Notre Dame football was able to come out with a 28 to 7 home victory over the Boise State Broncos on Saturday, but there were some past Irish demons that surfaced during the performance once again. That is mostly true in the first half, where they could very well have gone into halftime with a 28 to 7 lead. Unfortunately, that half was all about self-inflicting mistakes and missed opportunities, leading to just a 14 to 7 Notre Dame lead when the second quarter ended. 

The Fighting Irish offense was seemingly putting together a really impressive first drive of the game, but they weren’t able to finish it, and they ended up turning the football over on downs near the goal line. From there, we saw a missed throw from quarterback CJ Carr that would have been an easy touchdown for wide receiver Will Pauling. Carr would miss a couple more deep ball opportunities in that first half. The offense just wasn’t overly crisp to start the game. 

If you have watched this Notre Dame team over the last couple of years under head coach Marcus Freeman, they have been plagued by slow starts quite a bit. While it didn’t hurt them today against Boise State, it very well could tomorrow (It’s a metaphor. Shush.). Your goal with this Irish program isn’t to beat the Broncos at home. It’s to create a sustainable product that has a chance to beat any team in the country. 

We just didn’t see that version of Notre Dame today to begin this football game. 

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Outside of the slow start, this Irish team continues to be a very disjointed squad as well. Over the last couple of games, Notre Dame fans have been waiting for this defense to match the stellar offense. Coach Freeman always talks about wanting to have a complimentary football team. The offense had been holding its part of the bargain much more so far this season. 

Now Chris Ash’s defense finally shows some good moments today, including a few very impressive turnovers forced, and the offense turns in an underwhelming performance. Most believed that this offense was just wanting for the other side of the football to hold their weight, and this team would come away with a dominant performance from start to finish. This squad is just waiting for this team to play in unison. 

Again, this type of disjoined performance didn’t hurt you today, but it very much could tomorrow (I will continue to say it!). 

On the offensive side of the football, one area that this group under offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock needs to focus on is its ability to threaten the middle of the field with its passing attack. Heading into the game, Carr had completed as many passes outside of the numbers as he had attempted inside the numbers. 

We saw the Boise State defense key on that a bit today, and rolled their coverage at times to protect against it. Outside of a running back angle route to Jeremiyah Love in the first half, the middle of the field just wasn’t used often. That aforementioned miss throw by Carr to Pauling was also in that area of the football field. As Carr gains more experience, becoming a more balanced passer is essential to unlock his overall upside. 

The good news when talking about the negatives is that fixing things after a win is a lot better than after a loss. This is a young team that is still figuring out its identity and perfecting its craft. There were a lot of good signs today, but some demons that this team also needs to try and get rid of down the stretch of this season.

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Ryan Roberts