1) While a profoundly disappointing way to start off 2022 and Marcus Freeman’s tenure, I’d be hard-pressed to say much that happened in the desert was surprising. There’s an old adage that the postseasons for the MLB and NBA end up being microcosms of a team’s season as a whole, any flaw that nagged at you over the course of 162 or 82 games (an eighth-inning reliever who played with fire a little too much, leaky defensive rebounding) was almost certain to flare up at the most inopportune time. The flaws of this specific Irish team as well as the program as a whole were on full display as a Fiesta Bowl trophy slipped away.
Key among those issues was the previously discussed lack of oomph in the back seven, nobody able to step up and make a play once Spencer Sanders started to find his groove. At linebacker, this was just rotten luck, as injury wiped out a deep unit over the course of August. At secondary, we’ve discussed the failures in recruiting there at length, and without Kyle Hamilton there just aren’t many capital-D Dudes developed to where they need to be to make plays. On top of that, you had the issue we saw this season with the Irish defense giving up a touchdown in 39 seconds at the end of the first half, coming out in their base defense — were they not comfortable in nickel or dime due to the aforementioned depth chart issues? — and getting toasted.
On offense, you had the inability to run the ball consistently with Jack Coan in the game, particularly without Kyren Williams to make miracles happen a few times, and the perilous process of attempting to manage multiple quarterbacks. Chris Tyree was incredible as a receiver but his long carry in this game was six yards, and Logan Diggs’ was 13. I understand the desire to get Tyler Buchner in there and have been poring over drive charts to find the correct spot(s)*, but part of the problem was Coan was playing really well despite his limitations on the ground. His final three real drives of the first half were 10 plays for 78 yards and a touchdown, eight plays for 47 yards and a missed field goal and 11 plays for 84 yards and a touchdown. If you’re the coaching staff you have to adjust and maybe counter with Buchner before the Cowboys lock in their own changes, but Coan put up more points in the first half than most people thought Tommy Rees’ offense would put up in the game even with the missed field goal. On top of all of that, there were also the known depth issues at receiver, forcing those available to play so many snaps.
* I think the best time was probably at the end of the first quarter. Oklahoma State had just scored to make it 14-7 and the Irish had gone three-and-out their previous possession. You could also have inserted Buchner mid-drive at some point, but that’s always tricky, too.
2) I have a hard time putting much of this game on the offense despite the second half struggles. They averaged over six yards per play with limited options at wide receiver and two true freshmen playing tackle (excellently, I might say) against one of the best defenses in the country. I get the sentiment of “Well, they needed to run the ball to let the defense rest,” but the defense’s problem was less rest and more trying to generate some havoc by blitzing linebackers who never were able to get home. Oklahoma State’s four touchdown drives came:
- On their fourth drive of the game, when the defense had been on the field for ten total plays prior to it starting.
- At the end of the first half, when Notre Dame had just completed an 11-play touchdown drive to go up 28-7.
- Immediately after halftime.
- After Notre Dame had run some clock with a nine-play, four-minute drive in the third quarter.
Eventually fatigue caught up as the game reached the final frame, but you can’t give up four touchdowns on long fields to this rickety Oklahoma State offense in under three quarters. Did you know the Cowboys converted three third-down attempts the entire game? Two of them came on the first drive of the second half, including the incredible diving catch, but they were doing most of their damage on first and second. It was really easy for them at times.
3) Game management stuff: Not great. At the end of the first half, Notre Dame got the ball with 37 seconds and three timeouts. The passing game had been sizzling to that point but the Irish just ran the clock out, leaving potential points on the board. I understand that Coan threw a pick six in that situation against Toledo and going in up two touchdowns was probably more than the staff had hoped for, but need to be more aggressive there.
Prior to Oklahoma State’s game-tying touchdown midway through the third quarter, the Irish offense had moved the ball out to the 50 and punted on fourth and four. With the Cowboys having found their footing on offense, that’s certainly a situation where you could (and perhaps should, considering this is a bowl game and fortune favors the bold) have gone for it.
The decision not to punt at the end of the game with three timeouts and a little under three minutes on the clock is one where I think reasonable people can disagree. On one hand, a failure to convert put Oklahoma State in easy field goal territory and the game was essentially over barring a last-gasp miss or block that didn’t happen. On the other, the Cowboys were getting six yards per play and we had watched the Irish defense for much of the afternoon so the possibility of kicking it away only to see Sanders bootleg on a second-and-seven to end things seemed very possible. Ideally, you keep yourself in a position where you do not need to convert a fourth down deep in your own territory at the end of the game.
4) Adding onto everything was a rough day for the specialists in their final games at Notre Dame. Jonathan Doerer missed his lone field goal attempt and, after a beauty in the early going, Jay Bramblett was unable to flip the field the rest of the way. Net neutral on returns.
5) This has been exceedingly grim but there was also a lot to like. If that was Isaiah Foskey’s last time in blue and gold, he went out on his shield, ending three drives on his own (a sack, a hurry on third down and the miracle forced fumble to give the Irish life). Lorenzo Styles and Tyree were electric, and Michael Mayer was a warrior again, playing every single snap and breaking the single-season touchdown record for tight ends in the process. Blake Fisher hadn’t played since Tallahassee and was dominant, while Joe Alt continued his excellent freshman campaign.
In his final game, Coan mostly did a lot of good. The pick near the end was really bad but for much of the day he got the ball out against an aggressive front and was great at making adjustments, highlighted by the touchdown throw to Tyree when he read the Oklahoma State defense perfectly. I understand this is my decades-long bias, but I think going forward Notre Dame needs to focus on having a quarterback with at least some wheels to help them at the margins. Sanders was able to do things with his legs, Coan was not, and that adds up over the course of a tight shootout with a lot of possessions. I would have loved to see Buchner come in to try and loosen things up with the run game but I also understand the staff dancing with who brung them.
(Personnel sidebar: On Sunday, Kevin Austin announced he would be moving on to the NFL Draft while Braden Lenzy and George Takacs said they’ll be coming back for fifth years.)
6) That really, really sucked, particularly with the way it started where it felt like the big bowl coronation that has eluded us for so long would finally come to pass and start the year off right. Finally, the Irish got to play a team that was mortal* in one of these games and it was going so well and then it all just slipped away.
* Here are the F+ rankings (a blend of FEI and SP+ meant to limit the bias of the individual systems) of Notre Dame’s bowl opponents since Charlie Weis was fired.
- 1st 2020 Alabama
- 1st 2012 Alabama
- 2nd 2015 Ohio State
- 3rd 2018 Clemson
- 11th 2021 Oklahoma State
- 13th 2014 LSU
- 13th 2017 LSU
- 15th 2011 Florida State
- 20th 2010 Miami (Fl)
- 23rd 2019 Iowa State
- 88th 2013 Rutgers (god bless the Scarlet Knights)
You’ve read this far so I’m going to attempt to draw a very thin distinction here that will likely be nonsense but let’s give it a go. I think there is a slight difference between being sad about a Loss and being sad about The Absence of a Win. When you lose a game, you often lose some potential paths forwards, perhaps keeping you from playing for a title or a bigger bowl, cutting off an avenue that would have been really fun to travel. This loss cuts off nothing for the program. Every long-term dream you had for Freeman’s time in South Bend is still very much alive, even if an 0-2 start to his tenure seems likely with the Buckeye passing attack looming.
Therefore, I am not really sad about losing the game, but I am disheartened by the Absence of a Win. A win would have made this the most blissful, extended honeymoon of an offseason imaginable. It would have ended the “Notre Dame hasn’t won a major bowl in decades” graphics (although I suspect they would have just been amended to say “Has only won one major bowl in decades,” but hey, progress is progress), meant the Irish finished in the Top 5 three times in four years and given this team who scrapped and clawed and fought so hard all season a wonderful capper. All of that just outside our grasp, easy to imagine, because we all were thinking about it at 28-7 late in the first half, forgetting the core tenet of this newsletter. In a way, it feels a little bit like Athens in 2019.
7) After a December that was running almost exclusively on Good Vibes, the Fiesta Bowl did serve as a reminder that Marcus Freeman is not a football angel come down to save us but indeed a flesh-and-blood coach who will make mistakes and who has plenty of work to do now that the offseason is here. Assistant hires need made — including a defensive coordinator who will hopefully have a better feel than what we saw Saturday — and the transfer portal needs worked to help patch up some of the depth chart holes. Recruiting looms large, with Tommy Rees needing to lock down his next quarterback and the coaching staff needing to convince some guys they should return for the 2022 season. Freeman said all the right stuff after the game, and now he needs to execute over the next eight months.
I know it gets annoying to repeat this, but the last four seasons of Notre Dame football have brought us two playoff bids and two 11-2 seasons that have felt mildly disappointing, including the most recent one coming in a rebuild/reload year. I want to take the next step as much as anyone but this is still an impressive run of football surpassed only by a handful of programs in the country. Do I want to be one of those programs, playing for the national title and celebrating a big New Year’s Six bowl win? Yes, please, so much, but we’ve been blessed with so few Saturdays of sadness and don’t forget that when the sting of this one has eventually, hopefully faded.
