Nobody has to tell fans that Notre Dame football is in a tough spot following their 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois this past weekend. That embarrassing defeat was shameful for Irish fans on campus, as well as all over the country, and made the team’s margin for error microscopic for the rest of the season. Notre Dame has been a golden standard in the history of college football, and now they are a joke for many other school’s fans across college football, at least for the time being.

Frustration has spilled over for several reasons. Of course, it starts with head coach Marcus Freeman, who is in a pivotal third year with the program. After beginning the season with a road win over the Texas A&M Aggies, it felt like it could be a special campaign. How quickly things can change from one week to the next. The Irish are now left to regroup and try to salvage the 2024 season, one that once looked like it could eventually end with a deep playoff run.

After your offense puts up just 14 points against a MAC school, that’s where a lot of the blame was going to go. While the defense also didn’t play overly well, it is Mike Denbrock and his offensive group that is going to come with the most skepticism. There is a bigger issue here, but a large portion of the Notre Dame fans came out of that contest screaming for a quarterback change.

Riley Leonard has become the villain for a large portion of Irish fans. There are even some claiming that if you put in a different quarterback, that eliminates the problem. While I believe that is incredibly nearsighted, I’ll play the game even though it’s incredibly doubtful this is the route that Coach Freeman goes. Let’s examine what a quarterback change would do, both the positives and negatives.

The likely quarterback change

Most people are going to clamor for true freshman CJ Carr or redshirt freshman Kenny Minchey, but let’s be real, the odds for Coach Freeman to turn to a quarterback with no experience is very small. I’m a believer that one of those two quarterbacks is the future for Notre Dame football, but there’s a reason that the staff keeps going to the transfer portal, they want experience.

The most experienced by a long shot behind Leonard is Steve Angeli, who was the main backup last season and even started the Sun Bowl against Oregon State. During that game, Angeli completed 15 of 19 passes for 232 pounds and three touchdowns. The New Jersey native impressed with his poise and confidence against the depleted Oregon State team.

For the Irish fans who will clamor for Angeli, the biggest selling point is going to be a “more consistent passer” but the sample size is so limited that perspective is pretty shallow. Could he improve the efficiency? It’s possible, but we need to be more specific about what type of passing consistency we are talking about. While Angeli has solid accuracy short to intermediate, his arm is also pretty average.

Are we going to convince ourselves he is going to create an explosive passing attack with him? Based on what, one wide-open throw to Jordan Faison with no defender within 15 yards of him? Projecting that is pure speculation at this point.

If you did move to Angeli, you are also sacrificing athleticism. While he’s a functionally solid athlete, he isn’t Leonard in that regard. Sticking him behind an inexperienced offensive line, especially in some bigger games, doesn’t feel like sound decision-making.

So in the end, we should choose Angeli to be more consistent throwing short but still not be able to push the ball down the field, and sacrifice athleticism? That sounds like you are putting a ceiling on just how good you can be offensively. Brian Kelly would be proud.

Boise State star Ashton Jeanty already solidifying himself as the top running back in the 2025 NFL Draft class

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty putting the nation on notice, solidifying his standing for the 2025 NFL Draft

Does playing a young quarterback really change anything?

While I don’t believe that making a quarterback change is the proper course of action, going with one of the young signal callers would be the direction I would go if it were. Whether you are a Carr or Minchey guy, both have exciting talent that would at least reenergize the fan base, at least until they have their own individual struggles.

Here’s the major issue with playing a young quarterback: They are going to make mistakes. Leonard was criticized non-stop following the Northern Illinois game for being careless with the football, including his two interceptions. So playing a quarterback with no experience is going to fix that?

If anything, I’d argue that the offense would become more risk averse. You aren’t going to fully open the offense behind a young quarterback. The offense will have to be run heavy, which Coach Freeman might actually be pretty happy about. The issue is that in the bigger games, that isn’t going to be a recipe for success. The quarterback is going to have to make some plays.

Should Notre Dame choose that route, it would be solely for building for future seasons. You don’t go to a young quarterback if you have any optimism for running the table and hopefully making it into the 12-team playoffs. That would basically mean that you have said that the season is over after two games, one of which you beat a top 25 SEC team on the road in a hostile environment.

Is that the message you want to send? Does that really help in the short term? No, that is a perspective driven off of impulsivity and panic. Instead, Notre Dame fans are ignoring the bigger issue.

The real issue

During the course of Marcus Freeman’s tenure so far, he has talked nonstop about being a line-driven program. Playing great defense and running the football are often usually topics of conversation. How often does he discuss wanting to have a dynamic player behind center?

It’s always just complimentary football talk. The issue is that the offense is always the one that compliments the defense, and not the other way around. It is the year 2024 and we aren’t prioritizing quarterback play in South Bend. We aren’t prioritizing making big plays.

You brought in Mike Denbrock to run the offense, along with a dual threat quarterback, and a ton of speed at wide receiver. For what? To run the football and put a cap on how explosive the offense can be?

While Notre Dame fans will scream from the mountain tops about benching Leonard, and trying to find a scapegoat, they aren’t asking the right questions. Why, as a fan base, were we lied to? Why do we not deserve a dynamic offense that matches the defense?

Coach Freeman has done a lot of good at Notre Dame. He has increased the standards in recruiting, upgraded the talent and depth on the roster, and made several good coaching hires. Freeman is also a great man and role model for the players he coaches.

But until his offensive philosophy is changed, or at least shifts, Notre Dame is going to run into the same issues. You hired Coach Denbrock to unlock this talent and give opposing defensive coordinators a real challenge. Let him do his job.