A win is a win, but a win can be concerning
Fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish received a stark reminder earlier this season that winning should never be taken for granted, and we can indeed celebrate the fact that the Irish prevailed over Miami of Ohio this past weekend. With that said, it was more than a bit concerning to see the Irish again endure a letdown performance at home against an outmatched MAC foe, especially with next week’s home tilt looking much more challenging. Let’s talk about three things we saw, covering both sides of that emotional ledger.
Christian Gray, Superstar
The Irish secondary was, as usual, outstanding as a unit in this game. Beyond the known quantities in Benjamin Morrison and Xavier Watts, what has made this unit so special this season has been the contributions from younger entrants to the group, and this week was Gray’s to shine. The sophomore corner had a hand in both of Notre Dame’s interceptions on the day, batting a ball into the leaping grasp of Junior Tuihalamaka and then leaping to grab an underthrown deep ball from Brett Gabbert.
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The player opposite Morrison was always going to be a magnet for opposing offenses, and Gray has seen a huge share of action as a result; the Irish are fortunate that Gray has looked liked the equal of his counterpart so far this season. Gray’s teammate Jaden Mickey also showed he was not to be picked on with a spectacular pass breakup in the end zone, while Watts and Adon Shuler each had two PBU’s. There is simply no weak spot in this Irish secondary for opponents to target, which was the primary reason this game never really felt unsafe despite the terrible start by the Irish offense, and should be a great comfort when more menacing passing attacks start coming to town.
Not Very Special
Riley Leonard’s shortcomings as a passer can be discussed in any number of other articles about this game. I want to talk about the other glaring red flag saw on Saturday – the performance of Notre Dame’s special teams units. Aside from a blocked kick in the fourth quarter, the Irish were atrocious on special teams in this game in a way that, if continued, will almost certainly cost them next week’s game against the Louisville Cardinals and probably a few others.
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Which one would you like to address first? The muffed punt that put the underdog visitor in position to – again – silence Notre Dame Stadium in the opening minutes, only foiled by the aforementioned Gray-Tuihalamaka heroics? The botched snap and hold on a field goal that would have given the Irish an early lead? Don’t forget the penalties, including an illegal block that negated a solid return.
Notre Dame should be able to beat Louisville next week, even with a limited passing attack. But if the Irish are going to hand their opponents high-leverage plays in the part of the game where the ball changes hands, they are going to have a fight on their hands no matter who is lining up against them.
“Handling Success”
In the aftermath of the loss to Northern Illinois, Marcus Freeman owned what we all saw on the field in that game – an Irish team that didn’t know how to handle success, started to believe their own hype and underestimated their opponent as a result. One wonders at this point whether this team can handle any level of success, because the Irish looked every bit as complacent and energy-deficient in the early stages of this game as they did two weeks ago. Notre Dame deserves credit for getting itself together and coming away with the win, but it is more than a bit concerning to see the consistency of the pattern here.
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One can understand an emotional hangover and even a bit of nonchalance after winning a game that had been hyped up for the entire summer, in a physical game over a ranked SEC opponent on the road. But is running over a hapless Purdue squad really enough to produce the same effect for Marcus Freeman’s program? That’s not a narrative change or a watershed moment; historically speaking it’s something Notre Dame should do pretty much every year. If the issue with “handling success” is really this persistent in the third year of Freeman’s tenure, he needs to be taking a beat to reflect on how to change it because at this point his team shouldn’t need any motivation. There can be no more letdown Saturdays at this point in the season and this team should know it – let’s hope that lesson can sink in ahead of next week.