as if losing to Northern Illinois at home wasn't bad enough things might even be worse for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish moving forward here in the Marcus Freeman era let's talk the latest defeat 16 to4 at home and what to make of Marcus Freeman in year three moving [Music] forward folks let's get the easy part out of the way here Notre Dame lost their home opener after defeating Texas A&M on the road in Kyle Field last Saturday night 23-13 and what was a awesome victory for Notre Dame you looked at that one and you thought hey this could be the year maybe this is the time under Marcus Freeman where Notre Dame was finally going to take that massive step forward then with a number five ranking in the country they welcome home a Mac team in Northern Illinois who hasn't been a great team over the last couple years they wel him into home and they not only play a disaster game an awful game a just downright putrid game they ended up losing the football game on a field goal within 30 something seconds left that gave Northern Illinois a 16 to 14 lead Notre Dame had a slight chance in the end with a 62 yard field goal attempt from former South Carolina transfer Mitch Jeter that was deflected and wide to the left this marks the worst defeat in Marcus Freeman's era since year one when he lost to the Marshall thundering heard at home in a vacuum before we talk into the bigger picture and what I'm most concerned about for Notre Dame horrible defeats you as the University of Notre Dame one of the Blue Bloods of college football one of the best and biggest brands in all of college sports not even just football you cannot lose to an inferior opponent a Mac team in year three under Marcus Freeman you can't do it but in the end the talent should have prevailed Notre Dame is the more Talent Ed football team on offense they're the more talented football team on defense they're the more talented team on special teams they have the better coaching staff despite that Notre Dame laid a massive goose egg now let me tell you though that's not the only concern that I have on the table we can wipe out one game and most people will in a few days they're going to be like oh recharge beat Purdue go on a winning streak and then we'll see what happens at the end of the year with 12 team playoff a lot can happen and while they might be true in their realistic take of what can potentially happen there is something here that we cannot mask that we need to talk about this off season Marcus Freeman who is a defensive coach by Nature Made his Mark as a dynamic defensive coordinator for the University of Cincinnati and his one year at Notre Dame no one will dispute his prowess in that regard Marcus Freeman is a Beacon of Hope potentially for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish not only is he a great family man not only is he a great father not only is he a very attractive speaker public speaker not only do people really and truly like him as a person he also has that you that youth that exuberance he can relate to his players there is a lot that he brings to the table that gets you super excited he's a great football man he's a great man in general he's played the part he's been a big time linebacker at the University of Ohio States Ohio State University he's also been in the NFL although for a brief amount of time and he's been his very successful coach from a coordinating perspective all those things check out which is why a lot of Notre Dame fans have really bought in Dem Marcus Freeman over the last few years they want to believe they want to believe that he is the guy because if he can his recruiting prouts and the image that he brings have a chance to catapult Notre Dame to where they have been historically and that is one of the Prem programs in college football but here's the holding Point here's the thing that has me as a Notre Dame fan lifelong fan as long as I can remember this is where I have my main concern okay here it is Marcus Freeman as a defensive coach he values the cliches that you always hear want to play great defense want to be an offensive line driven team want to run the football sounds great in theory okay sounds great in theory but Notre Dame the hindrance that they've had offensively last few years has been creating explosive plays and having a dynamic offense they haven't been able to do it quarterback has not been good enough wide receiver has not been good enough play calling has not been good enough so what did Notre Dame do this off season guys that gave you hope for the future they went out and they got Mike denrock one of the best offensive coordinators in college football LSU Tigers last year averag over 46 points per game Jaden Daniels Malik neighbors Brian Thomas Jr all those guys awesome first step you also went into the trans portal you got one of the best wide receiver huls in theory in the country you got Chris Mitch over 1100 yards last year for FIU you got from Clemson Bo Collins that had a very good game against Notre Dame in 2023 you got Jaden Harrison and also you bur in a really Dynamic wide receiver class of freshman with guys like cam Williams and Micah Gilbert Jeremiah love as a sophomore at the running back position you have athletes you have talent and you now have in Theory a play caller and didn't even mention Riley Leonard a quarterback you have a dynamic play caller that should get the most out of this offensive skill talent but yet the same things are there the inconsistencies creating explosive plays the inconsistencies at the quarterback position the inconsistencies as a vertical passing game Notre Dame cannot win consistently with this formula in today's game you are going to have to create explosive play in the passing game you're going to have to have some Dynamic element at the quarterback position wide receiver has to be a pronounced position in this offense offensive line great we want them to play great they should running backs are very important in Notre Dame's offense tight ends are very important in Notre Dame's offense but until Marcus Freeman takes the shackles off likes M lets Mike Den Brock run his offense lets his Playmakers make plays this Notre Dame team is not going anywhere not only in 2024 or into the future we're going to be back next week folks a toz sports we're going to be breaking down Purdue of course hopefully Notre Dame can turn this thing around but I am very skeptical as of today but as always despite that skepticism go Irish