On Saturday, Notre Dame football scored a true program-building win, going into Texas A&M and triumphing by a 23-13 score. Heading into their Week Two home opener against Northern Illinois, the Irish have plenty to build on and one big correction to make. Here's a look at the team's active strengths and weaknesses in our inaugural edition of Stock Up, Stock Down.
Stock up: the offensive line
Entering the game, no position group on the team created more apprehension about Notre Dame’s chances than the offensive line. Five men with a combined six starts took the field in one of college football’s harshest environments on Saturday. No senior was present for the season’s first snap for the first time in at least four decades. And the inexperienced line got the job done.
Sure, the line didn’t perform perfectly. On several occasions, the extremely raw left side of the line, featuring freshman Anthonie Knapp and sophomore Sam Pendleton, opened the door to free rushers. A couple of low snaps also put senior quarterback Riley Leonard in scramble mode. But against a vaunted Texas A&M front, the offensive line did not allow a sack — a credit to offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s gameplan.
Through two-and-a-half quarters, Notre Dame’s rushing attack — or lack thereof — would have kept this stock fairly flat. The Aggies piled up seven tackles for loss, most of them early on, to stymie a typically consistent Irish ground game. However, with the offensive line leading the way, that ground game woke up when needed most. On sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love’s game-winning, 21-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, the line absolutely plowed the middle of the field open. For all that could have gone wrong with this group, it held its own.
Stock up: youth on defense
Everyone knows about the proven talent on Notre Dame’s defense. Without question, players like graduate safety Xavier Watts, junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison, graduate linebacker Jack Kiser and graduate tackles Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III each made impacts on the game. But it takes not five, but 11 players to form a defense. And Notre Dame’s young pieces filled out that defense wonderfully in College Station.
In the secondary, Notre Dame’s youth shined brightest. Sophomore safety Adon Shuler essentially jumped Northwestern graduate transfer Rod Heard II on the depth chart and ran with the opportunity. Shuler’s first career interception set up a game-tying field goal in the second quarter. Another sophomore, cornerback Christian Gray, bounced back from early miscues to make the game-winning pass breakup in the fourth quarter.
If you watched Notre Dame’s personnel closely, you may have seen a number of new faces anchoring the defense at linebacker. Behind Kiser and junior Jaylen Sneed, the combination of sophomore Drayk Bowen, sophomore Jaiden Ausberry and freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa totaled 69 snaps. Ausberry finished as the game’s highest-graded defender by Pro Football Focus.
Stock up: special teams
Texas A&M also posted a strong night in this department, but that shouldn’t take away from Notre Dame’s special teams success. Graduate kicker Mitch Jeter, an experienced transfer from South Carolina, returned to SEC country and stole the show. Jeter poured in three field goals, including two 46-yarders, and accounted for 11 of the 23 Irish points. His second 46-yarder iced the game for Notre Dame, building a 10-point lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Graduate student and Australian import James Rendell also performed well in the punting game. Rendell pinned the Aggies inside their own 20-yard line three times on five kicks. When Texas A&M did have a chance to return, Notre Dame consistently held the Aggies to below-average kickoff and punt runbacks.
Stock up: the coaching staff
This rise starts and ends with head coach Marcus Freeman, who just picked up the biggest win of his career. You can argue for 2022 Clemson or 2023 USC to rank higher, but Notre Dame played with nothing to lose in those games. Here, the team’s big-game identity and Freeman’s ceiling as a head coach likely hung on the line. Freeman and company delivered.
Notre Dame appeared more prepared than ever to handle both the noise and the game’s taxing effects — a testament to strength coach Loren Landow. Freeman also knew exactly what his team needed, an emotional leader absent of fear, while entering Kyle Field. His and the coaching staff’s ability to adapt to and learn from novel technology, namely sideline iPads and in-helmet communication, also deserves praise.
Finally, Freeman largely allayed the decision-making concerns Irish fans held out for him. Notre Dame chose the right fourth downs to attack and would have gone 2-for-2 if not for a controversial review. Freeman also made the proper call to go up by 10 points on Jeter’s late field goal rather than pin the Aggies deep down seven. However, his best move happened at the two-minute timeout. In a tie game, Notre Dame sat just outside the red zone with a chance to wind the clock and kick a late, go-ahead field goal. Instead, Freeman looked to score as soon as possible (which the Irish did), trusting his defense to protect the go-ahead touchdown (which it also did).
Stock down: early-season discipline
Notre Dame fans can stomach this one. Hostile environment. Week One. Something had to break off and deny the Irish a perfect operation, and that something emerged as penalties. The Irish finished the night with 11 penalties for 99 yards, struggling early with Texas A&M’s hard count. In the second quarter, a holding penalty wiped out a lengthy run from junior running back Jadarian Price. In the fourth quarter, Cross III took a foul for hands to the face that accelerated the Aggies’ game-tying touchdown drive.
Nevertheless, Notre Dame’s advantage in the turnover game helped to offset its lack of discipline. With four of their next five games at home, the Irish are in a good position to straighten this area out.
