We’re mixing things up for the Holy War this week courtesy of the folks at One Foot Down, our sister site for all things Notre Dame Athletics. We traded questions with one of their writers, Pat Sullivan, for the inside scoop as if that might help. Aside from a full team breakdown, Pat acknowledges the ‘93 parallels, addresses the team’s controversial finish against Miami, goes into why the Fighting Irish deserve anything and everything in the expanded CFP format, and more!
1. So about that no ‘catch’
last weekend — will that be in the back of your heads moving forward in any way?
Not in the least — even if it had been a catch, we would certainly want to quickly forget about that and move forward, kind of like when an offense rushes to snap the ball to avoid a review of something they know they got away with.
But luckily, the Irish don’t need to rush to the line and snap the ball — it was objectively not a catch based on the rules that exist, confirmed by every expert on the rules out there (Terry McAulay, Gene Steratore, etc.). So we can all move forward without that play living rent-free in our minds (well, all of us except Hurricanes fans…).
2. And now after overcoming a team from Florida, comes a game against little old BC. Is this a “I don’t think about you at all” situation or do you have to acknowledge the tiny elephant in the room?
Oh we HAVE to acknowledge that elephant, unfortunately — the win last week was even 31-24, just like the win over FSU in 1993. That feels almost eerie, ya know?
Plus, in his tenure as head coach Marcus Freeman’s team has lost to Marshall, Northern Illinois, a bad Stanford team in 2022, etc. — no matter how much we love him and think he’s fully elevated the program in his tenure, he’s not impervious to the beautiful, horrible, unpredictable devil magic of college football. His team of 18-23-year-olds just won a must-win game against the #1 team in the country, are plenty banged-up injury-wise and probably exhausted from the game and from partying afterward. And even though they aren’t ranked anymore, a solid SMU team looms next weekend for Senior Day.
So it’s crucial that everyone from the coaches to the team to the fan base all collectively agree that we need to go take care of business against BC this weekend, knowing the 1993 history and knowing how much of a scare the Eagles gave the Irish just last year. Complacency is not an option when a second loss fully eliminates you from the Playoff and ruins the season.
3. CJ Carr — is this guy legit? Where does he stack among Notre Dame QB’s?
He’s definitely legit, although I will say I think our expectations for numbers/big performances were a little higher when he won the starting job before the start of the 2025 season. He was very good in 2025, but was also a first-year starter and had Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price to hand the ball to — he didn’t need to be the straw that stirred the offense’s drink last year.
But even this year, for the most part he’s been very accurate and smart with the ball and has made some really nice throws, but also has missed on some big ones (the BYU game in particular). His numbers haven’t exactly been eye-popping, and until last weekend, we hadn’t seen a truly awesome performance from him in a big win. He was solid against Miami and Texas A&M last year but they lost both games, and he wasn’t overly impressive against USC last season or BYU this season, except for that final, gutsy drive he led to set up the controversial final play against the Cougars.
Part of it may be a not-exciting Mike Denbrock game plan in most games, and part of it is DEFINITELY a wide receiver/tight end group that leaves something to be desired outside the top 2-3 guys. And then some of it could just be him not fully putting it together yet. But he’s still very good and has the ability to make just about any throw, which gives the Irish a fighting chance against any secondary out there.
In terms of how he stacks up against other ND QBs, he’s the best they’ve had since 2009 Jimmy Clausen, and I’d probably take Carr over him (Clausen got to throw to Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Kyle Rudolph — Carr would destroy defenses with those guys as targets). So really he’s the best since Brady Quinn, and if he can deliver some big-time success in the postseason, he may be able to surpass him. But for now, I think Brady Quinn was still more accomplished/impressive.
4. How has the running game been sans Love and Price?
Good to very good. The offensive line is made up of guys who either didn’t start last year, didn’t start at their current position last year, or got hurt last year and missed significant time — needless to say, they’ve needed some time to jell.
Plus, even with them playing some nice football of late, we saw against some really good Miami DTs last week that they still can struggle against elite run defenses. So they’re not perfect by any means — but they’ve been able to pave the way for a rushing offense that ranks 33rd in the country in yards per carry.
Two running backs have emerged as go-to ball carriers — Nolan James Jr. (sorry BC fans, I know the Irish poached him from you) and true freshman Jonaz Walton. James is the workhorse back (571 yds, 5.4 YPC, 9 TDs) who’s constantly able to turn a potential no-gain or loss into a gain of 3-5 yards with his shiftiness and toughness, and Walton (514 yds, 6.5 YPC, 4 TDs) is the only real home run threat the offense has (TDs of 97 and 40 yards against Stanford) — he looks like another potential Price-level talent if he keeps developing.
Both guys (along with 3rd down back Aneyas Williams) can catch the ball out of the backfield, too — that trio has combined for 33 catches, 360 yards, and 4 TDs receiving. James is especially great, as made evident by a massive 36-yard catch-and-run he delivered to convert a huge 4th down in the 4th quarter against Miami.
5. How much longer will Marcus Freeman stay coaching college?
Hopefully until he can actually, maybe, possibly, deliver ND their first national title in nearly 4 decades. He’s obviously flirted with the NFL already, but I think he’s more of a college coaching personality (great recruiter and developer of talent, a rah-rah guy, not necessarily an X’s and O’s wiz, etc.), so I’m hopeful he’s got a while left in South Bend (and hopefully lots of success) before he gets antsy for a new and bigger challenge in the pros.
The other thing I’d be a little worried about is if Ohio State, his alma mater, came calling — but let’s not even entertain that notion right now. I want to stay happy for a bit after last Saturday.
6. Is this defense up to recent standards and who’s a player or unit to watch?
When healthy, it absolutely is up to recent standards from a talent perspective — Freeman and co. have assembled a defense with NFL talent at each level, and when their speed and athleticism get let loose in an aggressive fashion (i.e. Miami last weekend, when they had 33 pressures on the QB, 2 sacks, 1 INT, and 1 fumble forced/recovered), it’s awesome. When they are asked to be passive and sit in a soft zone and give Bear freakin’ Bachmeier anything he wants, however, they’re a lot less fun or impressive. If you can’t tell, we miss Al Golden and aren’t too thrilled with Chris Ash.
Injuries have limited us getting to see the defense at full strength, though. Safety Brauntae Johnson was getting preseason All-American hype and 1st round pick predictions before he got hurt in the season opener against Wisconsin (yet to return). Corner DJ McKinney looked like an absolute stud pickup from the portal before getting hurt a couple games back — he’s also out indefinitely. 2-time captain middle linebacker Drayk Bowen, the team’s leading tackler, got hurt against Navy (out maybe for the remainder of the season), and DTs Francis Brewu and Jason Onye also had to sit out against Miami due to injuries suffered against the Midshipmen.
The #1 player to watch would have to be Leonard Moore at corner — he’s a near guarantee to be a top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft if he stays healthy, and is as good as it gets (fast, long, excellent technique). It’s a shame we didn’t get to see him matched up against Malachi Toney last weekend (no one can fully shout down Toney, but it would have been fun to see the two go head-to-head and how often Moore could win the battle).
A few others to be aware of:
- DE Boubacar Traore is a menace off the edge, the team’s best pass rusher, and coming off a huge game against Miami (also, he got ejected for a really clear and stupid targeting penalty on the first drive against BYU — could have used him the rest of that game for sure)
- Safety Luke Talich has been superb in relief of Brauntae Johnson this year and has pretty objectively been the defensive MVP — the former preferred walk-on from Wyoming had a huge INT last weekend (only Darian Mensah’s 2nd on the season) and is a 6’4″, athletic guy who can really run and make plays on the ball
- Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, when healthy (he’s struggled to stay healthy in his 3 years at ND), is a linebacker you would design in a lab for the modern game — fast, brings the lumber when he hits, a fantastic pass rusher, really good in coverage, etc.
7. Not to make you play bracketology, but would a loss here ultimately be inconsequential?
I think you could argue the Irish still make it in since they have such a nice “best win” on their resume, but I personally still think a second loss could be enough to send the Irish once again to the Pop Tarts Bowl or something equivalent (and thus another program bowl opt-out, which I’m sure wouldn’t have any blowback, just like last year).
The Irish don’t have an SEC or Big Ten conference schedule to fall back on and claim they played a “really tough” slate of opponents through that, and they split their only two big games with Miami/BYU. With another loss, they could run into a similar situation as they did with Miami last year, where they end up being directly compared to a BYU team that also has 2 losses who beat them head-to-head…in which case, of course BYU should make it in over them.
So to answer your question directly: I don’t think so — I think any additional losses for the Irish will be quite consequential.
8. Any takes on CFP expansion? Should Notre Dame have been guaranteed a minimum seeding or home game in this format?
I hate how big they’re making it — I think 12 or maaaaybe 16 at most is great, but any more and it’s too bloated. I also hate how CFP expansion and conference realignment have ruined many of the fun, historic rivalries in college football and started to erode some of the charm that keeps us all watching this as opposed to the more sanitized/corporate NFL product.
I think ND should be guaranteed anything they’re able to negotiate with the conference commissioners when they design these new formats — I love the hilarious power they wield as an independent at the table with all these conferences, and I hope they continue to obtain “special treatment” that makes conference fans clutch their pearls until the end of time (the outrage over ND being automatically included in the 12-team format with a #12 ranking or better is dumb — the conferences all agreed to it, and the committee can easily just put them at 13 and keep them out if they want, so it’s really not a big deal, I don’t think).
9. Ok back to right now — what are your CFP expectations this season? What makes this team different from the most recent title contenders?
Heading into the year, I was saying semifinals or bust, just because of the talent ND brought back (especially on defense and at QB), the fact they retained all three coordinators, and their schedule set them up to mostly coast into the Playoff but with 2-3 nice tune-ups against good competition beforehand.
Now, I think I’ll dial it back slightly and say that winning at least one game in the Playoff is the minimum I expect — they’re set up to probably host a Playoff game in the first round, and so whomever they face initially in the Playoff should be pretty beatable, especially at home. After that, though, who knows? No one besides maybe Georgia has really proven to me they’re a massive threat to win it all this year, so maybe this team still has the potential we thought it did before the season began.
What makes them different? When their defense is playing aggressive and loose and their offensive coordinator shows any creativity whatsoever, they can find success on both sides of the ball against just about any team in the country. Plus, they have the secondary and pass rush talent to at least make things difficult for any top passing offense, and a really strong run defense to keep opponents honest. Those things plus Marcus Freeman as a great leader who likes to be aggressive (4th down attempts, not afraid to call some weird/trick plays in key moments, etc.) make me believe they could make a run if things align correctly.
10. Does this team harbor any resentment from last season’s ‘snub’ that can fuel them to the top?
Absolutely — the team’s mantra basically since they were “snubbed” last year has been “Leave No Doubt.” That, of course, got sarcastically ridiculed by ND fans (and non-ND fans) after that disappointing showing in Provo left plenty of doubt, but it’s clear that everyone from the coaching staff to the players to the administration to the fans are in lock-step on feeling “snubbed” after last year (even if they did lose their two biggest games — the inclusion of Alabama was what rubbed us the wrong way, especially considering how they finished their season).
Do I think that can fuel them all the way to the top? Not sure about that — I think it can take them a good deal of the way there, but hopefully there are some other motivations that can also help drive them to win it all, as I think this whole idea of “revenge” and having a chip on your shoulder can only take you so far. I’m hoping it’s not the ONLY thing fueling this squad, or they’ll probably come up short.
Thanks to Pat for going through all of this. I didn’t even bother asking for a score prediction, definitely because I didn’t want to hear the answer and NOT because I forgot. We appreciate it no less and will do our best to read between the lines. Better yet, be sure to check out Pat’s work on One Foot Down, along with the rest of the writers over there, for their ultimate prediction and any other Notre Dame coverage you might find yourself longing for (I will judge you a little). Admittedly, Pat’s questions to me were far more entertaining, but I think we have what we need to prepare ourselves for Saturday. We’re all business with a side of snide remarks here at BCI. Go Eagles!
