Tag: 2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Profile exposes some areas where Notre Dame needs work

Going behind the scenes with a Notre Dame opponent is enlightening.

People have wondered how Northern Illinois could beat Notre Dame for over two weeks. A profile of how a different Mid-American Conference team prepared to face the Fighting Irish gave some clues.

The Athletic followed the Miami of Ohio coaching staff around during the week of preparation before the game, and Redhawks’ head coach Chuck Martin and his staff noticed that the Irish, especially on offense, showed some weaknesses on tape — and showed some tells.

To be fair to the Irish, Martin and his staff also noticed that there were some things Notre Dame did so well that the Redhawks didn’t even try to attack in those areas. And yes, all teams have weaknesses and tells — part of coaching is scouring tape to see what your opponent might do, and another part of coaching is to self-scout to shore up your weaknesses.

It’s also worth noting that Martin, along with Miami of Ohio quarterbacks coach Gus Ragland and defensive coordinator Bill Brechin, have ties to Notre Dame and the Irish coaching staff, which means that they have unique insights into the tendencies of Fighting Irish staffers like offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.

So there’s probably no reason to overreact to the piece or to indict Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff — this is a normal part of the game.

Still, the Irish staff might want to read the piece to learn how opponents are scouting them.

This passage is particularly illuminating: “The RedHawks have also picked up a few tendencies in the Irish offense. They notice running back alignments and postures tip run or pass. If the running back is slightly in front of Leonard, it’s probably quarterback run. If the running back’s hands are on his thigh pads, there’s a good chance he’s getting the ball. If the back is more hunched over, he’s blocking. And Notre Dame loves to run on third down in plus territory.”

Reading about the game-within-the-game is always fascinating, and Irish fans may glean some insight from the piece. Hopefully, Notre Dame’s opponents don’t.

 

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Notre Dame stays out of pundits’ rankings despite beating Miami of Ohio

The experts still need to see more from Notre Dame.

Maybe it was the slow start. Maybe there’s still fallout from losing to Northern Illinois. Whatever the reason, neither Danny Kannell or Joel Klatt have the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their rankings.

Klatt doesn’t have the Irish in his top 10 and Kannell doesn’t have them in his top 12. Klatt doesn’t have the Irish as an honorable mention, either.

Klatt’s top five is Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Tennessee and Georgia. Kanell has Texas, Georgia, Miami, Tennessee and Alabama.

Notre Dame is still feeling the effects of losing to NIU, and a slow and sloppy start against Miami of Ohio probably didn’t help. Blowing out Purdue probably means little because Purdue isn’t expected to compete for much this year.

If Notre Dame beats Louisville at home, the Irish might get more love. Especially if they play well or deliver a decisive win instead of squeaking by.

 

 

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Notre Dame picks up one spot in AP Top 25 poll after beating Miami of Ohio

Notre Dame moves just one spot in the AP Top 25 poll after beating Miami of Ohio.

Notre Dame has moved up one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to No. 16 after beating Miami of Ohio 28-3 on Saturday.

The top five sees very little movement — the first four of Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama remains the same. Tennessee moves up one spot to replace Ole Miss.

Notre Dame’s next opponent, Louisville, jumps four spots after beating Georgia Tech 31-19 and is now No. 15. The Fighting Irish will host the Cardinals in South Bend.

Another big mover was Michigan, jumping six spots to No. 12 after coming back against USC. The Trojans dropped two spots to No. 13.

Illinois jumped 5 spots to No. 19 after beating Nebraska 31-24 in overtime while Clemson picked up four spots after beating N.C. State. Big movers in the wrong direction were Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — both dropped six spots after losses.

Boise State enters for the first time, and is now ranked 25. Northern Illinois dropped out of the rankings after losing to Buffalo in overtime at home.

 

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What does Northern Illinois loss mean for Notre Dame?

Notre Dame probably would’ve been better off with an NIU win Saturday.

Just two weeks after coming into South Bend and beating Notre Dame in what might be the biggest upset of the 2024 college football season, the No. 23 Northern Illinois Huskies lost to Buffalo, 23-20, in overtime. At home.

This loss could have implications for Notre Dame’s playoff chances, though with just four games played, there’s still much more to figure out.

Almost every pundit and observer thought that not only would Notre Dame beat the Huskies, but the Irish would do it handily. We all know what happened next: Notre Dame lost 16-14.

The questions being asked after that game were these: Is NIU that good? Is Notre Dame overrated? Did Notre Dame simply have a bad day, perhaps by overlooking an underdog opponent?

Those questions remain unanswered. Northern Illinois jumped into the rankings after beating Notre Dame but also had the following week off. It’s too early to tell if a close loss to Buffalo means NIU isn’t as good as people thought. Neither does it help us determine if NIU is a playoff contender or if Notre Dame had a bad day — or both.

The following weeks will bring answers.

What does the NIU loss to Buffalo mean for Notre Dame?
Northern Illinois Huskies kicker Kanon Woodill kicks the game winning field goal in the fourth quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It would probably be good for Notre Dame if the Huskies are a true contender since it makes the loss to NIU look worse in the eye of any playoff decision-makers. Because the Irish are independent, they have no chance at an automatic bid via a conference championship.

While the Irish were considered, at the season’s start, as a possible playoff entrant with 1 or 2 losses, that depended on whom they lost to. Before the season kicked off, most observers would’ve excused an Irish loss to Florida State, USC or maybe Louisville. However, the conventional thinking since the loss to NIU is that Notre Dame will need to run the table to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame, for its part, hasn’t answered questions, either. The 66-7 drubbing of Purdue wasn’t particularly surprising, and the Irish once again started slowly at home against a Mid-American Conference team on Saturday, though this time they pulled away to beat Miami of Ohio.

There are other teams factoring into this equation. Florida State looks bad, so a win against the Seminoles no longer looks impressive. USC fell to Michigan on Saturday. Other upsets could happen, leaving a bunch of top 20 teams with one or two losses at season’s end.

Still, the NIU loss to Buffalo will likely hurt Notre Dame by making its loss to the Huskies look worse — unless NIU has a strong run to the finish line.

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