Marcus Freeman’s defense is a shell of what it was last year. Under Al Golden, the Fighting Irish were one of the best in man-heavy coverage schemes, with DBs earning top-15 PFF grades. But now in September, opponents have been finding a lot of room downfield, and Notre Dame has allowed 868 passing yards in three games. They’ve had seven passing TDs scored on them, which is the polar opposite of what they were last year. Even in the single game that Notre Dame has won, Purdue attempted 40 passes and generated chunks early, showing how the defense hasn’t fully clicked yet.

And the Texas A&M game added injury salt to the already struggling schemes of Chris Ash. Standout corner Leonard Moore left the field with a right ankle/foot issue after getting rolled up during a tackle. On this play, his right leg bent awkwardly as he was navigating between traffic. Moore did return with the ankle taped, but he missed the subsequent week’s game against Purdue, which confirmed that there was something seriously wrong with his leg.

And now the verdict has been made by Marcus Freeman. “Getting close. I don’t know if I’m overly optimistic that he’s gonna be able to go,” is how Marcus Freeman has characterized Moore’s stats on College GameDay. This is ahead of the Arkansas matchup, which in no way is easy for a Notre Dame team that has been surrendering 20-25 points routinely. The staff had already labeled Moore’s status as a ‘game-time decision,’ showing it was definitely not an easy green light. Now, given his All-American trajectory and how A&M targeted his absence, the gap on the field today will be bigger than we expected.

Odds-makers have the Fighting Irish as a narrow favorite at Arkansas (-4.5, total 64), but the defense’s inconsistency cannot be underestimated. Versus an unranked Purdue, the defense allowed 23 first-half points and 6.5 yards per play. This was with Moore on the field. Now, with him gone, it will be intriguing to see how Marcus Freeman navigates this problem. Moreover, this is still a good position for Notre Dame to be in since they’ve had their more difficult matchups early in the season. They can afford to rest Moore against this stretch of their schedule before facing USC. 

Now, with Moore’s availability hanging between “good enough” and “good to go,” Notre Dame’s pass defense will have its work cut out for it today. Arkansas’ explosive passing game can tilt outcomes in just one or two drives. If Chris Ash finds a way to work around Moore’s injury and Mark Zackery IV plays like his rent is due, maybe the defense can find its rhythm today, and we get to see a vintage Notre Dame domination. 

CJ Carr’s early-season split

CJ Carr has silenced all his critics with his performance in these first few weeks. He has managed offense efficiently, completing 49 of 74 throws for 737 yards with five touchdowns and a strong 10.0 yards per attempt. Against Purdue, he went 10-for-12 for 223 yards and two scores, so he has been every bit of a star QB that Notre Dame hoped for, barring some mistakes courtesy of his inexperience.

But the ground game tells a completely different story. Carr has logged just 1 rushing yard on 16 attempts through three games, which has severely limited the designed QB runs and read-options. Even in his debut against Miami, where he logged 11 carries for 16 yards, most of the value came from situational football rather than his command over his legs. And this ground game situation has led to the thought of experimenting with Kenny Minchey in some situations. On this, Mike Denbrock said, “Whether that be short yardage or whatever. We’ve talked about exploring some of those. We’ll see where it goes.” So, don’t be too surprised if you see Minchey getting some runs in short-yardage situations.