Notre Dame football had its off-week, and will return to the field this weekend in a road game against Navy.
The good news is that the Irish should be well rested, and ready to go, but the bad news is the bitter taste that was left in their mouths following the loss to BYU. That one clearly stings, as head coach Marcus Freeman on Monday recapped the loss and where Notre Dame goes from here.
He had some ideas about how to fix some of the Irish’s issues, and I’d like to expand on that. Here are three areas that Notre Dame should have been working on during its time off.
Man-to-man defense in the Notre Dame secondary
The only P4 CB prospects since 2018 with a man coverage grade > 85.0, a yards allowed/coverage snap in zone < .500, and a run defense grade > 85.0.. 📈 🔘 Leonard Moore, Notre Dame
🔘 Trent McDuffie, Washington Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore is the most complete CB playing at the… pic.twitter.com/hw1SZfGUeW
— Adam Carter (@impactfbdata) October 22, 2026
The reluctance to play man-to-man against BYU really hurt the Irish, as Bear Bachmeier had plenty of time to find open receivers who found soft spots in the zone. Playing man has been a staple of the Notre Dame defense, and going back to it makes plenty of sense. There is a possibility that the coaching staff rushed Leonard Moore back from his concussion, and this was a way to take some off his plate. It wasn’t his best showing, but the unit is still elite. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash likes to mix up his coverages, which I’m fine with, but the base should be man-to-man.
Notre Dame finds a way to get the young receivers more time
Notre Dame receiving yards by wide receivers this season: 1,408
— Biased Notre Dame Fan (@CFBGuy999) October 28, 2026
Notre Dame starting wide receiver yards: 1,123
Notre Dame backup wide receiver yards: 285
The lack of depth is scary
I could understand if you had an elite talent like a Jeremiah Smith or Malachi Toney, but the Irish do not. Jordan Faison and Micah Gilbert are very good players, but not quite at that level. They need some plays off to be effective later in games, and it showed against the Cougars. There needs to be room for Jerome Bettis Jr., Elijah Burress, Mylan Graham and others. They don’t have to get a ton of snaps, but getting rest for the starters by mixing in the younger players makes plenty of sense.
Find a way for the Notre Dame linebacker’s to make more impactful plays
The nation’s top linebacker 😤
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 28, 2026
Drayk Bowen is a Butkus Award Semifinalist!#GoIrish☘️ | @DraykBowen pic.twitter.com/R17wJSaloN
It’s pretty wild to look at the Irish season defensive stats and see that none of the top-4 linebackers have a sack. Sure, Ash doesn’t blitz a lot, but we are talking about each of them being NFL draft picks and potentially having Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa getting taken in the first round. This isn’t a knock on them at all, it’s more about giving them an opportunity to get to the quarterback. I’d love to see KVA line up as an edge rusher in certain situations, and letting Drayk Bowen come downhill early on downs. The linebackers have tons of talent, and for them not to have a sack this fall is not ideal.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Three areas Notre Dame should have been working on during bye-week
