Patrick Sullivan of Notre Dame SB Nation site One Foot Down joins Hustle Belt to preview the Week 4 matchup vs. Miami (OH).
Notre Dame is certainly acquainted with the Mid-American Conference.
Two weeks ago, Northern Illinois stormed into then-No. 5 Notre Dame and escaped with a program-defining victory. The Huskies’ defense dominated the trenches while the offense strung together a handful of explosive plays. It set them up for a go-ahead Kanon Woodill field goal in the final minute to claim a 16-14 triumph.
Now, Notre Dame is 0-1 vs. the MAC in 2024, and the Fighting Irish aren’t done with the conference quite yet. Reigning MAC champion Miami (OH) pays a visit to South Bend, IN this Saturday, led by head coach Chuck Martin who grew up a diehard Fighting Irish fan and served as a Notre Dame assistant from 2010-14 before accepting the Miami job.
Miami (OH) is off to a rough 0-2 start after close losses to Northwestern and Cincinnati. The RedHawks look to replicate NIU’s performance and turned their season around Saturday. But Notre Dame appears to be back on track after a 66-7 thrashing of Purdue. Previewing the Fighting Irish heading into this matchup is Patrick Sullivan (@Psully226), who writes for Notre Dame’s SB Nation site One Foot Down. Here is a Q&A collaboration between Hustle Belt and One Foot Down revolving around Saturday afternoon’s non-conference matchup at Notre Dame Stadium:
Steve Helwick (Hustle Belt): Now that the dust has settled and you’ve seen two other Notre Dame performances, what are your main takeaways from the Northern Illinois game in Week 2?
Patrick Sullivan (One Foot Down): My main takeaway on this Notre Dame team and how much sense they make:
But seriously, I still can’t quite figure it out. They went into College Station and won a tough road game to start the year, and they made a Big Ten team look like an FCS squad, again on the road. But in their one home game, they managed to lose to Northern Illinois and score only 14 points?
The most convenient explanation/takeaway is that the Irish were coming off an emotional and physical game vs. Texas A&M and started feeling themselves a bit as they moved into the Top 5 of the rankings and everyone started saying they were a shoo-in for the Playoff. They assumed NIU at home would be a much-needed break/cake-walk and the Huskies came into South Bend and both out-coached and out-played them. Add in a QB who can’t seem to throw with any accuracy and an inexperienced o-line, and you get what you get in that one.
It’s also possible NIU is the best team the Irish have played so far. A&M didn’t exactly light up a rudderless Florida team last week, and Purdue clearly STINKS. So maybe Notre Dame is just a good, not great team who lost to their best opponent to-date? I don’t think I buy that, but it’s possible.
All in all, I think the biggest takeaway with this weird Irish team is that they’re very good with their backs against the wall and rise to the occasion under the bright lights, but they struggle with motivation and execution when they feel like they can skate by without those two things (when they CLEARLY aren’t good enough, especially offensively, to do that).
Helwick (Hustle Belt): What’s your assessment of the offense so far? Did offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock figure things out at Purdue, and do the Fighting Irish have the depth to operate without three starting linemen?
Sullivan (One Foot Down): I don’t think I would say that he’s figured things out. I do think Denbrock has gotten a feel for what he needs to do against lesser teams to win games, i.e. run the ball down their throats with his two stud running backs (Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price) and Riley Leonard, who’s a great runner but not a trustworthy passer. That’s really how they destroyed Purdue — running the ball all over them and playing lights-out defense.
So I guess he’s figured that piece out, which hopefully means ND can handle Miami this weekend without major issue. But I also think there’s still a massive problem if Denbrock is trying to get this offense to a point where they can compete in a Playoff game, because you HAVE to be able to throw the ball to beat good teams. So I’m not sure if that means getting both Leonard and backup QB Steve Angeli playing time depending on the situation, or if there’s a way to help Leonard figure things out ASAP so the Irish can throw downfield, but until Denbrock gets that squared away, the ceiling on this team is way lower than we all thought just a couple weeks ago.
As for the depth on the offensive line, I would say for now they do have the depth to be fine the rest of the year, but more problems will make me very worried. The injuries to center Ashton Craig (out for the year) and right guard Billy Schrauth (out for a few weeks) definitely hurt, especially after starting left tackle Charles Jagusah went down for the year before the season started. Craig and Schrauth were arguably ND’s two best offensive linemen.
But Notre Dame has been stacking promising linemen recruits for a while now, and especially on the interior they have some solid replacements to take over. Pat Coogan steps in at center after having started double-digit games at guard last year, and Rocco Spindler has a lot of starting experience at guard from as well. It was a surprise when both of those guys lost out to starting LG Sam Pendleton in summer camp, so at least they should be adequate-to-good filling in for the injured guys. And reserve guard Sullivan Absher is supposedly a promising young player too, if needed.
Additionally, this is when having a runner back there like Leonard helps. He’s got the ability to avoid sacks when these reserve players have occasional breakdowns in protection. If Aamil Wagner or Anthonie Knapp get hurt at tackle, though, then all bets are off. Then we’re talking about some not-good or super-inexperienced guys stepping in mid-season to try to keep opposing defensive ends out of the backfield. Woof.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): The defense has held its own so far, even in the Northern Illinois game minus one explosive play. What does Notre Dame particularly do to make scoring 20 so difficult for opponents?
Sullivan (One Foot Down): Their secondary is the key. They have All-Americans at corner (Benjamin Morrison) and safety (Xavier Watts) who are fantastic and experienced dudes, and then a couple young studs in CB Christian Gray and S Adon Shuler who are both emerging as stars in their own right. Add in reliable vets like NB Jordan Clark, S Rod Heard, and CB Jaden Mickey, and it’s largely been a no-fly zone for opponents’ passing attacks.
That kind of elite secondary forces opponents to have to try to run the ball, which is way easier for the Irish defensive line and linebackers to stop when they know the DBs won’t be tested much. The linebackers are mostly young and super fast/athletic, and so even if they make occasional mistakes, they’ve shown flashes of excellence. Having super senior Jack Kiser to lead that unit also helps a lot. The defensive line is pretty deep and experienced, and although I wouldn’t say they’ve performed up to preseason expectations so far this year, they’re still pretty good at getting a push and wreaking some havoc in the backfield. Remember the names Howard Cross (DT) and Boubacar Traore (DE) in that regard.
One note: starting “Vyper” defensive end Jordan Botelho is out for the year after getting hurt in the Purdue game, so that definitely hurts the Irish defensive front a bit, especially in terms of the pass rush. We’ll see how much it impacts them on Saturday and if guys like blue-chip true freshman Bryce Young (son of Bryant Young) will get a chance to show their stuff.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): What are your recollections from the Chuck Martin days at Notre Dame, and do you recall his first trip to Notre Dame as Miami’s coach in 2017?
Sullivan (One Foot Down): I very clearly remember that 2017 game — I was in attendance and it was the game when ND RB Josh Adams had a pretty electric stiff-arm on a long touchdown run:
He could go ALL THE WAY! And he does!
ND leads 2️⃣1️⃣-7️⃣! pic.twitter.com/5O3FumTUyy— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) September 30, 2017
As far as Chuck’s time at ND, I mainly remember him as the offensive coordinator during my senior year in 2012 when the Irish went 12-0 in the regular season and then got destroyed by Alabama in the national title game. Martin took an ND offense that wasn’t at all the most talented, especially at wide receiver and QB, and made it work with a strong running game (shout-out Zack Martin and Theo Riddick), great use of Tyler Eifert at tight end, and creative usage of redshirt freshman QB Everett Golson’s running ability and laser-rocket arm.
Additionally, I feel like most of the ND beat writers LOVE Chuck Martin and are constantly referencing his funny and unique quotes and interviews. So he’s pretty well-liked around Notre Dame and I think most of us have a positive opinion of him — he maximized a lot on offense when he didn’t necessarily always have the best skill talent to work with, and it seems like he’s a guy you can root for just due to his personality and how he treats people in the industry.
Helwick (Hustle Belt): What’s the final score prediction and how does Saturday’s game play out?
Sullivan (One Foot Down): At this rate, it seems like Notre Dame is good on the road and bad at home, especially against non-P5 teams. So that of course makes me worry with yet another MAC opponent coming to town — especially one desperate for a season-flipping win after tough losses to P5 opponents in games 1 and 2.
I don’t think they’re going to repeat the NIU catastrophe, but I also don’t anticipate a Purdue-level beatdown (because that was pathetic — Purdue’s defensive strategy was STUPID and that team gave up before halftime). I think Martin is a good coach and Miami has some solid and experienced talent. But with their wake-up-call out of the way and things seemingly back on track, I think ND will just look to bully the Redhawks over the course of 4 quarters, wear them down, and ultimately win by 2-3 touchdowns.
I’ll say Notre Dame 37, Miami 17. Jeremiyah Love has another big day and Brett Gabbert gets picked off at least once.
For the flip-side of the Q&A, see our responses to One Foot Down’s questions here.
Miami (OH) at Notre Dame kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 21. It is available to watch on NBC and stream on Peacock.