Things We Learned: The foundational flaws that cost Notre Dame at Clemson will not be fixed this month

Marcus Freeman’s first two seasons as a head coach, let alone the head coach at Notre Dame, have been marked by enjoyable highs and remarkable lows. Saturday’s 31-23 loss at Clemson (5-4) did not change that, it was a disappointment but losing as a 3-point foavorite is hardly a shocking low.

The mistake-riddled defeat underscored the Irish mode under Freeman: good but, unless perfect, not great.

This season as a whole has shown that. Last year’s losses to Marshall and Stanford flummoxed much understanding, especially the 16-14 failure against the hapless Cardinal, but they were wholly last year, even in the moment clear exhibits of a first-year head coach finding his footing. Not to jinx any Nore Dame fan’s worries, but there should be little worry of another such flop to close this season, not when the Irish will be three-touchdown favorites against both Wake Forest and Stanford.

Unlike in Freeman’s debut, Notre Dame has shown an ability to handle lopsided expectations, going 4-1 against the spread as a touchdown favorite this season, falling short of the market outlook only in a 24-point win against Central Michigan when projected to prevail by 35 points. Last year, the Irish were 1-5 against the spread in such moments.

Even if it is not the step forward wanted by fans and dreams, meeting lopsided expectations has been a step forward for Freeman and Notre Dame.

Before the Irish could be great, they had to be good.

They are.

“We’ve got to own where we’re at,” Freeman said Saturday afternoon. “Own it. We’re 7-3 right now and we’ve got two opportunities to go out there and go compete, so we’ve got to improve in these next two.”

Repeatedly failing on third down where it mattered most on Saturday confirmed they are not great.

“That goes down to execution,” Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman said Saturday afternoon. “A one-score game at the end of the day is all about execution.”

Freeman had a chance to notch wins against the two biggest present Irish rivals. Until Michigan shows up on the Notre Dame schedule more often than twice every 15 years, the Tigers have surpassed the Wolverines as an Irish frustration. After laughing at USC, Freeman could have beaten Clemson for the second year in a row.

As maddening as the 10-man loss to Ohio State was, playing the Buckeyes even and beating both the Trojans and the Tigers would have established genuine beliefs in Notre Dame being great.

The hurdle in front of the Irish is a common one in life: What can you do when not everything goes perfectly?

Notre Dame had intangible edges against Ohio State, catching the Buckeyes early enough in the season that first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord had yet to understand his entire gameday charge is to find Marvin Harrison Jr. And the Irish had an additional ramp-up game, one against a decent foe in North Carolina State, which allowed them to be that much sharper against the current No. 1 team in the country. Add in the home environment, and things broke perfectly for Notre Dame off the field.

It had all the tangible edges against USC last month, defensive coordinator Al Golden’s aggressive defensive scheme forcing five turnovers and skewing any other takeaway from the game. The evening could not have gone more perfectly for the Irish, throwing Trojan head coach Lincoln Riley’s path forward into disarray and creating newfound hope for Freeman’s rising trajectory.

Nothing went perfectly in Death Valley. Between Chris Tyree’s muffed punt and Hartman’s pick-six, Notre Dame gifted Clemson 10 points. Those mistakes happen plenty, even to the best of quarterbacks. Tracy Porter’s interception return for a touchdown off Peyton Manning is one of the Super Bowl’s most iconic moments. That is by no means to compare Hartman to Manning so much as it is to say such gaffes are an integral piece of football.

“[Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.] got underneath the play and underneath the pass,” Hartman said Saturday afternoon. “I shouldn’t have thrown it. I just tried to force one in there.”

The Tigers played too disciplined to even be aghast that the officiating crew threw only one flag on them, for a kick out of bounds, at that. And missed blocks and blown pass protections cost the Irish any hopes of a strong offensive performance. Two injuries in short succession forcing a third-string center into action is far from ideal, yet sophomore Ashton Craig held his own well enough. At least, physically. One may wonder if some of the repeated blown blocks — particularly by Notre Dame’s running blocks — could have been better identified by Zeke Correll or Andrew Kristofic.

“Guys stepped up, people got hurt and didn’t flinch,” Hartman said. “I was really proud of the effort and the intensity that guys played with.”

With guys stepping up, with intensity, a great team may have still pulled off Saturday. That was a one-possession game, after all. Merely a good team falls on the wrong side of that one-possession game.

Any number of foundational flaws can keep a good team from becoming great, be they play calling or lack of quantity and quality at a needed skill position group or surprisingly shoddy tackling from some veterans. Addressing any foundational flaw takes time, a time that has passed by mid-November.

Some of those flaws kept Notre Dame from dictating terms anywhere at Clemson, unable to put game-state pressure on Tigers erratic quarterback Cade Klubnik. Some of them simply escalated offensive ineptitude to a crippling degree.

Notre Dame can beat anyone in the country, this season has shown that, even back in the first defeat of the year. But the Irish need every break, every edge, every moment to be perfect.

Neither life nor college football support that approach, defining the next step for Freeman to take.

“There’s no magic formula to improve,” he said. “It’s hard work, and it’s the only thing we know how to do.

“It starts with owning where you’re at and finding a better way to do what we do.”

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