Analyzing Notre Dame’s Dominating Senior Day Send-Off
There was nothing that could be done to erase the three losses that besmirched Notre Dame’s record entering Saturday’s game against Wake Forest. The best thing the Irish could do, the only thing they could do was to beat the Demon Deacons badly. They did exactly that to the tune of a 45-7 win on a send-off on senior day.
The Irish are now through 11/12 games on the schedule and will look to get in the clubhouse at 9-3 in their finale against Stanford in Palo Alto. There was a lot to like today about the Irish, but underpinning it is the frustrating thought of “too little too late” when thinking about the year in totality. Let’s take a look at some things that stand out about the last home game for the Irish in 2023.
Proper Senior Send-Off
Being a college football player is not an easy thing to be or do. There are so many obligations, responsibilities & expectations. Add to this the unique challenges Notre Dame provides its student-athletes, and getting through it all becomes even more impressive.
After all of this work and sacrifice, it’s only appropriate that this group of players leave Notre Dame Stadium for the last time with a win. Anything else just wouldn’t sit right. I’m thrilled for these players and their families that they were able to leave winners one last time. Best of luck to each of them in whatever the next phase of their lives may be.
Hartman Gets A Very Personal Win
I feel that it’s safe to say that the Sam Hartman Notre Dame experience didn’t go as well as planned. Nobody feels great about a 6th year quarterback with a huge stat log ending up leading a 3-loss team entering week 12. How much of the struggles are due to Sam, the offensive coordinator, the wide receivers, or sometimes the offensive line? I’d suspect there to be a fair bit of blame to be spread around.
Despite the overall on-field frustrations, Sam has been a terrific team leader, steward of the university, and a player that all fans wanted to see succeed. I’m happy to see him go for 277 yards and 4 TDS in a big victory against his old squad in his last home game with the Irish.
Irish Opened Things Up
Notre Dame was able to pass the ball more effectively today than they have been able to most weeks. There were even some deep shots and lots of movement involved at times. It was nice to see albeit three losses too late.
Similarly, the Irish also pulled off a beautiful short kickoff that they recovered after it traveled the requisite 10 yards. This play was great. So great it makes me ask. Why are we just now seeing this kind of play? In a low-stakes game with nothing on the line and when winning by a lot of points? This is the kind of play that was needed to steal a possession on Ohio State or to create a desperate spark at Louisville. It’s frustrating to see such creativity only emerge now.
Where We Stand With 1 Left
Had Notre Dame delivered this performance in the College Football Playoff hunt or even still firmly within New Year’s Six bowl range, the reactions would be much more celebratory. That’s the shame of it. When you sit in the position the Irish do, the phrase “too little too late” prevails in terms of stock being placed on this singular game result.
Every Notre Dame season is an adventure, but this one seems like one extraordinarily wild ride featuring more deep dips than high rises. The good news for Irish fans and every other fan base moving forward is that the CFP contention window will expand drastically keeping multiple loss teams still firmly in the hunt starting from next year on. Regular season perfection or near perfection will not be required to play for it all. Something noteworthy to keep in mind.
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