Notre Dame football suffered its first loss of the season Saturday night, falling 28-24 to the BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah. The Fighting Irish entered the College GameDay matchup at 6-0.

They left with a bad taste in their mouths, and it goes well beyond the final score.

This team has lived by a slogan all year: leave no doubt. We have heard it countless times. It sounds great, and it looks great on a T-shirt.

When Notre Dame takes care of business, nothing is better. The problem is that leaving no doubt only matters in the biggest moments, and the Irish did not deliver in this one.

Everyone knows Notre Dame can beat Purdue. Everyone knows the Irish can handle Michigan State and the lesser teams on the schedule.

This isn’t the Brian Kelly era, either. Head coach Marcus Freeman made it to a national championship game in the 12-team playoff just a couple of years ago, so he has won some big games.

Still, a whole offseason was built around the chip on this team’s shoulder. Missing the playoff and opting out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl gave Notre Dame its longest offseason under Freeman.

From the sound of it, the staff was intentional about everything: workouts, nutrition, game planning. All of it sounded great on paper. Then came the moment to prove it, and the Irish came up short.

The biggest issues start with Marcus Freeman

I could spend this entire piece on quarterback CJ Carr’s underwhelming performance, along with several other players who did not play well. Instead, you have to start with Freeman.

To be clear, I am not out on Freeman. He has done a lot of good things as a head coach, a defensive mind, and a recruiter. Slow starts are not a new problem, though. It happened just a couple of weeks ago against North Carolina, and it happens far too often.

Going into a hostile environment against the No. 8 team in the country, it is the head coach’s job to have his team ready mentally. Freeman has been in those environments as a player and as a coach.

Credit to BYU, which played a tremendous football game. But Notre Dame simply was not ready.

There was no juice. The team felt deflated as soon as EDGE Boubacar Traore was ejected for targeting, and it looked like the Irish were grasping for answers. Where was the energy coming from? I didn’t see it anywhere.

Every team needs an energy guy. When the other team grabs momentum, you need a player who says, “F that noise, let’s go.” You need someone whose presence you feel from start to finish. Notre Dame didn’t have that player in Provo.

Miami will be a different story. The Irish are at home; they lost to the Hurricanes last season, and Catholics vs. Convicts carries its own revenge factor. It will be easier to get up for that game than a matchup on the road.

Regardless, when you get punched early, you need a counter. Finding it is the head coach’s job.

Mike Denbrock’s offense is too static

Freeman doesn’t carry this alone. I have tried to be incredibly patient with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, but this offense is too static and not aggressive enough.

The Irish chase the perfect play way too often. Late in this game, with only a couple of snaps left, Notre Dame was looking to the sideline with seven seconds remaining. That cannot happen.

You don’t need perfect plays when your plays have options. RPO tags, play action, and motion force a linebacker or a safety to account for something on every snap. That is how you make a defense wrong. Notre Dame doesn’t like to use motion or play action, and the offense felt lethargic from start to finish.

Chris Ash had no answers early

Defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s first half was just as frustrating. Losing Traore made it harder to rush the passer efficiently, but the defense looked like it had no answer.

BYU has good receivers, including true freshman Legend Glasker. Even so, Notre Dame has one of the best secondaries in college football. That is a group built to press and get in the face of opposing receivers. Instead, the Irish played it safe.

Outside of CB Jayden Sanders making a tremendous late interception while filling in for DJ McKinney, BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier did whatever he wanted.

He completed 23-of-36 passes for 224 yards, a touchdown, and that one interception. Bachmeier also ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught a touchdown pass. I did not have that on my bingo card.

The defense didn’t play well, the offensive ideology was poor, and Notre Dame got off to another slow start. This was a coaching failure, and the have to fix it before Miami comes to South Bend in a couple of weeks.