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The Dynamic Duo (Hannah Hildago & Olivia Miles) - Houston the Nation is going to have problems!!!!!

More good news today - defending champ #1 South Carolina got beaten badly by a UCLA team that plays tenacious defense. We play (even more) tenacious defense.

I think the oddsmakers would favor us over any team in the country right now. We have games against current #4 Texas on 12/5 and current #2 UConn on 12/12. I'm pumped to watch both games.
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Marcus Freeman Has This Team Playing Hard

MF is a players coach. He genuinely cares about the kids, unlike some previous coaches, so they have usually played hard for him. Now they’re playing smart, sound and consistent too. He reminds me of a young Dabo.

I hope he has hit his stride. Consistency was my biggest concern with MF coming into 2024. He had bad losses to Marshall, Stanford, and NIU but this 9 game stretch is as impressive as I’ve seen as well. I expected 10-2 this year.

He’s improved the program every year since he started. Hopefully the positive trend continues and we don’t stallout in LA or playoffs…
I’m a fan of Marcus Freeman. I respect what he brings. I have never been a fan of a players head coach.

Would he? Should he?

We haven't had one game this year where we've been in a high scoring shootout. Sometimes they just happen no matter how good the defense is.
Odds are we can't go the entire season and playoffs(if we get in) without being in a shootout.

It's possible...yes. Is it likely?

If we find ourselves in that situation and just struggling to get points...

Would Freeman put Angelli in to perhaps spark the passing game?

Should he...put Angelli in to try and get some offense going?

Should he and would he are very different ! ! !

Or...do we die on the hill with Riley no matter what....
At this point, he will live or die with Riley unless he gets hurt. IMO, that would be the right call. With ND's defense, I just don't see a shootout going forward. If ND turns the ball over a couple times and gets down two scores, they are going to be in trouble due to this offense and it's weakness in the passing game.

ND vs. Navy Academic comments

Every year, we have to hear about Navy player's rugged class schedules. ND player's schedules are never brought up. If the numbnut announcers looked carefully at that schedule they showed, the guy had two substantive classes in the morning and the rest was squadron time, working out, treatment, football practic, etc.???? Those two courses looked difficult, but those were the only two academic classes listed. For once, I'd love to hear an announcer discuss the typical schedule for ND players, especially those that are in very challenging majors.
Why don't you actually research instead of believing an announcer at a game?
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Marcus Freeman Has This Team Playing Hard

There is no question that the NIU loss was a bad one and should have never happened, but since that game Freeman has had the team focused and prepared every week. Games against option teams like Navy and Army used to always leave me feeling uneasy going into the game, but this year we destroyed Navy and Army in both of those games. Yesterday's game against Army was a clinic in how to defend the option. Before the game the sideline reporter asked Marcus Freeman what he wanted to see in the game and he gave a one-word answer: "Violence." That is exactly what we saw. The D hit hard and often last night. It was fun to watch. I expect Bryson Daily will be feeling the lumps from the beating he took all week.

I feel like we are starting to see Marcus Freeman really hit his stride. After the NIU game there were calls to fire him by some on this board. Those wild arguments haven't aged very well.

There were also many on this board who thought ND made a big mistake hiring MF over Luke Fickell. ND now sits at 10-1 and Wisky is at 5-6. I was confident then we hired the right coach, and feel even stronger about that opinion now.

Let's keep the train rolling next week against USC.
I'm still very confused how his teams manage to lose these cupcake games at home, but you're right; he has gotten his team really dialed in and he has the strongest coaching staff supporting him that I can remember. Both coordinators are experienced, level-headed professionals who are navigating the various problems they've encountered brilliantly. It's amazing this team can continue to function at a high level with all the crucial injuries they've suffered (plus one defection).
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ND vs. Navy Academic comments

Every year, we have to hear about Navy player's rugged class schedules. ND player's schedules are never brought up. If the numbnut announcers looked carefully at that schedule they showed, the guy had two substantive classes in the morning and the rest was squadron time, working out, treatment, football practic, etc.???? Those two courses looked difficult, but those were the only two academic classes listed. For once, I'd love to hear an announcer discuss the typical schedule for ND players, especially those that are in very challenging majors.
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Does anyone else ND hater ex PED State QB Todd Blackledge calling ND games?

He's so pessimistic and color announces like he's mad. I'm both games he done He's been that way.

On J Loves TD run he automatically assumed the play was coming back and sounded pissed it didn't.
He's just not good. He actually was much more positive than the play-by-play guy. I would think NBC could do better for ND.

Marcus Freeman Has This Team Playing Hard

Nothing comes easy to the opponent. Few if any big plays and having to drive the length of the field against this defense is not a recipe for success. The rehashing of NIU is just noise. It happened. Can't change it. They've been as impressive as any team in the country since then regardless of schedule. It's wide open this year and ND has as good a chance as any to win it all.
In the nine-game win streak after the loss to NIU, ND has beaten its opponents by a combined score of 392-99. That is an average victory margin of 32.6 points. In my life as an ND fan, I don't remember seeing that kind of sustained dominance before. You'd probably have to go back to the Rockne or Leahy days to find a similar string of a blowouts. Yes, I know, the schedule hasn't included the most formidable opponents, but the schedule is what it is. You still have to go out and win. Our defense has been taking no prisoners. And I agree, I think ND has a puncher's chance to win it all this year. I don't see anyone like Bama out there during the heydays of the Saban years.

But first we need to take care of business in the Coliseum this Saturday.

Strength of Schedule

*Right now, Notre Dame ranks No. 5 in Game Control and No. 10 in Strength of Record, two factors the committee has weighed heavily for a decade. That'll continue.

*Those who have tried to bash Notre Dame's schedule should take a closer look — Irish just throttled the best Army team in 50 years; they humiliated then-unbeaten Navy; they beat Georgia Tech, who handed Miami its only loss; They beat Louisville, who was the selection committee's highest-ranked three-loss team before South Carolina's move last week.; They beat Texas A&M on the road, who's one win away from playing for an SEC title.

-- Brad Crawford
The best teams on NDs schedule are solid teams but not title contenders. This has led to a narrative they haven’t played a good schedule. As I said above, it is true they haven’t played a top 5 or 10 team which does make them a little bit harder to gauge. But the schedule isn’t full of bottom feeders

Fighting Kelly’s of LSU

And, let's just throw in there, actually got us to the 4 team playoff twice, and very frustratingly just missed a third appearance in four years, so pretty much had the program at annual playoff contender status. Though I will say, this edition looks like it could actually win it. I know that's a tall order, four straight wins against playoff caliber opponents is obviously hard. But MF really has, I'd like to think, taken it to an even higher level.


I agree. MF has this in a place I didn't think possible after the NIU loss. I had concluded he was out of his league, learning on the job, and that the season was lost.

I'm glad to be wrong...so far. Football is game by game. We will see...but I admit my confidence is much higher in this Irish team.
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