Notre Dame final thoughts: Texas A&M exposes Marcus Freeman’s defensive coordinator problem

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Fourteen final thoughts on Notre Dame’s 41-40 loss to Texas A&M that left head coach Marcus Freeman without answers and the Irish without a win.

1. Freeman has a defensive coordinator problem. He doesn’t need to admit it. But he absolutely needs to understand it.

For all the offseason talk about Chris Ash enhancing the defense, adding zone schemes and mixing up personnel, the product has been a disaster through two games. Ash took a defense that was aggressive and fast, then reduced it to a tentative and reactionary unit. The Irish don’t get pressure. There’s no havoc. He’s asking players recruited to play in-your-face-man to read everything out as receivers fly past them. There go Mario Craver and KC Concepcion.

Freeman likes to talk about execution over scheme. It’s a self-defense mechanism that misses the point. Coaches believe they can fix execution with hard work. Getting the scheme wrong calls into question how they see the game. It’s not clear how Ash sees this defense. But the drop off from Al Golden has been so alarming that Freeman should put everything on the table heading toward Purdue. Maybe that’s changing play callers. It has to be changing the plays called.

“So we have to get better at both rush and coverage,” Freeman said after Saturday’s game. “And I don’t have the answer for you right now, like what specifically we’re going to do, but we have to get better and we have to identify what it is.”

2. Freeman said Notre Dame’s defense needs to get pressure with four. Fair enough. Every program in the country wants to do that. But Notre Dame has rushed four players 40 times through two games and gotten pressure three times. It got to Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed with a four-man rush just once on Saturday.

You can’t build a defense around something you cannot do.

3. Of course, Notre Dame almost got pressure from a four-man rush a second time, but Donovan Hinish got tackled on Texas A&M’s game-winning touchdown.

And you know it’s going bad when the game-winning touchdown goes to backup tight end Nate Boerkircher, whose only other collegiate touchdown came at Nebraska four years ago. The same day Boerkircher last scored, Notre Dame was opening the season at Ohio State.

4. This isn’t the only zone coverage that didn’t add up, but it was a big one. It just doesn’t feel like the defense sees the field the way Ash sees it on a white board. It all feels a step slow and a beat behind.

5. For everything Notre Dame didn’t do well on Saturday, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock might have found the pages of the playbook worth keeping. He committed to the run to the point of stubbornness, in a good way. He let quarterback CJ Carr stretch the field in his second career start and ditched the run-pass option game. The sophomore went 5 of 10 for 149 yards on passes that traveled beyond 20 yards against Texas A&M. At Miami, Carr went 2 of 2 for 91 yards on passes beyond 20 yards, most of which came when the Hurricanes lost tight end Eli Raridon for that 65-yard gain.

Giving Jeremiyah Love 23 carries isn’t sustainable every week. But in the bigger games, that’s exactly how to use a future NFL running back while he’s still in college. And the Wildcat package is probably more of a changeup moving forward than the staple Denbrock tried to make it against Texas A&M. Still, after a tepid opening night at Miami, it seems like Denbrock might have matched the call sheet to his roster.

6. There were whispers around Notre Dame Stadium that Texas A&M caught wind of a tell from Carr at the line of scrimmage: how the quarterback stood pre-snap. If Carr’s feet were parallel, it was a run. If the quarterback had a staggered stance, it was a pass. Sure enough, on 58 of 64 plays where Carr received the snap, his stance correctly predicted run or pass. One tendency breaker was the flea flicker to Raridon. Carr’s stance was parallel before he handed off to Love, who tossed to Jordan Faison, who pitched it back to Carr. It was a 43-yard reception from there.

It’s less clear how much this scouting quirk actually mattered. If Texas A&M really did know what was coming, how did Carr throw for 293 yards? Of course, maybe Love and Price produce more than 162 yards rushing if the Aggies don’t have an idea of what’s coming.

7. Also, that’s 2-for-2 for Carr in terms of backing up Freeman’s quarterback pick.

Yes, the interception was unfortunate, and the botched snap/clap in the second quarter was bizarre. Yet Carr continues to drop next-level passes over linebacker and defensive backs while seeing the entire field. A quarterback who was supposed to have the backing of his defense has been forced to carry the team more than any sophomore should. But you can see where this is all going.

8. More wide receiver blocking like this on Jadarian Price’s touchdown run, and the Irish run game can take another step forward. Jordan Faison, Will Pauling and Malachi Fields all getting the job done here.

9. See, not everything Notre Dame showed in training camp was a false lead. Remember when Freeman punted volleyballs in mid-August and rushers came after him? The goal was to not wipe out the head coach. So it was for Loghan Thomas, who blocked the Texas A&M punt with his chest.

10. You feel for Tyler Buchner. He wasn’t the reason Notre Dame lost. He was just the easiest one NBC could find on the sidelines.

11. On the game-winning extra point, Notre Dame kept Luke Talich and Leonard Moore back to … protect against a fake? I don’t get that either.

12. Yes, this all could have been worse for the defense. The box score said Notre Dame held Texas A&M to 44 yards in the third quarter. But it’s not like Ash figured anything out coming out of halftime. Reed just missed two open deep shots.

The first one could have been a 97-yard touchdown to Concepcion, who ran right by Christian Gray. The second was a series later when Reed missed Amari Niblack for a 62-yard touchdown when Karson Hobbs couldn’t pick him up down the left sideline. That’s 159 yards more passing for Reed and another two touchdowns. Notre Dame didn’t do anything to make Reed overshoot his target, the quarterback just missed.

13. Also, this could have been a lot better. Moore almost picked off Reed in the end zone in the first half. Hobbs could have had a game-clinching interception in the fourth quarter. Gray almost grabbed a pick from a Reed overthrow in the first half. Tae Johnson got hands on an errant Reed throw, too. On another night, Notre Dame picks off Reed two or three times. Of course, on another night, Miami’s CJ Daniels doesn’t make a one-handed touchdown grab after beating Moore with a double move and Shuler seizing up.

Notre Dame could use another night (or day) soon.

14. Even if Notre Dame football didn’t deliver on a big night, Notre Dame Stadium did. Texas A&M got flagged for something like 418 false starts and couldn’t operate amidst the noise. Will those decibels be matched in the next three home games before USC visits? Probably not. But if Freeman can put this season back on the tracks, there’s no reason why the visit from the Trojans can’t be another showcase for Notre Dame Stadium. The football program just needs to do its part, too.

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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