Some Notre Dame fans need to get their apologies ready as former Fighting Irish question mark has become an emphatic answer
Chris Ash, consider this an apology.
It wasn’t too long ago that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash was the hottest topic in Fighting Irish fandom, and for very good (well, bad) reason. The former Ohio State defensive coordinator and Rutgers head coach began the 2025 college football season, his first with the team, with some extremely unsettling performances. He took over an elite defense the last two seasons under Al Golden, and most expected all he had to do was not mess things up.
During the first three games, the Irish defense could be defined as nothing short of putrid. You expected to give up some plays against both Miami and Texas A&M, but allowing Purdue to score the way they did was extremely unsettling. Many fans were frustrated, and others wondered how this defense was going to get better. Some were even calling for Ash’s job. Whatever led to the change, this has looked like a completely different unit over the last seven games.
In those first three games, Ash’s unit surrendered just under 33 points per game. During the last seven, they are letting up just 10.1 points per game. There’s an argument that some will make about the quality of competition, but when you did what you did to Arkansas, USC, and Pittsburgh, clearly progress has been made in a big way.
Defensive statement from Notre Dame
The performance against the Pitt Panthers on Saturday may have been the most impressive performance yet under Ash. Led by freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, Pat Narduzzi’s squad has been humming on the offensive side of the football. The offense was averaging just under 40 points per game heading into this past weekend, and their star signal caller was a big reason for that. In Heintschel’s first five starts, he had thrown for 1,547 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Irish needed to find answers to the success he was having through the air.
During the dominant 37 to 15 performance, which was even more lopsided than that final score indicates, the Notre Dame secondary stifled Heintschel. He completed just 16 of 33 passes for 126 yards and an interception. That is just a 3.8 yards per attempt average, while Heintschel also threw an interception on a two-point conversion that Adon Shuler returned for two points. He also rushed for just seven yards on nine carries.
Not only was the pass defense elite for the Irish, but so was the run defense. Pitt managed to rush for just 70 yards during the game on 25 carries. That is an average of 2.8 yards per carry. This was an all-around dominant performance from Ash’s ground, and he needs to be commended for it.
While Ash walked into some elite talent, including All-American cornerback Leonard Moore, safety Adon Shuler, linebackers Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, and pass rusher Boubacar Traore, among others, he clearly needed to figure out how to best utilize them. This unit is clicking on all cylinders right now, and Ash has to get a lot of credit for that. With that growth, Ash may be deserving of an apology from several Irish fans, including myself.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
Notre Dame’s CFB Playoff resume took a near disastrous hit even while blowing out a ranked Pitt Panther team on the road
Notre Dame escaped a near disastrous resume hit this week.
