A bunch of thoughts about Notre Dame football after the first 6 games of the season…
You can read the Q1 report HERE.
Starting the season 6-0 is exactly where Notre Dame expected to be, now the real campaign begins. Deep in our hearts we know there are two major tests for this 2026 season. First, this next month with BYU and Miami and a bye week contained therein. Then, what will come of the post-season. It’s time to lock in.
I was going to mention that CJ Carr’s Heisman chances feel far slimmer than the beginning of the year. However, the latest odds from FanDuel still have Notre Dame’s quarterback right up there near the top.
Jeremiah Smith: -210
Darian Mensah: +1000
CJ Carr: +1200
Trinidad Chambliss: +1300
Gunner Stockton: +1400
Keelon Russell: +2000
Julian Sayin: +4000
Drew Mestemaker: +4000
Kamario Taylor: +5500
Josh Hoover: +5500
Malachi Toney: +6500
He’d need some help, but a huge, huge day against Miami could maybe turn the tables if the Irish finish 12-0. Right now, Carr’s numbers aren’t particularly gaudy (46th nationally in passing yards per game) and a pocket passer throwing for about 2,800 yards just isn’t winning the Heisman–although Mendoza did just that last year! Carr is 13th in completion percentage, 10th in yards per attempt, and 6th in touchdown passes with just 1 interception. No conference championship game to pad his resume makes it more difficult, but we’ll see.
The Q1 report talked a lot about the early struggles for Aneyas Williams and while he’s played a little better (scoring a 70-yard touchdown catch helps!) the running back aspect to the game has now placed him third in the hearts of Irish fans thanks to the emergence of true freshman Jonaz Walton. In fact, Walton now leads the team in rushing following his explosion against Stanford. Among qualified running backs, the only power conference tailback averaging more yards per carry than Walton is Indiana’s Turbo Richard (great name).
Clearly, Walton’s playing time is going up and he said so himself that it doesn’t matter who starts. I doubt they will start Walton any time soon (I’d bet it won’t happen at all in 2026) but the coaching staff has to seriously consider involving him early and often when the season gets more heated, perhaps starting in Provo.
I joked in the Patrician Slack on Saturday that the offense continues to look like a basic version of something out of 1986 although it was nice to see some explosive plays against an overmatched opponent. I’m hoping we see some creativity this weekend against BYU.
We have to marvel at how well the offense is doing certain things anyway. Only 2 sacks allowed through 6 games is crazy stuff. Only 13 tackles for loss allowed is also elite. Third down conversions (44.62%) could be a lot better. Touchdown red zone percentage (71.43%) has been okay thus far, maybe a little better than the start of the season.
The program seems like a well oiled machine in SO many facets right now. Notre Dame is leading the country in fewest penalties (3.0) per game in addition to leading all power programs with a +13 turnover margin. If this team is going to go all the way, not beating itself is going to be one of the biggest reasons.
I need to get this off my chest. I am happy with how uniform Notre Dame looks on the field these days. There seems to be an effort (is it driven by Freeman and his attention to detail?) to have everyone wearing the same colored accessories on gameday. However, this trend of wearing a neck gaiter looks so incredibly bad and needs to stop immediately.
Just say no to the neck gaiter when it’s warm and sunny out.
I read plenty of times leading into August that this is the deepest Notre Dame receiving corps in a very long time. This is the easiest position to be skeptical of such claims, although some of the younger guys are slowly coming along nicely. We’re halfway through the regular season, though. Faison, Gilbert, and Greathouse have combined for 58 receptions. All other receivers have a combined 21 catches.
Cam Williams was a top 50 recruit from the 2024 class, made his first and only career reception last year against Syracuse, and was the only healthy receiver not to see the field this past weekend against Stanford. He seemed to be getting decent reps during camp but it does look like he’s more of a glue guy who won’t ever make an impact on the field.
Starting tight end Cooper Flanagan is 9th on the team with 48 receiving yards.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed by a Notre Dame defense in terms of the top 30(!!!) players on that side of the ball. Now, the competition is going to ramp up and that might change things quickly. Nevertheless, Chris Ash deserves a ton of credit for keeping this train rolling on defense under Marcus Freeman.
I’m going to be fascinated to see which players transfer out from Notre Dame after this season. The Irish seem particularly well positioned under Freeman and NIL to keep the vast majority of the players happy and engaged. Being able to not have your top players poached AND keeping quality backups is such a huge advantage year over year in this new era of college football. With the 105 roster rule, there are times where it feels like Notre Dame is working with twice as much talent than even 5 years ago. It’s a big deal.
Luke Talich made a tackle against Stanford on one of the few big plays from the Cardinal. He came from behind the play like a bullet to make the stop. I know some of that is camera trickery but I keep thinking more and more that Talich is going to be a testing freak and become a highly valued NFL prospect at some point.
A moment to appreciate Mark Zackery. Here’s a guy who was forced onto the field as a true freshman last year, played quite a bit, and held his own. Most years, he’d be coming into his sophomore season riding a high and looking to start. Instead, Notre Dame brings in all these transfers to an already loaded cornerback room and he’s pushed down the depth chart. When he saw the field this season there have been some rough patches. Yet, he delivered one of the best interceptions I’ve ever seen from a Notre Dame player. Look at this perfectly timed jump, extension, and completing the catch all the way to the ground. He was shaken up afterward, hopefully he’s fine.
Damn!
I’m ready to lock in Boubacar Traore as a top 50 NFL Draft pick. The last top edge rusher from Notre Dame to go that high was Isaiah Foskey back in 2023 who went 40th overall to the Saints. Traore is better and has a higher ceiling as a pro. Foskey was waived by the Bengals this year and is on their practice squad.
Ask 10 Notre Dame fans right now who will win the quarterback competition next year (should Carr leave) and probably 7 or 8 will reply Teddy Jarrard. I can’t help but be super impressed by Noah Grubbs right now, though. He’s been poised, accurate, and looks like the stage isn’t too big in the least bit. Plus, he’s gaining incredibly valuable reps compared to Jarrard which moves the future competition closer to the Floridian’s favor.
Who are the scariest teams you’d least want to face in the playoff based off the first half of the regular season? For me it’s only Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, and maybe Alabama if the Tide develop a little more, particularly Keelon Russell. I’d be disappointed with a loss to any other team in the country right now.
The pants continue to be controversial.
Another edition of Irish Wear Green has passed and the new leprechaun logo looks fine. Should it be a little larger? I wish we’d see the team use the shamrock more on the uniforms and I’m dying to see it on the shoulder sleeve with a jersey like this. If we continue to wear green on green these pants desperately need some striping or design. Also, did you know Notre Dame hasn’t changed the standard helmet for any game since the 2018 Yankee uniform atrocities? Actually, we just hit 100 straight games exactly while wearing the standard traditional gold helmets.
I think Walton needs to see the field before Williams at least. It’s crystal clear he’s the better running back. If harmony is the reason you play Williams first, you’re putting that ahead of being your best. Williams needs to up his play if he wants earlier and more time. IMO.
Denbrock seems to game plan and call plays thinking the defense will keep points down, so don’t give away any easy points on offense. Can they think that way vs. the best teams?
How is it that ND has so much trouble getting WR recruits ready to play. The best WR came to ND to play another sport. Greathouse, when recruited, was said to have everything needed to see the field right away,. Micah Gilbert is the exception. Everyone else is struggling to get on the field. Why is this happening, year after year? They don’t seem to be able to get WRs ready and on the field even in limited roles ? Give CJ the TX. WRs and I think he’s a fav for the Heisman.
Greg Flammang made a good point yesterday about Chris Ash’s defense. They are playing more varied schemes than Golden did. It makes them less predictable. It means that occasionally they might be a bit confused themselves and give up a big play. But offenses can’t predict what ND will do in certain formations or personnel, etc. We’ll have to wait and see if it pays off vs. the best teams. I think it’s quite an interesting approach.
The #1 BYU RB being out Saturday is very big. Their # 2&3 backs are already out. That means they are down to #4 (a walk on I’ve heard). NDs run defense is outstanding, giving them this advantage makes BYUs QB job really tough.
In terms of starting RB I think that it is clear that it should be Nolan James starting and then Walton coming in and getting just as many, if not a few more carries. It seems like Williams natural role should be the 3rd down back. He is a good pass blocker and has great hands and excellent route running. That route on his 70 yard TD catch this week was nasty!
The young WR’s seem to finally be making progress. Bettis, Burress, and Fitzgerald all look like they will be above average starters so maybe there is hope that we can start to get younger, promising guys on the field sooner. I still don’t understand why we play 12 personnel so often. We run fine out of it but our tight ends are not involved in the passing game really at all. So, why not get Mylan Graham out there for 10 or 12 more snaps on offense and see if we can add some explosive plays? More 11 personnel would allow the young WRs more time on the field during the early parts of games to develop.