~optional musical accompaniment~
1) For all the good Marcus Freeman has accomplished at Notre Dame, the performances in his first four home openers proved uninspiring. In his debut season, the Irish lost to Marshall. (This allowed me to attend Freeman’s first victory, but I would have been fine with that being his second, third or fourth win.) In 2023, they defeated Tennessee State post-Dublin. In 2024, the Irish won 14 of their first 15 with the exception coming in the home opener. In 2025, all kinds of leads against Texas A&M were blown.
After all of that, it was nice to be presented with a very poor opponent and completely annihilate them despite a short week and having to defend an unconventional offense. The Irish led 28-0 a couple minutes into the second quarter and scored touchdowns on six of the first seven drives. We’re going to discuss the run game some so it was not quite a complete performance but on a fun, bloody, stressful day across the sport it was nice to have a zero-sweat afternoon where a lot of players we expected to play like stars this season played like stars.
[If you’d like to hear this game discussed in audio form, we recorded an instant reaction podcast on Sunday morning (Spotify) (Apple). Thanks to everyone who’s shared the newsletter or pod of late. It’s really appreciated/please keep it up.]
2) Close to a perfect day from C.J. Carr, who imperiled Mylan Graham on one throw and that was basically it (the drops obviously aren’t on him) as he carved up the Rice defense. Credit to the offensive line for allowing him a leisurely time in the backfield (Guerby Lambert left the game but it didn’t seem too serious -- fingers crossed). Jordan Faison had four catches, with half going for first downs and the other half going for touchdowns to make a rather efficient day at the office (plus a huge punt return). A lot of sturdy Wide Receiver One tasks to start the season even if the numbers haven’t been overwhelming.
Jaden Greathouse’s three catches and 48 yards doesn’t seem like a ton but it was great to see him peppered early (all within the first quarter plus first play of second) because those three targets match the most he’s seen in a game with Carr under center, and he got that action in only 13 snaps. Great blocking by Greathouse and Ty Washington on Faison’s second touchdown as well.
That’s two good games in a row for Micah Gilbert and we love to see some success stacking (what a throw and what a catch on the long touchdown before the half). Obviously awesome to see Jerome Bettis, Jr. get loose in a big way, and for Devin Fitzgerald to get his first career catch, and for both Elijah Burress and Logan Saldate (felt real fast) to take advantage of their opportunities. The freshmen quarterbacks looked solid and we’ll take that. I can see why the coaches were so high on Jonaz Walton during camp, there’s a ton there (nearly five yards per carry after contact).
If you wanted to be concerned about the run game with some “It’s still very early and the Irish got whatever they wanted through the air against the Owls” caveating, I think that’s fair because another game with a long run below 20 yards (15, by both Nolan James, Jr. and Walton). 50th percentile in EPA per rush, so bang-on average against a crappy defense. Irish averaged 3.7 yards per carry, versus 4.2 for Houston Christian in Rice’s opener. If the explosives can come through the air and tough red zone yardage via the ground that’s satisfactory even if it’s not the “Every time a running back touches the ball they might score” to which we’ve become accustomed.
3) One of my favorite dumb internet sayings/theories is the concept that a medieval peasant wouldn’t be able to handle the flavor of a single Dorito. Do you think it was a similar step up in zestiness going from months of playing the Rice defense in practice and then the Houston Christian Huskies to trying to run your offense with this Notre Dame defense screaming down the gaps at you? It was an ominous start for Scott Abell’s crew when their first play was a throw toward Leonard Moore and their second play was Adon Shuler laying the wood and forcing a fumble returned by Boubacar Traore to make it 7-0 before the Irish offense had touched the ball.
Speaking of stacking great games, it certainly feels like the Bryce Young leap has occurred (2.5 tackles for loss in 16 snaps). It stinks that Brauntae Johnson is missing time but Shuler is excellent1 and it’s unfair to have a backup as good as Luke Talich. (We did a draft of Notre Dame players who could reach All-American status this season in July and Jess picked Shuler. Worth monitoring.) Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa made his season debut and while I’m not a medical professional he looked pretty healthy streaking in and destroying Owl ballcarriers. Excellent Jaiden Ausberry game, good work by Keon Keeley and Rodney Dunham, continued success from the transfer defensive tackles.
Being far faster and more talented doesn’t always translate to stopping option offenses so credit to Chris Ash and the staff having the lads ready. Rice kept putting the ball on the ground and managed only 53 yards of offense and three first downs through the first three quarters. As far as the advanced stats, they were 0th percentile in both EPA (expected points added) per play and success rate, 2nd percentile in yards per play, 8th percentile in EPA per rush and a robust 17th percentile in EPA per dropback. If you don’t care to learn the specifics of those stats just know it means total domination.
4) There are not many game management quandaries presented when you turn the opposition into a smudge on the blacktop. Spencer Porath had one field goal attempt and did good and Jasper Scaife had one punting opportunity and did good. Porath also was true on all seven extra points.
All reports from campus were hot but fun (more on that below). Love to hear the band did a full Dolly tribute at the half. I know the new director presumably has a lot planned but just doing that every show this season wouldn’t upset anyone.
While the individual shirts look fine this year, going dark blue over green means the aerial shots of the Sea of Navy are not overly appealing.
This was not the best day for Abell or his team, but I still hope he gets them to a level of competing for bowls consistently. His journey to becoming the Owls head coach is a fun story told well last year in this piece.
This section was feeling a little light so some bonus on-the-ground stadium reportage from this newsletter’s editor who requested acknowledgement of her former residence Cavanaugh Hall:
Saturday afternoon was my first game in the stadium in a few years, and it is wild to witness how much things have changed. I was not expecting the fashion changes. The Shirt is now widely modified. Skirts are a thing. Cowboy boots are everywhere, and I doubt it was just the Rice-being-in-Texas thing. I saw enough white boots that I wondered if it had anything to do with the popularity of the Netflix documentary on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Back in my day, when you could catch a glimpse of Brady Quinn at North Dining Hall if you were lucky, the gameday uniform was shorts or jeans, sneakers or flip flops, and an unadorned version of The Shirt.
Things have changed inside the stadium, too. The idea of legally purchasing alcohol in Notre Dame Stadium during a football game is a new concept for me. I also noticed grab-n-go for food and drinks with kiosks, which seemed to move along relatively smoothly. The major story at the start of the game was the heat. It was hot, the kind of heat where you feel sweat dripping down your back standing still. Starting with a touchdown 14 seconds into the game was a welcome change from last week’s initial panic against Wisconsin. Carr looked good. The fans were loud. Touchdowns were plentiful. All in all, a great day for the home opener.
Congrats to Jackie Young and Sonia Citron on their gold medals at the FIBA World Cup. Young kept Team USA in it against France in the early going of Sunday’s championship (earned the Player of the Game award) and now has titles in high school, college and the WNBA in addition to Olympic gold (one for 5x5 and one for 3x3) and now the World Cup honors. One of the greatest winners to ever lace them up.
5) Winning is Hard Round Up: A very long one. Great weekend.
Well, we were originally going to lead this off with a different game involving an OSU but then Ohio State blew a 23-3 fourth quarter lead in Austin. Arch Manning looked so bad and then he got better, and Julian Sayin was doing well until he wasn’t. An extremely stupid game that leaves more questions for both teams. (Is there a better feeling as a neutral fan than one school taking a huge lead so you know any result from that point is hilarious?) Ohio State is 1-3 in their last four with the win coming against Ball State.
The sense was surely Oregon, after all the offseason hype, would bounce back from a blah performance against Boise State to win as a three-touchdown favorite at Oklahoma State, who was handled by Tulsa. Nope! If not for a series of insane interceptions, the Ducks would have been blown out. They can get right with Portland State but a trip to the Coliseum looms on Sept. 26.
When they expand the playoff to 48 teams and college football barely resembles what I loved about it I will watch highlights of Oklahoma vs Michigan so I don’t feel bad about my interest dropping so precipitously. Gross gross game, the Sooners now have a transitive loss to Western Michigan to take into conference play. Was maybe a bad sign for the Oklahoma offense the offseason storyline about John Mateer was more about his musculature than quarterbacking ability.
Washington almost lost to Utah State. UNLV was a three-point favorite at North Texas and got blown to hell. Navy got embarrassed at Florida Atlantic (final score isn’t indicative). Minnesota was crushed at home by Mississippi State and Illinois lost at home to Duke. Syracuse blew a fourth quarter lead against Cal in horrific fashion. Kentucky was right with Alabama until they weren’t. (Not a good day for our Irish ex-pats.) Army led South Florida by ten with under five minutes to go and lost in regulation. Clemson struggled mightily with Georgia Southern. Memphis had a halftime lead at Boise but didn’t score in the second half (the Broncos scored a bunch and won).
Texas Tech was taken to the limit in Corvallis. BYU was in a fight with Arizona but pulled away to win by two scores. Purdue lost a heartbreaker at home to Wake Forest in triple overtime. Both Penn State and Florida trailed 3-0 to start their games — against Temple and Campbell, respectively — but were fine. Vanderbilt trailed Delaware at the half but came back. LSU took a while to put Louisiana Tech away. Iowa survived against Iowa State as a two-touchdown favorite. We were very close to Sam Houston State having a transitive win over Oregon but Tulsa came back to defeat the Bearkats. FCS champ Montana State was a road favorite at Nevada and won easily. (How bad is Western Kentucky, who got trucked by Nevada last week and Georgia this week?). Northern Illinois lost at home to FCS Illinois State, perhaps a divine punishment for joining the Mountain West.
6) Notre Dame has checked a lot of boxes over their first two games, including starting slowly enough in their opener that it sucked in the largest television audience of Week One to watch them eventually blow out the Badgers. The defense has been awesome, Carr has played well, we’re seeing some positive signs from the receivers, Anthonie Knapp has taken well to life at left guard and Porath looks like a portal hit. So far, so good.
The first game against Sparty in nearly a decade — I’ve missed these guys so much — is a fun test. Primetime (shoutout to the Big Ten not having a suitable night game for NBC) against a coach who fancies himself as quite tough and a team that ran the ball well against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Tailback Cam Edwards was really good at UConn last year and has been strong in East Lansing through two games. However, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic has been terrible under pressure and there’s a good chance the Irish front feasts, especially if they keep the opposition behind the chains.
Most of the nation’s eyes will be on Lane’s return to Oxford so there’s no reason to give them a reason to pay attention to what’s going on at Notre Dame Stadium with the opening spread north of four touchdowns. Let’s win easy and then gather here on Monday to talk about it. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.
Freeman on his star safety in the postgame press conference: “He’s playing extremely physical, which is a choice. If you guys watch football, and you watch teams across the country, not everybody plays the way Adon Shuler plays. It’s a choice to play with that type of velocity and violence that he does.
“As a head coach, you appreciate that. You appreciate the way he plays, the intensity and the focus he plays with. He knows he’s got room to improve. We want to clean up some missed tackles and those type of things, but everybody does. He is just playing with some velocity right now and causing some big plays because of it.””
Great recap as always! Can’t believe the lack of mention of Jason Garrett goading Dan Hicks into doing a JFK impression during the fourth quarter, lol. Seems very up your (& Jess’s) alley