo, Troy, Ball St., and UAB rank ahead of them. On top of that, they rank outside the top 100 when it comes to scoring offense and passing offense, but their rushing offense ranks 51. Needless to say, this is not what Irish fans expected entering the 2022 college football season. Coach Freeman had this to say after last Saturday’s game… “On offense, we've got to do a better job executing. We did a better job in the second half. I'm sure somebody's going to ask me what happened. But we've got to look at ourselves as coaches first and say, ‘okay, why didn't we execute the way we were supposed to, the way we wanted to, right?’ And then we've got to make sure we go and evaluate and find ways to make sure this doesn't happen.” If Coach Freeman is serious about looking at his coaches, then he must take a long and hard look at his offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees. Outside of the North Carolina game, Rees has been a huge disappointment this season in putting together a championship-caliber offense. Excuses are plenty, but the issue appears to go much deeper than that. Let’s take a look at a few problems… 1. Poor Game Planning Outside of the North Carolina game, the game plans on offense this year have been mediocre at best. At times, any casual fan recognizes that there appears to be no rhythm to the offense or any strategy to what this team is trying to accomplish. Through 6 games, no one can tell what the identity of this offense is, despite having plenty of playmakers. 2. Too Predictable Coach Rees appears to telegraph what he is doing on offense much too often. Whether it be obvious formations, or continuing to frequently run on second down, this is a problem that defensive coordinators can adjust for in-game. Outside of Merriweather getting two attempts to catch a ball on Saturday night, the younger receivers are brought into the game to primarily run block. Defensive coordinators know that they do not need to take those receivers seriously and it causes more pressure on the intended receivers. 3. Unable to Maximize Players’ Strength’s/Weaknesses Through the first two games, it was clear that Coach Rees did not know how to use Tyler Buchner effectively. Fans still do not know what type of offense this team was trying to run with Buchner in the game. This was a poor job of maximizing Buchner’s abilities as well as this offense's potential. There are numerous other examples of this as well: Jayden Thomas running a sweep that someone with speed (Braden Lenzy or Chris Tyree) should be running. Lorenzo Styles running fade routes when he does not do well at those. Chris Tyree running up the middle like Estime instead of creating more space for him to effectively use his speed. Throwing fade routes to shorter receivers instead of utilizing your younger, but taller receivers. Playing two tight-end sets, but only targeting one of them. The list goes on and on, but it’s clear that Rees is either not a good evaluator of talent, or he is unwilling to put his players in the best position to be successful 4. Poor Quarterback Development Despite being this team’s quarterback coach for several years now, Rees has yet to develop a quality quarterback. Ian Book, Phil Jurkovec, Jack Coan, Tyler Buchner, and Drew Pyne have all regressed during their time at Notre Dame. Despite having a good game here or there, overall Rees has been unable to maximize each quarterback's strengths while at Notre Dame. 5. Extremely Uncreative After having an entire week to scheme opening drives, Notre Dame continues to not be good at them. This is a problem that plagued Brian Kelly and continues to be a problem for Marcus Freeman. Time will tell if Freeman can change this, but history tells an interesting story… Despite Zaire’s limited data, he, Kizer, and Wimbush were the only quarterbacks to be somewhat successful on opening drives. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but this period coincides with Rees not being part of the program and a few very dynamic quarterbacks. Through 6 games, Notre Dame has only scored 6 points in the first quarter this season. Final Take Irish fans are well aware of the fact that Rees was hired before Marcus Freeman, but it may be time to evaluate whether or not he can effectively coordinate a college offense. At this point, Notre Dame fans are quickly losing hope that Rees can accomplish this task and it may take a hard decision by Coach Freeman to correct this program. No matter your opinion of Tommy Rees, this may be one of the most pivotal coaching decisions in Marcus Freeman’s career at Notre Dame. Whatever the answer may be, Freeman must find answers and re-establish a winning culture at Notre Dame once again. Go Irish! Follow “God Country Irish” on Instagram Follow “God Country Irish” on Twitter Contact God Country Irish