Despite a 26-point blowout rivalry victory in which his freshman quarterback attained a perfect passer rating and his standout running back duo combined for six touchdowns, head coach Marcus Freeman seemed exhausted and exasperated in his postgame press conference. Why, you might ask? It’s because his defense is bad. Really bad.
“I mean, we tried cover one, cover two, cover three, cover four. And what happens is you start to panic, and you start to say, ‘OK, this isn’t working, so let’s try this.’ And then you’re doing nothing,” he said.
It makes sense why Freeman would be frustrated. He is a defensive coach at his core. He was a star linebacker for Ohio State in the mid-2000s, and ascended the coaching ranks as one of the nation’s premier defensive coordinators with Purdue, Cincinnati and Notre Dame.
The Notre Dame offense has been historically efficient throughout their first three games. It has been offset, to the result of a 1-2 record and endless online discourse, by a historically poor defensive unit. In program history, Notre Dame football has allowed 95 or more points over the first three games of a season only three times: 2007, when they gave up 102 points and finished 3-9; 2016, when they conceded 96 and finished 4-8; and 2025, where they have allowed 98 points through contests with Miami, Texas A&M and Purdue.
The most confusing part of this porous defense is the stark contrast with a year ago, when the Notre Dame pass rush wreaked havoc on opposing protection and the secondary made life hell for pass-catchers. Under Al Golden, who has since departed to coordinate the Cincinnati Bengals, Notre Dame ranked top-five nationally in scoring defense, passing yards allowed and takeaways.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash took over the unit this offseason, and despite vowing to continue the trends developed under Golden, has completely remade Notre Dame’s defense. Notre Dame is bottom-20 in scoring defense, bottom-five in passing yards allowed and has forced just three takeaways, two of which came against a lackluster Purdue offense. The main difference between a nationally renowned defense, and a defense that seems inept and confused, lies in its approach.
Freeman sees much of the issues existing between the connection of his front-end defense and back-end secondary. “We have to do a better job of marrying up our coverage and our front, and make sure that if we’re going to play with seven guys in coverage, then four guys are going to have to get some type of pressure on the quarterback.”
Under Golden, the Irish defense was nasty. They played aggressively, they created chaos, and most importantly, they dictated how the offense would try to attack them. Now, with much of the same personnel, just Ash on the headset, Notre Dame plays passively and slowly, creating very little pressure, and seemingly all too content with letting opposing offenses pick them apart drive after drive.
Commenting on the lack of havoc in the pocket, Freeman said, “When we do pressure and bring five, we can’t allow a quarterback to sit back there, because in that coverage somebody is coming open.”
These issues wouldn’t be so frustrating if they didn’t appear to be entirely resolvable, and if Notre Dame didn’t have a generationally talented attack. After a much publicized and highly scrutinized quarterback battle, which freshman CJ Carr won, the Michigan native has rapidly dispelled any concerns about his maturity and readiness, instead displaying immense talent and feel for the game. Carr, the grandson of legendary Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr, has already proven to be Notre Dame’s best pure passer in a long time. His performance against Purdue on Saturday was the highest rated of any Irish quarterback since Pro Football Focus began evaluating the position in 2014.
And then of course, there is the two-headed monster of juniors Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love in the backfield. Regardless of the nonsensical offseason discourse valuing Penn State’s rushing duo over Price and Love, the pair has proved their immeasurable worth throughout the opening quarter of the season. The two are averaging more than 5.5 yards per carry, while combining to tally 471 rushing yards. Love has four touchdowns, while Price has six. Each was exceptional, even by their own astronomical standards, against Purdue, as Love set a career-high in yards with 157, while Price set a career-high with four touchdowns, and even tied the Notre Dame Stadium record for longest touchdown.
The receiving corps of senior transfers Malachi Fields and Will Pauling and juniors Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse is much improved from last year’s depleted and injured unit. The offensive line is also great as usual. Even special teams under coordinator Marty Biagi have made critical plays throughout the first three weeks. This exceptional consortium of talent makes the defense’s incompetence both bewildering and unacceptable, leaving fans as irritated as Freeman in both his press conference and following Purdue’s 53-second, 75-yard scoring drive to end the first half on Saturday.
So, how do the issues get fixed and where does Freeman turn to fix them? There are a plethora of possible solutions, but it all starts with creating pressure in the backfield. However the Irish decide to remedy this sinking defensive ship, it better happen soon. Next Saturday, Arkansas presents an offense eerily similar to the Miami and Texas A&M units that gashed Notre Dame.
Quarterback Taylen Green is a mobile, dual-threat option, who will expose the Irish if they can’t make him uncomfortable. The Razorbacks also have elite speed and skill on the perimeter, a combination that has plagued the Irish secondary, even dating back to Golden’s tenure.
Needless to say, Freeman, Ash, and company have to find adjustments, or the Irish could be staring at a 1-3 start. That is, unless Carr, Love and Price are perfect again. Relying on three offensive players to win every game is a very vulnerable and dangerous position to be in. If anyone can get it done though, it is Love and Price. It would, however, save everyone, Freeman included, tons of stress if this defense can step up and hold its weight on a Notre Dame team whose talent rivals that of anyone in college football.
