The unthinkable has occurred as Notre Dame has suffered its second loss to an allegedly inferior unranked opponent at home and we aren’t even to Halloween yet.
It’s especially jarring when contrasted with Mr. Bayou Brian’s previous impressive streak of five seasons without a loss to an unranked opponent.
Some growing pains were expected during the Freeman transition, but they were supposed to be against the upper echelon of the schedule, not the lower portion.
Who and what is to blame for this regression after solid play in the last couple of games?
Why do the Irish play their worst football at home?
These are the questions that are keeping Notre Dame fans up at night.
There are undoubtedly more big-picture issues in play now than anyone hoped for to begin the year, but this season isn’t over.
There is pride and the retention of two currently very strong recruiting classes headed to South Bend in 2023 & 2024 on the line. Let’s take a look at five things that need to happen early this week to try and get things back on track in the short term for the Irish.