Notre Dame’s (2-2) 56-13 win over Arkansas might give head coach Marcus Freeman a break from being asked about the defense.
Was the defense perfect? No.
Arkansas had five chunk plays (20+ yards) in the passing game and six rushes for 10+ yards, including a 54-yard run by Taylen Green, but by far, this was the defense’s best performance of the season.
On the positive side, the defense forced two turnovers, had three sacks, forced two three-and-outs, and two turnovers on downs. “The game plan was simple enough that they could execute at a fast level,” said head coach Marcus Freeman.
“It’s a choice that everybody has to make that this is us, it’s not Chris Ash’s, it’s not Marcus, it’s one, it’s all of us. We own this thing.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock was dialing up some play calls that kept Arkansas’ defense off-balance.
CJ Carr continues to show why he won the starting quarterback job. Carr finished 22-30 for 354 yards and four touchdowns.
Malachi Fields and Will Pauling are starting to get more involved in the offense. They combined for six receptions on 10 targets. Jordan Faison has become Carr’s favorite target (seven receptions on eight targets), but eventually, teams are going to start scheming to take him away.
The Fighting Irish had Jeremiyah Love involved in the rushing and passing game. Love had 86 yards rushing and 70 yards receiving. Love had 18 touches in various ways. The goal was to get him in space as often as possible, and he rewarded Notre Dame with four combined touchdowns ( two rushing, two receiving) in the first half.
Jadarian Price finished with 86 yards and a touchdown. Price finished with four runs of 10+ yards.
Perhaps there wasn’t a play that represented Notre Dame’s attitude more than a successful fake punt. It was the first possession of the third quarter, and it looked like Notre Dame was going to go 3-and-out. The Fighting Irish lined up to punt, but the ball was snapped to Love, who handed it off to Faison, who threw it in on target to Fields for 40 yards.
Notes:
-
- Notre Dame finished with 210 yards and four touchdown runs.
- Denbrock’s game plan was on point. Notre Dame finished with 13 passing plays of 15+ yards and nine rushing plays of 10+ yards.
- The Fighting Irish were 5-5 in the Red Zone.
