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With 2023 in the rearview mirror we have a lot of time to look ahead to Notre Dame football in 2024.
Staff changes have been made while a new recruiting class has been officially assembled and the transfer portal has been used often.
But what about the truly tangible game? Where will Notre Dame have problems to face in 2024?
Seeing as they start 2024 with perhaps their toughest test, a road game at Texas A&M, fixing the road woes seems like a good place to start.
Let’s take a few minutes to how Marcus Freeman and the Irish started matches at the friendly stadium at Notre Dame Stadium compared to those played outdoors at South Bend and see what factor plays a role.
Notre Dame has played six real games at home in 2023, going 5-1. In those six games, the Irish outscored their opponents 42-20 in the first quarter and had a combined 114-27 lead over their opponents at halftime.
However, a few things must be noted of these numbers which include quite the outlier as well.
Notre Dame ended up playing just one game at home against a team that finished qualifying for the 2023 season, which of course was Ohio State. In that game, the Irish and Buckeyes played slightly scoreless for an era and Ohio State held a 3-0 lead. at halftime.
Also, Notre Dame will never be a team that plays a true road game at a position like Tennessee State or Central Michigan. In the first quarter of those two games, the Irish outscored the Tigers and Chippewas 21-10 and held a combined total of 56. -17 merit in the first half.
Notre Dame played two games in neutral site venues, although both saw favorable crowds for the Fighting Irish. In both, Notre Dame dominated their way to easy victories.
In the season opener against the Navy in Dublin, Notre Dame outscored the Midshipmen 14-0 in the first half and led 28-0 at halftime. At the Sun Bowl, Notre Dame took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. and went into halftime with merit 14-0.
Combined numbers – First quarter: 21-0 First half: 42-0
Notre Dame has played five authentic away games in 2023 and the numbers show a very different story when it comes to how the first halves went. The Irish were outscored 30-20 in the first quarter on the road. That includes a 7-0 Louisville and Clemson deficit of 10-3 through 15 minutes of action, but it also indicates what was a bad trend when tested more deeply.
Stanford was nothing short of awful in 2023, going 3-9 overall and just 2-7 in the final year of the Pac 12. Despite that, even the Cardinal jumped out to a first quarter lead on Notre Dame as they led the Irish 13-7 after one frame.
When you add up the final three road games of the season for Notre Dame, the Irish were outscored 30-10 in the first frame by opponents (Louisville, Clemson, Stanford). If you were concerned about a slow start before the delay at North Carolina State back in September, Notre Dame did nothing to calm those concerns by season’s end.
Looking back I am almost more impressed with at least part of the win at Duke. A week after the emotional roller coaster that was the Ohio State experience we all knew it’d be a tough game at Duke. Despite playing extremely short-handed at wide receiver, Notre Dame played easily their best first half on the road all year. They led the Blue Devils 7-0 after a quarter and 10-0 at halftime. All things considered, it was an impressive start (that we all now know took a miracle finish to survive).
Going on the road isn’t supposed to be easy and it never will be for Notre Dame. For the vast majority of the teams the Irish play, they turn into that team’s Super Bowl. When Notre Dame comes to town its often the biggest event in that opposing stadium in quite sometime.
That said, winning on the road doesn’t have to be as complicated as Notre Dame made it seem in 2023. Aside from the game against Clemson, the defense is obviously in a position to travel, consistently allowing little more than a landing consistent with the first. participate in the other four games.
The offense failing to score a first quarter touchdown in three of five road games was however an awful look. Perhaps with a new offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock and new quarterback in Riley Leonard, a new trend in 2024 can be Notre Dame starting games with touchdown drives instead of struggling to do pretty much anything.
Whatever the root of the problem is, it needs figured out and fixed this off-season. Notre Dame has hopes of making the College Football Playoff in 2024 and hosting a playoff game in the first round. In order to do so they’ll likely need to go on the road in Week 1 and win at Texas A&M in what will be former Duke coach Mike Elko’s first game as Aggies head coach.
Our contributor John Kennedy recently did a solo video highlighting Notre Dame’s road problems in 2023. He talks with some intensity about how the trend is for the Fighting Irish and how and why they want to correct themselves. You can watch this full video on the Always Irish YouTube page.
The story appeared in Fighting Irish Wire