ND FOOTBALL: Answering questions about Notre Dame's 2023 season

Nov. 29—All the traveling rivalry trophies are back in the Irish's hands.

That was made possible when Notre Dame and running back Audric Estime trampled Stanford 56-23 this past Saturday.

So, sitting at 9-3 and ranked 17th in this week's rankings, the Irish are waiting for one final assignment before sending head coach Marcus Freeman's second team off into the sunset.

In just four days since the win over the Cardinal, starters have jumped in the portal and the coaching staff has already taken its first hit. That makes now the perfect time to answer questions about the 2023 season.

Should Notre Dame have performed better? Were they predictable yet, simultaneously unpredictable? Did the Irish really miss the playoff in possibly one of the most open fields in the four-team era?

I've tried to answer those questions and other below.

WASN'T THE IRISH ROSTER MUCH BETTER THAN LAST YEARS?

This an easy 'yes'. Losing quarterbacks Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner to the transfer portal really didn't do much to lessen the Irish's strength. With Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman making his way to South Bend, it shed unnecessary weight.

The Irish did lose 2022's leading receiver in Michael Mayer, but considering Notre Dame's typical success at the tight end position, the loss could be overcome.

This roster defensively was stout and the offense seemed to have strength through its line, running back and signal caller spots. The only question marks became the wideout group that was highly inexperienced.

Now with this season through, the outlooks on the team held up. Notre Dame's defense forced turnovers and held opponents without much room to find open green. Offensively, even with the loss of coordinator Tommy Rees to Alabama, the unit did average nearly 40 points per game. That number decreased significantly against strong defenses, but the on paper and through the stat sheet, this team was better.

All of this begs the next question...

WHY DIDN'T THE IRISH SNIFF THE PLAYOFF THEN?

This may have been one of the more wide-open races for the title since the four-team playoff was iterated. When it comes time for playoff semifinals to kickoff though, Notre Dame will be watching from home. Thankfully, there is an easy answer why.

Against weak teams, Notre Dame left no doubt who was the better group. Against the schedule's top names, there became a large drop off.

In the nine wins, Notre Dame scored under 40 points once. That means they averaged over 45 points a game in their wins. In their losses, the Irish averaged a measly 19 points. Eye-test and strength of schedule could have helped Notre Dame if they just found a way to figure out the stronger competition. They didn't, and that's probably the quickest way to explain why the Irish are so low in the rankings.

What went wrong did, and what could have gone right didn't. You have to put yourself in position, and Notre Dame didn't.

DID FREEMAN IMPROVE IN YEAR TWO?

If you're going off wins and losses, that's still to be determined. But for the regular season alone, the answer is yes — by one game.

Perfection is hardly attained by veterans of the coaching game so expecting Freeman to display it in his second season is quite the unreasonable expectation. Freeman knows he made mistakes and just about every time, he's opened up about them or stood strongly by his decisions.

He admitted the Irish were slow to begin road games and that they needed to get to the bottom of why. He also stood by his fourth-down decisions against Ohio State.

That, to me, is a sign that the second-year coach is learning. He has now started to get enough experience where he can back up why he made a certain move over another. A sign of growth is also knowing when you're wrong. Aside from typical "blame-me" coach speak, Freeman did seem to place mistakes on himself.

You could almost feel the pain in his words when the Irish lost. For Irish fans, that's a good sign. Any coach numb to losing is a warning sign. Freeman wants to win and every loss seems to eat at him. Maybe he didn't improve as fast in his second stint, but he did and that's important.

WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE STAFF THEN?

Freeman told media Monday that essentially, his mindset was to keep the same unit for the 2024 season. He cited consistency as a reason to keep the same staff and also referenced his time at Cincinnati where then-Bearcats coach Luke Fickell kept Freeman around despite the defensive coordinator's lackluster year.

Well, that didn't last long because just over 24 hours later, Chansi Stuckey (Notre Dame's wideout coach) was no longer on the staff.

Most of Notre Dame's problems came offensively despite having top talent. Most came for offensive coordinator Gerad Parker for the issues, but it seems as though the bullet headed toward Stuckey instead.

Stuckey was in his second year with the Irish but for the second-straight season, no one in his group reached over 500 yards receiving. Injuries made that difficult, but it seemed like that group was a big part of the offenses issues.

Defensively, every name should be safe there. Notre Dame's group recovered after the 10-man debacle against the Buckeyes and delivered impressive performances. That means going into the bowl game and the offseason, Freeman has two positions to fill in a new wide receiver coach and a strength and conditioning coach that wasn't filled when Matt Balis left right before the season.

WHY SHOULD THE BOWL GAME MATTER?

This might be the easiest to answer but the hardest to convince.

Yes, a program like Notre Dame shouldn't be gushing over a bowl named after a pastry brand that also happens to have an edible mascot. However, this is another opportunity to earn the coaching staff some experience. If the end goal is Freeman raising a championship overhead, the little bowl victory's have to come first.

We will see what opt-outs come about and who else goes portal jumping, but another chance to try out some new tricks is never a bad thing to have.

Plus, a reunion with Brian Kelly and LSU also appears to be a strong possibility. It's hard to imagine that won't draw attention.

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.