Some thoughts might be warranted after yesterday
I am dead inside.
Um, ok. So, that game happened yesterday. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish played a football game that we have seen with them “playing” games with the likes of 2022 Marshall and Stanford. I don’t really know what in the hell all of that was. The anger is really just numbness at this point.
But, I know I and many of you went through many emotions of anger, sadness, rage, and numbness that you probably still feel after the Irish inexplicably dropped the first home game against Northern Illinois. This should be fun lol, but let’s dive into some online overreactions from the game yesterday.
ND vs. NIU – Overreactions
That is the worst loss in Notre Dame football history.
Marcus Freeman losing to Northern Illinois at home in his third season as a 28-point favorite is something that should end his career as Notre Dame’s head coach.
It is something for which you cannot recover.
— Walker Carey (@walkerRcarey) September 7, 2024
Listen, I’m never going to take away from how AWFUL that game and loss was, as it was about as bad as you can get especially with the talent the team does have. This is something that I would put up there with one of the worst losses ever, especially at home. But when you think of UConn, Syracuse, and Tulsa (all at home), those were games where the team was playing terrible teams and programs and losing. I personally would but those losses above this one, so this is a bit extreme. However, I want to reiterate that this loss was some TURRIBLE stuff we saw. There IS room for some recovery, but the margin for that is razor thin.
The fact that Notre Dame hasn’t had an elite QB since 2006 is one of the more astonishing things in CFB.
— Mike Farrell (@mfarrellsports) September 7, 2024
Now, are there many great QBs since 2006 (and the reference here is Brady Quinn)? The answer is probably “no.” But, we cannot gloss over Jimmy Clausen (who was statistically one of the best in program history) who was just on teams with AWFUL defenses. We also have to remember Ian Book with the most wins in program history. Jimmy Clausen was a great QB in college, and Book was more of a game manager. But my threshold of “elite” extends to those guys because of what they accomplished both personally and with helping their teams. Also, we gotta stay tuned to see if there is an elite QB already in the QB room that hasn’t yet played this season…
Freeman in on the hot seat for sure
— Brandon Fry ☘️ (@Bif_13) September 7, 2024
I’m really trying to temper everything here, and maybe the second that Jeter’s kick got blocked yesterday I had thought this for a second. I also might give you that the passenger seat warmer in the car was JUST clicked on 5 seconds ago. But, there has to be a lack of a sense of urgency and a lack of winning the rest of the way before we fully talk hot seat. Most of the game and everything yesterday falls at Freeman. The guys weren’t ready, and the gameplan was abysmal, especially letting a team like NIU straight bully you. This doesn’t make Freeman’s seat any cooler of course, but in 7 days we can’t directly go from biggest win of his career and right for the program to hot seat. The response is key here (which is now 10 games long). That’s fine if you want to call me too optimistic, but that is how I see it right now.