Big Crisis Ahead for Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame After Serious Concerns Raised by Insider

Notre Dame rose to dominance this season. With 10 winning streaks to round up their 11-1 regular season, the Fighting Irish secured the No. 4 spot in the new College Football Playoff rankings. They crushed USC 49-35 in their final regular season game with their safety Xavier Watts earning the title of Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Even so, with the playoffs looming, Marcus Freeman might face some pressure, especially from their defensive line. 

The latest YouTube episode on ESPN College Football on December 4 is a whole reaction to the new CFP rankings. Former NFL QB Matt Simms joined the show to raise his concerns over Marcus Freeman’s program. He began with a “big concern for Notre Dame” saying, “I worry about the depth and the size and the athleticism of their defensive line. That’s the biggest concern for me.” 

Record-wise, Notre Dame has won but at the cost of what? The Fighting Irish’s defensive roster suffered a huge blow with several players incurring season-ending injuries. They lost five starters consisting of CB Benjamin Morrison, DLs Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, LT Charles Jagusah, and center Ashton Craig. But as per Simms’ observation, their hope rests on the offense that carried the Fighting Irish to the playoffs. 

Simms said, “The whole team is predicated around those two running backs right there. It’s [Jeremiyah] Love, it’s [Jadarian] Price and then Riley Leonard… Look at this Notre Dame offensive line. Man, they work great as a cohesive unit and that’ll be what they’ll have to lean on.” In the last game against the Trojans, Notre Dame’s star RB Jeremiyah Love recorded 99 yards and a TD on 13 carries. He also made three receptions for 38 yards. All these in just three quarters as he left the game with a knee injury. While concerns sparked about his playoff return, it was cleared after he’s reportedly expected to be “100 percent for the playoffs.” 

Notre Dame’s playoff picture 

Notre Dame won’t be playing this week. Yet they have a chance to go higher than No. 4. CFP chairman Warde Manuel said of the latest rankings, “Any team that is not playing right now, we don’t have a data point to rearrange where we have those teams ranked. And so that is set in terms of how we see them going into the final week of the championship week. There’s nothing that’s gonna change.”

No. 3 Penn State has to face No. 1 Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday. There’s a chance that the Ducks could upset their route as one of the final top 4 seeds. So if that happens, Notre Dame could potentially climb to No. 3. The Fighting Irish are 6-1 against programs currently above .500 and would be a likely choice to be the potential No. 5 seed on Sunday. But their fate lies in the outcome of the conference title games this season.