Notre Dame Football: Examining Irish Road Struggles
With 2023 in the rearview mirror we have a lot of time to look ahead to Notre Dame football in 2024.
Staff changes have been made while a new recruiting class has been officially assembled and the transfer portal has been used often.
But what about actually tangible play? Where does Notre Dame have issues that need addressed in 2024?
Seeing as they start 2024 with perhaps their toughest test, a road game at Texas A&M, fixing the road woes seems like a good place to start.
Let’s spend a couple minutes examining how Marcus Freeman and the Irish started games in the friendly confines of Notre Dame Stadium compared to those played away from South Bend and see just how much of an issue it is.
Home Game Data
Notre Dame played six true home games in 2023, going 5-1. In those six games the Irish outscored their opponents 42-20 in the first quarter and by halftime had a combined lead of 114-27 on the opposition.
However, a few things must be noted of these numbers which include quite the outlier as well.
The Ohio State Outlier (and more)
Notre Dame wound up playing just one home game against a team that finished the 2023 season ranked, that of course being Ohio State. In that game the Irish and Buckeyes played to a scoreless tie through one period and Ohio State held a 3-0 halftime lead.
Furtermore, Notre Dame is never going to be a team that goes and plays a true road game in a place like Tennessee State or Central Michigan. In the first quarter of those two games the Irish outscored the Tigers and Chippewas 21-10 and for the first half held a combined 56-17 advantage.
Neutral Site Domination - The Data
Notre Dame played two games in neutral site venues, although both saw favorable crowds for the Fighting Irish. In both, Notre Dame dominated their way to easy victories.
In the season-opener against Navy in Dublin, Notre Dame outscored the Midshipmen 14-0 in the opening frame and were up 28-0 at halftime. In the Sun Bowl Notre Dame jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead and held a 14-0 halftime advantage.
Combined numbers –
First quarter: 21-0
First half: 42-0
Road Woes - The Data
Notre Dame played five true road games in 2023 and the numbers show a very different story in regards to how first halves went. The Irish were actually outscored 30-20 in first quarters on the road. This includes trailing Louisville 7-0 and Clemson 10-3 through 15 minutes of action, but also indicates what was a poor trend when examined further.
Slow Start at Stanford and Worrisome Trend
Stanford was nothing short of awful in 2023, going 3-9 overall and just 2-7 in the final year of the Pac 12. Despite that, even the Cardinal jumped out to a first quarter lead on Notre Dame as they led the Irish 13-7 after one frame.
When you add up the final three road games of the season for Notre Dame, the Irish were outscored 30-10 in the first frame by opponents (Louisville, Clemson, Stanford). If you were concerned about a slow start before the delay at North Carolina State back in September, Notre Dame did nothing to calm those concerns by season’s end.
Duke Win More Impressive?
Looking back I am almost more impressed with at least part of the win at Duke. A week after the emotional roller coaster that was the Ohio State experience we all knew it’d be a tough game at Duke. Despite playing extremely short-handed at wide receiver, Notre Dame played easily their best first half on the road all year. They led the Blue Devils 7-0 after a quarter and 10-0 at halftime. All things considered, it was an impressive start (that we all now know took a miracle finish to survive).
What Does it all Mean?
Going on the road isn’t supposed to be easy and it never will be for Notre Dame. For the vast majority of the teams the Irish play, they turn into that team’s Super Bowl. When Notre Dame comes to town its often the biggest event in that opposing stadium in quite sometime.
That said, winning on the road doesn’t have to be as hard as Notre Dame made it seem in 2023. Aside from the Clemson game, the defense was clearly ready to travel, allowing just over a touchdown per first half in the other four road games.
The offense failing to score a first quarter touchdown in three of five road games was however an awful look. Perhaps with a new offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock and new quarterback in Riley Leonard, a new trend in 2024 can be Notre Dame starting games with touchdown drives instead of struggling to do pretty much anything.
Early 2024 Test
Whatever the root of the problem is, it needs figured out and fixed this off-season. Notre Dame has hopes of making the College Football Playoff in 2024 and hosting a playoff game in the first round. In order to do so they’ll likely need to go on the road in Week 1 and win at Texas A&M in what will be former Duke coach Mike Elko’s first game as Aggies head coach.
More on Road Woes
Our contributor John Kennedy did a solo video recently highlighting Notre Dame’s road woes in 2023. He goes a bit in depth on how worrisome the trend is for the Fighting Irish and how/why it needs fixed. You can check out that video in full on the Always Irish YouTube page.
