(Photo: Joe Weiser)
First and Fitzharris
A weekly look at Notre Dame football with Connor Fitzharris
The Irish offense is rolling, but if Notre Dame wants to salvage a playoff push, the defense has to find answers — fast.
In the end, it did not matter how many points CJ Carr and the offense put up — the other side of the ball had no answer for Marcel Reed and the Aggies wide receiving crew, as the Irish fell in a heartbreaker, 41–40, under the lights in South Bend. Texas A&M tore up Chris Ash’s defense for 488 total yards, including 366 through the air. It all came down to a 4th-and-goal from the 11 when Reed connected with blocking tight end Nate Boerkircher for the game-winning score, leaving Notre Dame’s hopes for another College Football Playoff trip looking grim.
So, the question everyone’s asking: where do Marcus Freeman and the Irish go from here? I see and hear plenty of chatter about whether Notre Dame would still have a CFP case at 10–2. Maybe. They’ll be favored in every game the rest of the way. But none of that matters if the defense doesn’t improve.
Two changes must happen if the Irish want to hope for a 10–2 season and have any shot at the College Football Playoff.
Notre Dame’s Front Seven Must Create Havoc
Phil Houk, Founder of FIP, said in his Notre Dame Federal Credit Union Last Thoughts just before kickoff that the Irish needed to contain the running threat of Reed. Mission accomplished. But the pass rush? Nonexistent. The Irish didn’t record a single sack and pressured Reed only once when rushing four. That let him sit back and pick apart the secondary all night.
It’s déjà vu—Carson Beck of Miami did the same in the opener. Yes, the Irish lost Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III from last year’s front, but there are no excuses. If Notre Dame wants 10–2, they must disrupt quarterbacks, period.
(Photo: Joe Weiser)
Trust the Secondary — Play Man Coverage
Last year, Notre Dame’s secondary thrived because Al Golden trusted Christian Gray and Leonard Moore to play man-to-man against elite receivers. That allowed the Irish to bring extra rushers and force mistakes.
Now, with Chris Ash calling the defense, zone coverage has been a disaster. Aside from Moore—who has been outstanding but is battling injury—the secondary looks lost in zone. It’s time for Ash to adapt: trust your corners in man, dial up pressure, and make quarterbacks uncomfortable. Otherwise, expect more long nights like Saturday.
The good news? The path to 10–2 is still there. The bad news? Unless the defense starts creating havoc and locking down in man coverage, that path gets narrower by the snap. The Purdue Boilermakers are up next for Freeman and Co., as the Boilermakers travel to South Bend to square off with the Irish this Saturday at 3:30 on NBC.