Notre Dame football suffered a monumental letdown this past weekend, falling 28-24 to the BYU Cougars. The Fighting Irish had a chance to climb to No. 1 in the latest AP poll. Instead, head coach Marcus Freeman and Co. dropped to No. 4, leaving very little margin for error the rest of the 2026 college football regular season.

The one saving grace for this talented Notre Dame squad is the bye week. It gives the Irish a chance to regroup, get healthy, and make changes if they feel the need is there.

Notre Dame has mostly been an ascending team this season, outside of Saturday’s showing against BYU. Still, some changes could help in a big way. Here is what Freeman, defensive coordinator Chris Ash, and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock should eye as they prepare for Navy in two weeks and a final push toward the College Football Playoff.

More play action and motion

I’m admittedly losing some patience with Denbrock’s offensive scheme. There is some good in it. He understands who the playmakers are, and he prioritizes getting them touches, at times to a fault.

The biggest problem is that the offense is static. You don’t see much pre-snap movement, there isn’t a lot of eye candy for opposing defenses, and there isn’t much play action. Without motion, shifts, or RPO looks, the Irish have become predictable.

Even with a pocket-centric quarterback like CJ Carr, Notre Dame wants to run the football at a high volume with Nolan James Jr., Aneyas Williams, and Jonaz Walton. A team built that way should lean on play action.

When linebackers get sucked up, they vacate their zones or arrive late to their spots, and the secondary can get lulled to sleep. It’s a weapon when used correctly.

For whatever reason, Denbrock hasn’t prioritized it the last couple of years.

In 2025, Notre Dame ran play action just 18.3% of the time, among the lowest rates in college football. Against BYU, the Irish ran just three play-action passes on 51 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. That is 5.88% of the time, which is astronomically low.

Until this offense puts defenses in tougher spots, it is capping its own ceiling.

Establish your top 2 running backs

This should be clear at this point. The two best running backs on this roster are James and Walton.

Williams should still have a role. However, Walton getting just 10 snaps and five carries against BYU is offensive malpractice. He is the team’s most explosive runner. He may still have a learning curve in pass protection, but there are ways to use his skill set that Notre Dame chose not to. Turning him into a de facto short-yardage back is not the ceiling of his role.

Walton and James need to be the top two volume getters in the backfield.

Better wide receiver rotation

Notre Dame played four wide receivers against BYU, and Mylan Graham logged only three snaps. That means Micah Gilbert, Jordan Faison, and Jaden Greathouse handled the bulk of the work. That’s unacceptable.

With Carr under center and a desire to throw at a higher volume, the Irish need to keep their pass catchers fresh. That matters even more since the tight ends aren’t hurting defenses right now.

Whether it’s Jerome Bettis Jr., Elijah Burress, or true freshman Bubba Frazier, Notre Dame has to dig deeper. A thin rotation has been a big issue this season under wide receivers coach Mike Brown.

Just play Ian Premer

Notre Dame took a hit before kickoff when tight end Cooper Flanagan was ruled out with a hamstring issue. Even with Flanagan back, there is no reason not to get Ian Premer on the field and hunt mismatches for him as a pass catcher.

Flanagan is valuable and a great blocker who should play a ton. James Flanigan should play, too. Jack Larsen did some solid things against BYU. Still, neither Larson nor Ty Washington should stand in the way of this true freshman five-star.

I’m not asking for 50 snaps a game. When the Irish want three tight ends on the field, Premer needs to be one of them. Sidelining a 6-foot-6, 245-pound freak makes no sense for an offense that needs to attack the middle of the field.

Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is the top snap getter at linebacker

Viliamu-Asa, known as KVA, has been banged up to begin the season and missed another game a couple of weeks ago with a thumb injury. When healthy, though, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker needs to be the top snap getter on the second level.

Drayk Bowen is consistent and should play plenty. But fighting a Mike vs. Will battle in today’s game is archaic. Call KVA a micro Will or anything else. The label doesn’t matter. He needs to start and play the majority of linebacker snaps.

There is still plenty of work for Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed, who are both important pieces. KVA is simply too valuable as a blitzer and second-level weapon to go underused.

Find your pressure identity on defense

Once Boubacar Traore was ejected for targeting against BYU, Notre Dame struggled to get after the quarterback. The Irish blitzed just 25% of the time, which was a bad decision by Ash.

Rushing four is fine if it consistently gets home. That requires Bryce Young or Keon Keeley to step up, or a much bigger role for true freshman five-star Rodney Dunham. If the staff doesn’t feel great about those options, it needs to get aggressive on the second level, where KVA can consistently get after the quarterback.

Manufactured pressure, a wider array of blitzes, or a defensive line that finishes more consistently all work. What matters is that Notre Dame finds a way to generate pressure, even without Traore.

The bye week gives the staff time to figure it out before Navy arrives.