Marcus Freeman knows he’s pushed this Notre Dame football program beyond the point where silver linings resonate anymore.
The stakes, the dreams, the blueprint, the administration at the fourth-year Irish football coach’s back are all bigger than that now. And perhaps what redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr did in his Notre Dame starting debut Sunday night in a 27-24 season-opening loss at soggy, sweltering and apparently underranked No. 10 Miami, will sync up with that sooner than seemingly anyone imagined.
It’s the needed fixes around Carr, ironically, that require the more urgent attention during the upcoming bye week and ahead of another ranked opponent for No. 6 Notre Dame, Texas A&M on Sept. 13. And who saw that coming?
Especially in the trenches, where ND’s offensive line — even sans injured right guard Charles Jagusah — had preseason Joe Moore Award-winning buzz. And the defensive line, which elicited a couple of jaw-slacking compliments from Freeman himself last Tuesday, got pushed around physically and bullied a bit schematically as well.
In the first half, in which Miami (1-0) took a 14-7 lead 12 seconds before intermission, new defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s unit had amassed zero sacks and zero QB hurries against admittedly a seasoned QB in sixth-year senior and Georgia transfer Carson Beck, who — by the same token — isn’t a dual threat by any means.
“Every goal we have is still ahead of us,” Freeman proclaimed. “At the end of the day, we don’t speak about championships. It’s about reaching our full potential, and that’s what we’ve got to be able to do. I’m glad those guys were able to get in and perform in a big environment like this.”
They’ll need to perform out of the spotlight even more impressively. In practices. In the meeting rooms. And poring over the analytics spit out in a needed early self-scout report.
The bumpy road ahead
The 12-game playoff format has some built-in forgiveness for early-season hiccups, but Miami and Texas A&M could very well be teams competing for at-large spots with the Irish (0-1) on Selection Sunday in December. And the head-to-head trump card still plays big with the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Which is why the Irish need the same kind of transformation that the 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois in game 2 last September ignited.
A little reminder, Northern Illinois owned the line of scrimmage in that game too. Outrushed the Irish 190-123. And instead of trying a go-ahead 48-yard field goal late in the game, the Huskies rammed the ball down ND’s throat on a fourth-and-2 from the ND 31, ate a little more clock, then kicked an easier dagger from 35 yards out.
The Irish offense amassed just 286 yards against Northern Illinois, the lowest output by an Irish team against a Group of 5 foe in 17 years. The Irish scratched out a still-modest 314 Sunday night against the Hurricanes, but were outrushed 119-93, with Jeremiyah Love underused and under wraps, accounting for 33 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Heading into the fourth quarter, with the Irish trailing 21-7, Carr actually had amassed more rushing yards at the juncture than had Love. And he finished the game with one more carry than did Love.
Part of that neglect was the product of Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock taking inventory early in trying to get a feel for where he could attack the Miami defense and blind date/first-year Hurricane defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman.
And part of it was a young QB doing his best to evolve through the decision-making process, something Carr picked up momentum with as the game wore on.
“I’ve said this before. It was creating some easy throws, some easy decisions,” Freeman said of Love ending up on the back burner for so long. “Obviously, some RPOs [run-pass-options] that you can hand the ball off or, depending on what the defense does, pull it and throw it.
“We started to say later in the game, ‘Stop reading it. Hand the ball to J-Love, and we need to establish this run game.’ He was doing what he was coached to do on a lot of those pulls and throwing.”
Including four to Love, for 26 yards in receptions.
Beyond the running-game shortfall
By game’s end, Carr’s pass-efficiency rating almost mirrored Beck’s, 140.5 to 141.4. That translated to 19-of-30 accuracy for 221 yards and 2 TDs, including a spectacular play-extending 7-yard TD strike to fellow redshirt freshman Micah Gilbert.
Carr did throw a pick that careened off two sets of hands before it found its way to Miami defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., and set up a Hurricanes field goal. Virginia transfer wide receiver Malachi Fields fumbled in the first quarter inside the Irish 25-yard line for ND’s other turnover.
Ash’s defense held Miami without points on that short field, but was never able to coax any turnovers of its own. The Irish led the nation in takeaways last season, but in former DC Al Golden’s first year with the Irish (2022) it was game 4 before that ND defense got its first of the season.
Freeman’s track record for finding lasting answers to questions before they become lingering is stellar. And maybe the best big-picture news on a heartbreaking night is that very few of them are about a QB who came into Sunday night with four career college snaps and zero career pass attempts.
“He’s going to be a really good quarterback,” Freeman said. “Everything that I thought he was going to be — his ceiling is so high. He’s going to have to learn to take this loss and not let it beat him up too much, because he’s an ultra-competitor, but he’s a gamer, man.
“He performs when the lights are on. He prepares his tail off. He had answers for questions that myself or coach Denbrock would have. He’s going to do great things, man. It’s just a start for him.”