SOUTH BEND – If you want to read that things are going well for the No. 5 Notre Dame football team, this column is not for you.
If you want to read about how the Irish will easily get through the rest of the regular season and secure a spot in the College Football Playoffs, then this column is not for you.
If you’re looking for confirmation that the Notre Dame football universe—everything from head coach Marcus Freeman to his expensive coaching staff and support staff to a slew of veterans making decent salaries—is cool, this column isn’t for you.
Everything that was on the table for Notre Dame to prove it should be among college football’s elite this season? To be mentioned in the same breath as Ohio State and Georgia and everyone else with serious national championship dreams? All off the table.
Rating of the Irish: Notre Dame’s football deserves bad marks after this game
On a sunny, windy, fall-like Saturday, everything related to Notre Dame football rolled off the table and crashed onto the turf of its home stadium.
“We have to figure out what the problem is and come back stronger,” said safety/captain Xavier Watts.
The Notre Dame football team losing a game it shouldn’t have lost, but shouldn’t have won, wasn’t the biggest gut punch as the sun began to set in South Bend. No, the worst part about the 16-14 loss to a Northern Illinois team that trailed by four touchdowns was that we’ve seen, heard and lived through it all before.
That’s the most disturbing thing. The most frustrating thing. For Freeman. For the coaching staff. For the players who have invested a lot but now have to work like crazy to get a return on that investment. For this program.
What is the definition of insanity? Notre Dame football.
Only at Notre Dame does the head coach’s postgame press conference have to be postponed because the band is doing band stuff in the tunnel. Only at Notre Dame can a team that is supposed to do great things this season look its opponent in the face and say, “Nah, we’re good.”
Long before Saturday’s loss to Northern Illinois became final, when Mitch Jeter’s desperation 55-yard field goal attempt was blocked, it all felt like déjà vu. We’d seen it before. Second game of the season. In September. 2022, Marshall came to town as a decided underdog and left with an earth-shattering victory over Notre Dame.
That was Freeman’s first season as head coach. It was a lesson he learned. One that Freeman had to learn if he ever wanted to have a chance at being among the elite in the profession. He learned it. The Irish learned it. They went back to work, reeling off eight wins in nine weeks and finishing the season 9-4.
It also made them realize that they can never, under any circumstances, allow what happened that day at Notre Dame Stadium to happen again. No exceptions, no excuses.
Seven hundred and twenty-eight days later, we’re right back where we started. It’s happened again. This is worse. More disheartening. More puzzling. It makes you wonder if this head coach, this coaching staff, this roster, this program has been left to its own devices to spin its proverbial college football wheels in circles. It’s been 38 years since Notre Dame last reached the pinnacle of college football. Thirty-eight years and seven head coaches later. Too many embarrassing losses to count. Too many seasons of hoping and praying and believing everything would be OK.
Instead, Notre Dame fell apart once again. Everything fell apart under Freeman’s leadership. He’s one of the more likable guys in a business that can be miserable, but can he be the guy or just a guy like any other?
“I’ve always said that performance is a reflection of preparation,” Freeman said. “We need to figure out where we failed in our preparation. It’s disappointing. We need to face that. We need to fix it.”
Ask yourself this question in the privacy of your quiet place when you stop stinking, whether it’s an hour, a day, or a week after that pain has subsided. Can we really trust this program? Can we trust anything they say or do in the weeks and months to come? Ever?
We should trust them in 2024. Remember? All the pieces seemed to be in place. Freeman was a more confident head coach. Coordinators Mike Denbrock and Al Golden were worth their high salaries. This team had five captains but countless leaders. It had everything it needed from a football perspective, a coaching perspective and a program administration perspective to pull off this College Football Playoff run.
“We know we can be a good team,” said defensive player Howard Cross. “I’m convinced of that.”
Hands up, how many others agree? Hello?
Notre Dame’s football team hadn’t even reached summertime when they blew a tire. Now they have to deal with a spare tire and a missing windshield wiper the rest of the way. We didn’t think Marshall would happen to us again. But it did. Will we see another game/loss like the one against Clemson, Louisville or Stanford?
We can’t say for sure, can we?
Instant analysis: Notre Dame football found itself in a difficult position at the start of its home game against Northern Illinois.
When I listened to Freeman on Saturday, it sounded a lot like Freeman in 2022. It’s time (again) to dig deep and question everything. It’s time (again) to demand even more from leadership. It’s time (again) to evaluate everything from top to bottom, when everything should be great from top to bottom. It’s time (again) to take a few more long looks in the mirror.
This team has done it before. It’s time to do it again. Two weeks into this regular season and seven days into September, we are faced with a truth.
The same old Notre Dame.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.
