Irish face the Thundering Herd in South Bend this weekend. Certainly Irish fans hope to see a big win and the return of the offense. Hopefully Tyler Buchner and his WR's will make some connections and open up the field for Michael Mayer. The OL of course won't be facing that great Ohio State defense and maybe they can start building the cohesion and teamwork they will need going forward. Running game might have a chance! But bottom line is we need to show a big improvement with the offense. Defense needs to of course continue to play well and some players who didn't have great games last week, like Isaiah Foskey, find their form. I've read some comments that the LB in the OSU game were not great, but I had expected them to be a really good group this year. Again it's Marshall so time to get your game on and play very well. Of course we all know that Marshall isn't going to come in and just roll over because they are in Notre Dame Stadium. So this team needs to have put the Ohio State game behind them and come out fired up to play. It's a big game for them and for Marcus Freeman, who is 0-2 as a head coach. He needs to win his home opener and it would be better if it's not a game like the Toledo game last year where a mistake by the Toledo RB in scoring gave the Irish the time to put on a drive to get the winning FG. I don't think the Irish need to win 55-0, although that would be nice. But they need to take control at the outset and play solid on both sides of the ball the whole game.
Interesting stat from a poster on another board re: Ohio State game But let's start with the unit that impressed last Saturday night. Here is the defensive snap count numbers, by percentage, broken down by class: FR: 5.2% SO: 0.0% JR: 16.2% SR: 45.3% GS: 33.3% Just by looking at these numbers it makes perfect sense why the defense could handle playing multiple looks, with sophisticated play calls, and give perhaps the best offense in the country trouble. ND had 16 fourth and redshirt seniors who played significant snaps. Now, let's look at the offensive snap count breakdown: FR: 0.0% SO: 45.3% JR: 18% SR: 18.2% GS: 18.5% The difference, on its face, is striking. But it's also the reason why we should expect/demand significant improvement over the course of the season.
A 20-point underdog against Marcus Freeman’s 0-1 Fighting Irish, the Marshall Thundering Herd opened its season Saturday with a 55-3 victory over FCS program Norfolk State. Second-year head coach Charles Huff guided Marshall to a 7-6 finish in 2021, that after spending two season in Alabama under Nick Saban where Huff served as the associate head coach and likewise manned the Crimson Tide running backs room—including first-round pick Najee Harris—en route to the 2020 national title.
Hopefully this prediction of Marshall keeping it close in the 1st half doesn't come true. Irish need to get out fast against them. Irish Illustrated: Care to offer a game prediction? 5COMMENTS LK: Notre Dame 42, Marshall 24. I think Marshall makes it interesting in the first half but it's hard to argue with the success Notre Dame has had in recent years and the talent and depth they enter the season with. In this scenario, I think depth wins and I think the Irish pull away late.
If the goal is the CFP this year we need to win every game as impressively as possible. Simple as that.
I hope this attitude translates into a break out game for the offense. Freeman indicated Jarrett Patterson will be ready to go, that should help a lot. The playbook is open. The parameters from the head coach aren't as tight as they were last week in terms of wanting to continue to control the clock, keep the ball in play, and keep the clock running. I want to be able to take advantage of the different looks the defense is going to give us this week and have a plan and not be afraid to take shots and not be afraid to take advantage of those different opportunities they are going to give us."
Notre Dame should not have a problem with Marshall. This is one of those games where you get to work on your offense and defense and get some playing time for your 2nd and 3rd string players.
That's the hope kp. But we've all seen these sure thing games go sideways and the next thing you know you are battling to just win! In a way this is the biggest game of Freeman's young career. Everyone expected the loss to Ohio State, and in general feel like he had the team ready and they played hard in the loss. He was given a pass for the bowl loss. But his 1st game in Notre Dame Stadium and his team is favored by around 18 points over a Sun Belt Conference team in Marshall. He needs to have the team come out and put them away early.
It seems as if Freeman has been coach longer than he has yet he is still looking for a win. His first home game and he needs to put this team away with an exclamation point.
Talk. Talk, talk … that’s all it was. All offseason, we are in for a looooooooong season. Long. Embarrassing doesn’t even describe that performance. We are not good at all, at all!!!
I really believe that the critical point in this game was Patterson's early movement penalty. I came at a time where we were in 4 down territory. It followed with us having to take a TO because of the game clock and we ended up having to punt. We've now gone 8 quarters without forcing a turnover. Our OL is pathetic. Our QB throws a deep ball that our WR's can't run under.
I'll go back to the report card format that JO'Co and I used previously. As heartless performances go, this one was a stinker of the highest order. Marcus Freeman is now the best winless coach in college football history. Coaching: D- Nuff said about Freeman. Rees holding his head in his hands was epic. Hiestand may need a bodyguard. QB: D- A much better runner than a passer. Looks like he can't see behind the big guys and his arm strength is average. RB: D- Nothing going here. Zilch. WR: F Less than nothing going on here. No separation at all. TE: B He's all we got OL: F No running game. Lots of pressure on QB. Got their asses kicked good today. P : C Average distance and hang time. DL: D- coughed up 100+ today to the RB.Not much contain or pass rush. LB: C Dl keeps them busy. making a lot of tackles 8-10 yards downfield CB: C Pretty good tackling S: B Nothing deep middle K: I Haven't seen enough to give a grade Home crowd: F Like a mausoleum. Heard more cheering at Buckingham Palace yesterday. No advantage whatsoever. Looking like a long season ahead.
Yeah this goes down with the losses to USF and Tulsa under Kelly. IMHO this might be the worst loss I can remember. Huff the Marshall head coach out coached him, he had his team ready to play and his coaching staff did a great job. Our coaching staff from Freeman on down were out coached by their counter parts. Oh yeah and it appears that Marshall has better players.