You either give OSU the Michigan scare, or you get dunked on in Atlanta. For Marcus Freeman and ND? Well, you cannot exactly call that loss “going out in a blaze of glory”. They fought till the end, but the difference in overall offensive strength was pretty visible. But you can’t even blame them. “The North” was on a rampage and had their dynasty built on the ashes of big-time SEC teams. How do you even win against that? Winter came for Notre Dame. Still, this 2024 run, which Marcus Freeman managed to achieve, solidifies why he is probably the most suitable coach for ND’s future. A bit of change on the offensive front, and you got yourself the 2025 natty runners. But when has it ever been THAT easy?

“Notre Dame WR Deion Colzie has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, @PeteNakos_ reports,” On3 pointed out on X. Your offensive depth was already in shambles and now you have players calling it quits. We are not surprised. Even Alabama had to go through the same fate, but in ND’s defense, Bama had a much worse year. So, Deion Colzie‘s sudden transfer begs the question: is getting to the natty game not good enough? See, Deion had played in 4 games, and in that, he got in 5 receptions, with a single touchdown and around 41 yards.

On paper, losing him doesn’t look like a bad deal, but when you are ND, every offensive loss counts. See, we covered a very important point from Dalton Wasserman a few days ago. The only thing keeping the ND offense alive was pretty much Riley Leonard. “It’s a real grind right now for Notre Dame. They’re not getting a ton of push-up front,” Dalton had mentioned.

While Freeman had Jeremiyah Love in on the OSU game, the other injuries on the offense didn’t make it a smooth ride. If we go off the scoring at the Natty, yes, the Irish put up 23 points on the board, and the defense easily managed to stop the Bucks to a 34-pointer fest. But that “23” point mark hit way back in the 3rd quarter.

Irish offense went scoreless in the entire 2nd quarter and then the early portion of the 3rd quarter. 53 yards on rushing. Can you imagine that? It was the Vols situation all over again. The only thing that kept the ship from sinking was Leonard being a better QB compared to the $8 million loss, aka Nico Iamaleava. And to top off that WR loss, Freeman might wanna think of the O-line as well cause that is taking some hits too.

Notre Dame offensive lineman says “Bye-bye”

In another tweet, Pete Nakos shared, “Notre Dame offensive lineman Sam Pendleton has entered the transfer portal.” Ouch. Yeah, the culling games have begun once again, but this time it is Freeman’s squad taking the brunt of the hits.

While Sam Pendleton did star in 7 games for the Irish, the stats weren’t anything “noteworthy”. Yeah, the O-line did a massive job of protecting Riley when needed, but that is pretty much it. At this point, it looks like Freeman could use a complete offensive overhaul.

With how good the Irish defense has been this season, it’s only complimentary if the offense starts stepping up as well. And with the money flowing in from the playoff grants, Freeman is going to have a dandy time building his 2025 natty-winning squad.