The Penalty Box: Irish Looked Unready
September 13, 2022 at 11:35 p.m.
The Penalty Box: Irish Looked Unready
By Roger Grossman-
I, unlike some people, am not afraid to admit when I don’t know the answer to the question, but I will try to help people by sharing an educated opinion or by giving them potential options on the subject at hand.
I know that one of the worst things you can say or write about a team is that they looked unprepared. That hits coaches right in the heart, because when a team looks unprepared it reflects poorly on the coach and his assistants.
Honestly, Notre Dame looked unprepared Saturday in their loss to Marshall.
There was little or no passion in their play.
There was little or no sense of urgency.
There was no sense of momentum.
In simple terms, every time they did something right in that game, they immediately turned around and did something wrong—or multiple things—that set them back to worse off than before.
The prime example is when Notre Dame took the lead in the second half. We Irish fans were hoping that it would lead to a dominating finish and a victory the team could learn from and build on.
What happened was the defense gave up a huge play right after that, and there was a real sense that things were going to end badly…and they did.
A poorly thrown pass to the sidelines with a defender waiting in the weeds to snag it led to an interception return for a touchdown that put the game out of reach, the fans in the stadium in their seats and the fans at home heading to do something else.
Not that the fans in the stands were much help Saturday. Frankly, it felt like the 80,000 folks in attendance had arrived to watch a blowout win and they were barely engaged in the proceedings.
Of course, they didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about either.
This was not supposed to go this way.
Yep, they lost a game to Ohio State in Columbus that they could have won. No one expected much from the boys that night. A win would have been a spectacular surprise.
Now…well, now it’s hard to qualify what that loss and how it played out means to the bigger picture.
This new head coach, whom the players cheered and embraced when Brian Kelly left in the middle of the night for the bayou, now is 0-3 as the leader of the Irish.
Is it Marcus Freeman’s fault? I don’t think so, but ultimately these things fall on the shoulders of the man with the biggest office.
That’s Freeman, and if this keeps up, he won’t be in the big office for very long.
I know what you are thinking, and you’re right, it’s only been two games. But when you are ND and you lose in your home opener to Marshall, your margin for error has completely disappeared. This man so full of energy and passion is coaching a team that sure didn’t show any of those things Saturday.
Freeman says they will evaluate every aspect of the program and fix what needs fixed.
That’s great, but there aren’t enough hours in the day and days in the week before another team comes marching into South Bend with a renewed sense of opportunity to claim their own glory and heap more dirt on the Irish.
When you can’t block and you can throw a forward pass in college football in 2022, you are in massive trouble.
That’s where Notre Dame in right now.
They have absolutely no identity on offense. You can’t even say “we can run this play and we know it will get us five yards.”
If I were the play caller, I wouldn’t have the first clue what to call. It’s like being in a boat out in the middle of a giant lake, and the engine won’t run, and you have no oars. All you can do is sit there and hope the wind blows you in the direction you want to go.
That’s not winning football. Heck, that’s not winning anything.
Monday’s practice became a pivotal moment for Marcus Freeman and the Irish. Will what he said to them resonate in their hearts?
If it doesn’t, nothing will…and the season will be lost.
I, unlike some people, am not afraid to admit when I don’t know the answer to the question, but I will try to help people by sharing an educated opinion or by giving them potential options on the subject at hand.
I know that one of the worst things you can say or write about a team is that they looked unprepared. That hits coaches right in the heart, because when a team looks unprepared it reflects poorly on the coach and his assistants.
Honestly, Notre Dame looked unprepared Saturday in their loss to Marshall.
There was little or no passion in their play.
There was little or no sense of urgency.
There was no sense of momentum.
In simple terms, every time they did something right in that game, they immediately turned around and did something wrong—or multiple things—that set them back to worse off than before.
The prime example is when Notre Dame took the lead in the second half. We Irish fans were hoping that it would lead to a dominating finish and a victory the team could learn from and build on.
What happened was the defense gave up a huge play right after that, and there was a real sense that things were going to end badly…and they did.
A poorly thrown pass to the sidelines with a defender waiting in the weeds to snag it led to an interception return for a touchdown that put the game out of reach, the fans in the stadium in their seats and the fans at home heading to do something else.
Not that the fans in the stands were much help Saturday. Frankly, it felt like the 80,000 folks in attendance had arrived to watch a blowout win and they were barely engaged in the proceedings.
Of course, they didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about either.
This was not supposed to go this way.
Yep, they lost a game to Ohio State in Columbus that they could have won. No one expected much from the boys that night. A win would have been a spectacular surprise.
Now…well, now it’s hard to qualify what that loss and how it played out means to the bigger picture.
This new head coach, whom the players cheered and embraced when Brian Kelly left in the middle of the night for the bayou, now is 0-3 as the leader of the Irish.
Is it Marcus Freeman’s fault? I don’t think so, but ultimately these things fall on the shoulders of the man with the biggest office.
That’s Freeman, and if this keeps up, he won’t be in the big office for very long.
I know what you are thinking, and you’re right, it’s only been two games. But when you are ND and you lose in your home opener to Marshall, your margin for error has completely disappeared. This man so full of energy and passion is coaching a team that sure didn’t show any of those things Saturday.
Freeman says they will evaluate every aspect of the program and fix what needs fixed.
That’s great, but there aren’t enough hours in the day and days in the week before another team comes marching into South Bend with a renewed sense of opportunity to claim their own glory and heap more dirt on the Irish.
When you can’t block and you can throw a forward pass in college football in 2022, you are in massive trouble.
That’s where Notre Dame in right now.
They have absolutely no identity on offense. You can’t even say “we can run this play and we know it will get us five yards.”
If I were the play caller, I wouldn’t have the first clue what to call. It’s like being in a boat out in the middle of a giant lake, and the engine won’t run, and you have no oars. All you can do is sit there and hope the wind blows you in the direction you want to go.
That’s not winning football. Heck, that’s not winning anything.
Monday’s practice became a pivotal moment for Marcus Freeman and the Irish. Will what he said to them resonate in their hearts?
If it doesn’t, nothing will…and the season will be lost.
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