Sure, we could be measured in discussing today’s 42-3 Notre Dame victory in Dublin, the opener of the most-hyped Irish team in some time. But what fun would that be?
Why not dream big?
All the usual caveats apply about a game against a much less talented opponent. Nevertheless, there was a whole heck of a lot to like.
Sam Hartman was as advertised
It wasn’t just that Hartman was on point in his Notre Dame debut, though he was. (19/23, 251 yards, 4 TD – and one of the four incompletions was a straight-up drop.) It was that he was never in anything less than complete command of the proceedings.
Free rushers? Step one way, step the other, find the open guy. Blitz? Who’s the first guy I can find? Is he open? Yep. Ball’s out.
For a fan base that spent so much of last year watching Drew Pyne be so unsure of himself, watching a quarterback that just always seems to know what to do was quite a pleasure.
The clear highlight was when Hartman got out of the pocket, raced for the line of scrimmage to draw up the secondary, then flipped to a wide open Jaden Greathouse for the latter’s second touchdown catch of the game.
Hartman makes it happen
Another TD for @jadengreat1 #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/MUgqBjvrZR
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 26, 2023
His later TD to Deion Colzie, another one of those blitz-attackers, was less highlight-worthy but maybe equally impressive a play. A QB that effective at countering an opponent’s moves on defense will be tough for anyone to outmatch.
Offensive line shines
Last year’s second half against Navy was a horror show, with only one first down achieved. This year’s team, breaking in new players on the interior, had no issues. ND caved in the Midshipmen front time and time again. The couple of times they didn’t, Hartman was there to bail them out. That’s team football.
Run blocking was pretty tremendous too. One early play saw Zeke Correll simply throw his Navy counterpart out of the way. Textbook technique? Maybe not. But quite effective.
Talent and depth
I received a text from my mom after ND went ahead 28-0, which read, “You know what I love? Four different players have scored TDs.”
Besides being a far more insightful comment than anything Jason Garrett said in the booth, it was an undeniably positive sign. I’d add that two of those four players were freshmen – Jadarian Price and Jaden Greathouse. We’ve heard great things about both of them for a long time now, especially Price, and both players delivered.
And in addition to those two, we saw Jeremiyah Love do some cool stuff (and holy crap does he look like a brick house), Joshua Burnham get a sack, and Gi’Bran Payne look the part of a solid #2 back. While the recruiting jolt hasn’t been quite what ND fans had hoped when Marcus Freeman took over the job, the Blue Chip Ratio of the team has undeniably increased under his watch, and the Irish are starting to see the results.
A strong team defense
Navy results are, almost uniformly, not transferable to other games, but as you’d expect in a game when a Surrender Field Goal (TM Dino Babers) provided the only opponent points, the Irish defense was solid. The Midshipmen had their share of frustratingly effective gains, but not a single game-breaking run was among them. And when ND needed stops, they got them. Navy ended up with only 171 total offensive yards and 12 first downs.
You can’t ask for any more than that from a Navy game.
Three more to Ohio State
Much has been made of how the Irish, unlike pretty much every other season of our lives, are in a situation where there is effectively no excuse to lose the first four games. (All due apologies to NC State, a game that, for the record, still scares the bejesus out of me.) One down.
In a Week Zero, cross-the-ocean, tons-of-potential-distractions type of matchup, the Irish were all business. That bodes well for the other three games that now sit between Notre Dame and the titanic clash against the Buckeyes Sept. 23.
ND will be an underdog that day. But why not dream big?
Disorganized thoughts:
-It’s not often ND puts such a comprehensive beatdown on Navy, even with our best teams and their worst teams. This game is an outlier in a good way, I think.
-What a difference a QB makes, huh? Suddenly our WRs look pretty good, suddenly Navy’s hyperaggressive defensive strategy looks reckless, suddenly we can dial up a 2-minute score when we need to. No false starts, no delays of game, no panicked flailing at the sideline and wasted timeouts. I promise not to bag on Tommy this season (until Bama melts down), but this is what it’s supposed to look like.
-Not much to say about the defense because this game isn’t really translatable to others. That said, Navy was pretty much hopeless after two drives.
-First stress-free opener since 2020!
-My Jason Garrett bingo card was full in the first half. Naked, blue shirts, north and south, 3/4/5 headed monster at RB.
-I wonder how Kenny N felt watching that sad field goal.
Fine, I’ll bag on Tommy. This is the first season in ages where his fingerprint hasn’t been on the quarterback position, and so far it’s amazing. Did you guys know QBs can do things and not just check with the sideline before throwing a 5 yard out?!?! Screen passes are a thing?!? We gained more than two yards in the second half?!? Tommy can join his new boss in hell.
I mean to be fair. Tommy was the one who recruited Hartman. I don’t know how good Parker is going to be as an OC but I’m confident that he’s going to look far above what his average will be with Hartman at the helm.
Eh….I suspect Tommy was ordered to go get a transfer QB for 2023 after he declined to do so for 2022 and it nearly blew up the season. Plus, Hartman isn’t the QB who followed Tommy to Bama.
garrett kept saying “shot their gun” about nd defenders and I was just hoping he’d say shot their wad one time
yea i thought that was weird. Never really heard a commentator or football guy describe anything like that.
Early days. However, the offensive coaching changes – Parker and Rudolph – seem to be improvements. I can’t fault any of the play-calling. Parker probably utilized a smaller playbook for this type of an opening game (vs an Oho State). The development of the running game and inclusion of secondary RBs at this stage of the season with its subsequent results speak for themselves.
The OLine appeared to pull more than last year – and more than Navy did in the same amount of plays? How much did Navy line up in their usual flexbone with the two A backs and the pulling Guard on outside running plays?
Perhps pff’s rankings of lineback units with regard to ND’s is accurate.
Navy’s missed FG reminded one of MS Paint’s
Not just two freshman scored…but they both scored on their first collegiate touch.
NDMSPaint, if you’re out there we would love a “King of Dublin” shillelagh picture.
Logged in just to upvote this.
The one thing I saw that gives me the most hope was the killer instinct to go for another score before halftime and HCMF looking displeased and still actively coaching during our last offensive possession of the game.
That is a mentality and culture I have not seen at ND since I’ve been watching (late 90s).
Hartman’s pocket presence / ability to keep his eyes down field and that coaching ethos are what stood out to me and man I love to see it. I’d’ve loved a 50 burger but against a team like Navy that kills the clock I can accept going a bit under. But I want a killer instinct team and we saw some of that
After Navy’s 1st possession, the defense (especially the LBs) adjusted and shut down the middies. Who coaches the LBs and is the DC? Good job by him. Hopefully he keeps it up.