The chips were on the table for Notre Dame to finish off a close and frustrating comeback win to reset their season. It wouldn’t have been pretty but a victory would’ve been big in keeping the playoff hopes alive for the Irish. Now, after Texas A&M executes a game-winning touchdown drive the panic button is firmly being pressed in South Bend.
Here’s our game review of the 41-40 loss to the Aggies.
QUARTERBACK: B+
Maybe it’ll get lost in the 0-2 meltdown that is happening for Notre Dame. I’ve been so impressed with CJ Carr this season so far. Nearly 300 passing yards speaks for itself and I don’t think it’s difficult to understand what has made Carr one of the more promising players on this team already. He’s wise beyond his years, commands the offense really well, has shown the ability multiple times to be able to go through his progressions without panic, and he’s a very accurate passer with upperclassman decision making.
Todd Blackledge (more on him below) really felt like Carr’s interception was such a horrible mistake and inaccurate throw–but it wasn’t that bad. Jadarian Price’s arms are too muscle bound to make that catch unfortunately.
The clapping in frustration leading to a bad snap was weird though, wouldn’t that be more on the center Ashton Craig? There didn’t seem to be any plan to snap the ball it seemed with Carr’s reaction.
The most positive I can say about Notre Dame’s situation is that it now becomes paramount that they finish this season winning a bunch of games, carry some momentum into the off-season, and rebuild around the Carr talent. I know it’s hard to see but even a 8-4 season with Carr performing well is going to have the national media buying into a bright future in 2026 and beyond.
RUNNING BACK: C+
I don’t want to be too harsh on Jeremiyah Love. His touchdown catch was awesome and his 147 yards from scrimmage certainly isn’t terrible. Still, something doesn’t seem right. He’s incredibly hyped up on the field, his helmet keeps falling off, A&M really felt like they were targeting him, there’s so much jawing going on, and he finishes with a more pedestrian 4.1 yards per carry average.
Turns out, giving Love 20+ carries per game isn’t some magical Rock’s House solution to winning on offense.
Jadarian Price has been by far the better runner this year. He’s only 14 yards behind Love in rushing on 15 fewer carries–a massive 2.43 YPC average discrepancy between the two. I’ll be honest, I whinced a little bit reading Love’s Players’ Tribune article right before the season began and of course it looks silly as hell now sitting at 0-2. Beyond that, Love looks way too jittery and lacking calmness as a runner. The cerebral ability is missing and it’s like he’s running with his head cut off. In contrast, Price has looked impressive–running hard between the tackles but also smartly kicking it outside when he can.
There’s a case to be made that Price should start against Purdue and some of the other backups should be seeing the field. No carries so far for Anyeas Williams is pretty dumb.
WIDE RECEIVER: C
Amongst the weirdness of this year is Notre Dame sitting 45th nationally in passing per game (okay not great but damn near twice as many yards as last year through 2 games) and still the receiving corps feels so disappointing.
Maybe disappointing isn’t the right word. It’s just a lack of playmaking, especially at crucial times. Malachi Fields looks like a good players, for example. I don’t think he’s a good enough player to receive 11 targets and then have a couple times where he has a drop and then can’t make a play on the ball to come down with a reception when it’s really needed.
With enough progression from Carr things should improve at receiver, they just have to, right? We finally saw Jaden Greathouse come alive with 2 receptions on 2 targets. Maybe he needs to be a focus moving forward?
TIGHT END: B
Eli Raridon once again didn’t come off the field (he missed one offensive snap) and his blocking is still a work in progress. Did you know he’s on pace for nearly 1,100 receiving yards and to obliterate the single-season record at Notre Dame. That seems pretty good. We saw Ty Washington get out there and play a little bit, too. I thought he had some quality blocks, although wearing no. 7 I keep thinking we’re putting Isaiah Foskey back out there to play offense.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B
Was this a pretty decent game from the offensive line? Carr was sacked twice but the pass blocking on most snaps looked miles better than the Miami game. I thought there were snaps where Carr had ages to throw the ball.
Run blocking still seems like a mixed bag. Still, this was more of a return to what we saw last year in terms of consistency. Maybe the issues now are mostly play-calling and adjusting to a new quarterback? Do we need to talk about all the use of the wildcat? There was a late wildcat conversion which moved the chains but overall the productivity of those snaps were extremely poor.
DEFENSIVE LINE: D+
If this is what the defensive line is really going to look like this season then the best they can achieve is being stout against the run. Le’Veon Moss had runs of 12, 11, 10, and 7 yards then 41 yards on his 16 other carries. Overall, he wasn’t much of a factor although when it comes down to goal line allowing Moss to score 3 times isn’t good.
Our friend Jamie Uyeyama at Irish Sport Daily has always zeroed in on Havoc Rate for the defense, and defensive line in particular, and it’s concerning how much he’s raising red flags up front with this unit. It doesn’t even seem possible that through 2 games the defensive line has 0.5 tackles for loss outside of Boubacar Traore’s one sack two weeks ago.
Is Botelho truly healthy enough to make an impact? The Burnham injury has to be bad enough for him to only play 3 snaps. Things aren’t perfect health-wise but the talent and productivity looks like it’ll be season-long issue if they don’t turn things around soon.
LINEBACKER: B
A low bar to be sure, yet the linebackers were the best unit on the field for Notre Dame. Curiously, Jaylen Sneed didn’t see the field a ton (22 snaps, fewest among the “regular” on defense) as the defense looks to coalesce around Drayk Bowen and KVA at linebacker. We were told about an impending breakout season from the media for Sneed but he’s never played regularly in this type of every down role and perhaps it’s just not going to happen.
Can this group turn into bigger playmakers? I think it’s possible. I feel better about this position relative to the first game and the top 4 players have all done good to great things in their careers. But, if they’re not surrounded by an effective strategy I fear it’s going to be too much for them to flourish.
As a former linebacker, I wonder what’s going through Marcus Freeman’s mind right now?
SECONDARY: F
We lost the game here and it was a shame. If there’s a tiny sliver of good news it’s that Leonard Moore didn’t suffer a season-ending injury. There are definite scheme issues going on here and I’ll let the smarter X’s and O’s folks dive into what’s going on. Christian Gray has always been a hot and cold cornerback and on Saturday we got the dark side. Davonte Smith missed the game with an injury during warmups and the drop to backup Karson Hobbs looks massive. Safety doesn’t seem to have things figured out yet and it was exacerbated by a soft targeting call on Adon Shuler.
Moore and Gray with a healthy Smith plus Shuler at safety should be enough for a good secondary. There does seem to be some scheme issues and the lack of depth punishing the defense right now, plus Notre Dame may have played a pair of very good offenses so far. Nevertheless, going from a supposed strength to a liability like this is a huge worry for the rest of the season.
NOTES:
I’m usually pretty chill and maybe even a little more forgiving than most when it comes to college football. I’ll try to say this as politely as possible. Chris Ash inspires no confidence in me from his growing patented confused look on his face, to his recruiting prowess, to what is happening under him with this defense. I’m usually against pulling the plug this early (surely he won’t survive like this into next season, right?) but a mid-season firing might be an injection needed for this team. At the very least, a re-organization of duties in a quasi-firing situation has to be considered by Freeman.
Todd Blackledge is a terrible color commentator. He’s experienced enough to be able to pin point issues right after plays but he has the annoying ability of being either too bland or too fired up about certain scenarios–and never seems to get the right mix.
There seems to be some mixed emotions about A&M quarterback Marcel Reed. I thought he played really well and looked good within A&M’s offense. We dared him to throw and he carved up the Irish with 8(!!) explosive pass plays. Reed passed for 360 yards on 17 completions which is absurd. I thought he’s developed nicely but you have to bet against that small frame being able to stay healthy. If he does, the Aggies might be in the SEC Championship conversation.
Donovan Hinish A) not having a good year and B) getting jump tackled from behind on a non-holding call to allow Texas A&M’s game-winning touchdown is one of those things that happens where I fear it’s just not going to be our season.
The bungled PAT snap by Tyler Buchner leading to a 1-point loss is something that can keep you up at night. He even had an opportunity to make a nice throw and seemed to half-ass it in a panic! Then, one of the cameras locked on him for the remainder of the game was cruel. We got to see him wearing the signal outfit and there’s just something ridiculous about Buchner in a flouro hat looking like a little 5 year old that just ruined the game for Notre Dame. It’ll be an endearing memory from this loss.
I’m sure he feels awful.
Is it time to panic if you’re Marcus Freeman? I think we’ll need to see how the team responds and performs against a lesser team like Purdue next week. A loss would be nuts. A comfortable win could calm things down to set up a big game at Arkansas. There’s a path to 5-2 that could re-set this season and actually feel pretty good. Can they get there? I’d guess around 10% of Irish fans think they can win the next 5 including against USC right, is that fair?
As I got no sleep with the 1:45 am start, this comment will be a little vague — but I am really appreciative of your tone in this analysis. Honestly, the calmness makes me feel better. Not to mention a legit focus on what might happen if we get to 5-2. Both TLNDMA and I are coming in from far for USC. With luck that game will mean something beyond the rivalry if we win.
You don’t say much about the guys on the D-Line — concurrence sadly enough over Burnham and Bartelho. Rubio seemed to show up for a while, but I am not getting any raves for Onye. With young Hinish struggling as you point out, maybe it was a good sign that we contained their running game on at least some early downs.
You have to be right on “Maybe [Greathouse] needs to be a focus moving forward”. As i pointed out after Miami, he wasn’t on the field much, most of those were on screens, and when he ran routes he was wide open and either OL didn’t give Carr time or Carr went to a different open receiver. For this week i haven’t seen a condensed game yet, but live i kept wondering why Greathouse wasn’t on the field. He saw very few snaps. But when he ran routes he was open. Is he in Denbrock’s doghouse? On the desperation throw into triple coverage to Fields Greathouse was wide open with room to run. Even if he couldn’t house it he had a clear angle to the sideline. I’m sticking with Greathouse is WR1 and the coaches and Carr need to see that.
Christian Gray or Gary Gray, who ya got?
Also with the Buchner thing: he’s supposedly a great guy and teammate, which counts for something but still it has to be asked: is Tommy+BK taking Buchner over JJ McCarthy the single worst recruiting decision in modern ND football (non-criminal variety, anyway)?
Some thoughts on yours Eric.
Carr has good composure and a good sense of when its time to get out of the pocket. I’ve always felt the gap between Love and Price was not very big. Have they switched from last year, in that one is thinking home run too often and the other is looking to gain yardage, which makes a more effective RB. The Oline was better but, I don’t want to hear Joe Moore’s name mentioned for quite a while.
Other than Traore who’s been OK, not anyone on the Dline has been good. And Bryce Young may show up on a milk carton.(sophomore slump?) Should we be surprised Sneed has had his role decreased with a new DC when it took him so long to get Golden’s schemes? The secondary is concerning, they could be helped greatly by more pressure on the QB. That and there have been 4-5 big plays in the 2 games by experienced DBs that have you asking “WTF?”
Why would the holder be wearing a watch? Could someone inform Todd Blackledge that if you run into the kicker after blocking a punt it is not a penalty. Don’t these guys have spotters in their ears telling them what is going on so that they don’t mistakenly harp on things ? Like the fact that the ref called wrong number on a holding call.
From a top 5 defense to this, holy cow. With this schedule, I don’t see an in season firing unless there is a player mutiny. A shuffling of responsibility to save some face, maybe. I agree that Ash’s facial expression does not inspire confidence. Bowen said that on the winning TD they knew what was coming. That seems accurate. What about the other 68 plays?
Noise is correct, I’ll be seeing him at the SC game. I’m quite worried what SC’s offense might do to this defense.
Ugh, I just get the feeling if we had any one of Golden, Watts, or Kiser (in that order of importance), we’d be 2-0.
In baseball they talk about being strong up the middle, ie the importance of defense of catcher/SS/CF. Between losing Watts and Kiser along with Mills and Cross, we are anything but strong up the middle right now.
Are you a Tim Prister fan ? I’m just joking. He loves baseball comparisons…. Any offense is going to exploit the other teams weakness. Flammang (he was there) said ND did not give help to the Freshman (CB, Zachary?) who replaced Moore and A&M picked on him immediately. That’s basic coaching, especially when the other teams WRs have been scorching you.
No, but I’m a lifelong Cardinals fan who lives in St. Louis, so that probably colors my thinking.
Funny thing is I was not a fan of bringing in Leonard last year, I thought the move was to let Carr take his lumps and that this would be the year the Freeman talent infusion really took over.
Glad to be wrong about last year, but looking at our talent, I feel like we are still a year away, so this will be the year of everyone taking lumps.
At least 25 years of ND fandom has prepared me for this.
Well, imagine, me with 70 years — Terry Brennan ’56 (Hornung gets the Heisman and we’re 2-8), Joe Kuharich (all 4 years), Hughie Devore (2-7), Gerry Faust (rah rah so bad)… and there we are up to Bob Davie and your/our modern era of heartbreak and lost seasons. I hate it when they get lost so early, but, heck, Eric used the present tense, so, OK this one is slipping away. But not sure if MF can salvage it, a bad DC is hard to shake.
Just thinking back…the Gray holding play was one of the worst decisions from a player in recent memory.
3rd down with 46 seconds remaining. 3rd & 16 from the ND 20 yard line. Just a terrible decision to give them new life and a 1st down.
At least if they scored on 3rd down the Irish would’ve had more time to come back with a field goal. Ugh.
Most impactful, maybe, but I don’t think that was even the worst of the game? Carr walking away from the play and then clapping his hands in frustration when he should have lined up a Hail Mary was a truly terrible decision. I heard somebody criticize the center for snapping and, no: we definitely should have run a play there!
At least Gray’s decision was reactive (if a bad reaction); the end of half by Carr was just wildly thoughtless where he (and Denbrock) had enough time to think about it.
Hopefully that will be a genuine learning point for CJ, as you could tell from his body language that he realized he had truly f__d up.
It would’ve been a rushed Hail Mary, but you’re right I guess it should’ve been called. I thought we had a timeout and were trying to bait A&M with something. But, Carr was sacked with 28 seconds remaining and the clock was running.
Speaking of unfortunate holding calls. Ironically, it would have been better for us if aTm had NOT been called for holding on the kickoff. That Swedish TE might have won them the game in 2 different ways.
I don’t want players on defense thinking OK I’ll them score. Considering they got it to 4th down and missed by inches of stopping that play, I’ll take what Gray did. If I’m the coach, I’ll decide when to let them score otherwise DON”T !!
I never said anything about letting them score.
Just that a holding call–on a route where I don’t think the receiver was going to score anyway and maybe not even pick up the first down where we had great coverage and help to that side of the field for Gray–was an incredibly undisciplined decision.
Math nerds may be able to confirm, but I believe the odds of Notre Dame winning would’ve been better if A&M had 4th & 6 with 39 seconds remaining (assuming Gray’s man catches the ball and isn’t held) and/or they score with more time remaining on the clock versus a fresh set of downs with 39 seconds remaining at the Irish 10-yard line.
Bad assumption on my part.
Also, Gray gets away with holding often as well as gets caught. He needs to be more disciplined with his hands.
The Chris Ash hire did not inspire me. When Golden was hired, I remember thinking ‘this could work’ he did well at Temple, sucked at Miami, and then went pro. But he had success as a head coach in college. Every time Ash has been promoted to DC, he had a new job somewhere else the next year. Benefit of the doubt: a lot of people were down on Golden his first season, but he was able to turn it around going forward. Hopefully Ash can do the same. I think Marcus Freeman is past the point where he needs ‘experienced’ coordinators/former head coaches, to assist him.
I don’t think we are out of the playoff hunt yet. AP has us at #24, USC #25. Coaches has us at #21 with USC at #28. I think good possibility that USC comes in ranked in the mid-teens or higher when we play them. If we win out the rest of our schedule, I can see us getting in as a 9-12 seed.
Penn st probably has losses against Ohio St and Oregon and then one more against either Iowa, Nebraska, or Indiana. I can see being above them at the end of the year.
LSU is a facade,their wins over Clemson and Florida mean nothing. The have ‘Bama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma to contend with this year.
Other teams will drop as conference schedules play out. ND has to take care of business going forward. They still have something to play for.
Hopefully our defense gets if figured out and improves.
I agree, the team needs to win 10, one game at a time. So far though they seem to have a bunch of warts, so I find it unlikely there won’t be another hiccup. Maybe Miami and Aggies are really good and it ain’t that bad…. I like your attitude Forever.
Running the wildcat 8 times, when Carr was playing well, was an insane decision. Especially when Love running inside just wasn’t working that well. Hard to put too much on Denbrock in a game where the offense scored points, but that was such a strange decision.
Chris Ash and Al Washington should be gone at the end of the season if this team doesn’t win out. Ash should probably give play-calling duties to Freeman if Purdue scores more than 14.
MF’s remarks in the presser if you watch them for me seem very clear. He’s moving over to assert more control.
Wildcat should give you an extra blocker. The way ND did it took away one. Did they think they were fooling aTm ?
Maybe the thinking was that getting the ball immediately in Love’s hands would give him a chance to read the defense better, because he was struggling to find the holes all night. I don’t know. It seemed dumb.
It’s like Denbrock decided in each of the first two games that there was a play that was definitely going to work, and dammit we’ll run it until it does. This game was the Wildcat. Against Miami it was those RPO/WR Screens. Strange, because last year it felt like the only play he really went to over and over was QB power on 3rd/4th and short, which made sense with Leonard back there.