🏈 Notre Dame Postgame Show: Irish beat Texas A&M in College Station 🎙️ A Notre Dame Freakin' Podcast

this is Notre Dame freaking podcast he's got the foundation for a solid season he just needs to execute let's get into it I'm angry now do it right do it normally do it like an American I hate you RH I cannot wait to throw it in your face we're talking about massive white boy this is Notre Dame freaking podcast this is a Notre name freaking podcast I'm your host squid Jonathan SP joined as always by Chase the gun Gunner Rhino Downey and Chris Captain Newman we are coming to you for a uh hot take here August 31 literally 20 30 minutes after the Texas A&M game uh we're going to give you our instant reaction our thoughts for this for what this game means going forward but first and foremost just want to stress uh we've been drinking for about 3 days straight so any disclaimers upfront this we're college football fans don't say anything we say seriously this is all in good fun all in good J uh I'm gonna start right off the top Notre Dame coming off of a a very huge win 2313 at Texas Texas A&M and I'm gonna start right right at the top Chase in instant reactions what do you think isn't it fun to win big football games was who knew who knew I mean who knew so this one is going to be so my my my instant reaction to this is it feels different if only because this is the win that we should have had last year at Ohio State that was the program maker we're just a little bit late preach it's different it's it's akin to the Oklahoma 2012 Brian Kelly Series M program maker but everything else in between the Clemson game everything like when you look at it this game this game is going to it's going to have historic relevance that carries on because Texas A&M while it wasn't its perfect self tonight it is going they're going to be good Mike ELO is very good he's dealing with a first game in a program that's my thoughts we we saw some magic tonight 100% and Ryan I'm gonna turn it over to you real quick but I'm just going to hammer home what Chase just said here uh no hyperbole this was a as big a win for ND as I can remember arguably better than the Clemson win at home though I won't pars the details in the moment but this was this was the type of game that Notre Dame has lost for the last 20 years this is the on the road big game bowl game matchup top you know BCS type playoff win where when the national media and the public at large takes notice of Notre Dame they fall all flat on their face and we'll get into it it wasn't pretty but it's an unassailable win they went on the road at Texas A&M all we heard all summer long reiterated by none other than none other than the legend himself Nick Sav saying on game day today it is impossible to win at Texas A&M at night Notre Dame took care of business they did it it they they they they want ugly at times but the defense is [ __ ] legit part of my French I just want to read everything you said I I 100% agree that this one is massive for the program and massive for Marcus Freeman's tenure at large like this this was a literal turning point this this is this could have gone one of two ways for Freeman he loses this game and the way it played out man I I know the and I I this is right at you Notre Dame [ __ ] fan base you're a miserable lot that they were I I saw the text messages from all my friends and all my various Notre Dame fan communities everyone's at Chomp and at the bits myself included ready to jump down the throats of ND but they pulled it out this is a game they haven't pulled out in the past Rhino what is your take you live in SEC territory with Chase 2 what does this mean well my first take is we can't be on YouTube kids for this episode too because you've already ruin that so my children can't see this podcast once again hey okay all right so all the same fears kind of bubbled up during the the course of the game like we felt so many times uh all the same feels from the last years but now but then the outcome was different like what a what a what a great feeling to walk out of this and also for for looking forward like there were so many things that we could fix there were so many things that didn't go right there's so many things that I know are going to get better I it's crazy that I know Chase said this was a one game season and I mean that's what I that's what I I stole and have been saying all week too and but even though we've won the one game season where we've won the national championship for our one game season it's not it's not the Pinnacle there's still so many things to look forward to which is exciting no and they and they did and Ry that's a great Point uh and they at the end of the broadcast on ABC herb Street and Fowler did the whole you know future projected I mean we're at this point per ESPN FBI take it for what it's worth Notre Dame is favored in every game we play and they should be uh but just again I I just want to reiterate what everyone said you cannot understate how big of a win that was for no other reason than this was a game where every and I just want to stress this every major national media from the cover three podcast to Pat McAfee Sabin everyone but ironically I think herb Street on game day today no Corso Lee Corso RP Lee Corso I know he's been dead for four years still going out there he's the only one that picked for Notre Dame uh but th again this is this is the type of game that Notre Dame has lost and lost in painful fashion for the last 20 years and Ry you had the nail on the head like I the entire second half I was just waiting for the shoe to fall off I was waiting for the 10 men on the field moment I was waiting for that God bless him that Le'Veon mosid from b or from A&M who is legit to break one off or Conor wigman to somehow string it together but uh I it was a massive massive win and before we get into season projections I just want to go good and bad and I'll go with you chase first and I'll give you your choice good and bad from Notre Dame perspective specifically where do you want to go what do you want to say man uh I I'm reluctant just as a hater of the wide receiver court but good was wide receivers Bo Collins Collins Baby Bo Collins number five all every every single one of them fa on he he looked good he got hurt did he get hurt yeah did we I I missed it I I mean it looked like an ugly tackle he I think that's probably ankle sprain it looked he he limped off he's he he didn't play the rest of the game wide receiver Court pretty impressive like we have a Chris Mitchell out there that does look like a there's something gonna happen there and uh great House made a couple key first down catches at Le I mean at least one that comes to mind there there was like a third down uh impressive looks good so that and then um certainly negatives negatives has to be has to be the lefts side of offensive one Rino what do you think pros and cons go wherever you want to go yeah besides the punter oh I I hope get there um so Pros I mean this is going to be the best D line that we face all year and are young inexperienced something to prove o line one they I I'm saying they they didn't win the game but I mean we won the game with their help um and that's gon to be the best D line we face all year so I mean I'm excited to see what they can do against inferior D lines and I know every dline we Face from here on will be inferior um concerns I know it goes back to what I said that uh about Leonard all the concerns that I had did come to fruition today so first of all I I'll I'll give I'll give the credit where it's due the the dimension that he adds through the running game is amazing um I mean that's that's just like a third a third option run pass or he runs I me that that's that's yeah he he does have that ability to where either it's even if it's a designed run a couple times especially second half where it he gets the ball in the back field it looks like it's nothing then then all of the sudden it's six seven eight nine yards yeah or you look like you have him dead to rights and he either breaks free and throws the ball away or he turns a five yard loss into a one or two yard gain which is Big yeah one of my big things though was his accuracy so he was 57.6% last year today he was 18 for 30 that's 60% that's not much different zero touchdowns zero interceptions um he cannot I mean at least today he could not throw on the Move yes I know it was kind of a sticky situation where where he was getting tackled there's a guy coming at him all he had to do was Loft a ball to who was that lover price and gone um when he was scrambling there were two guys open in the end zone made made a terrible throw too I mean his accuracy is going to be a big concern um that that worries me I want to give I want to give you Rhino props here and step out if I can we were we were going yeah I know I'm sure you I'm sure why we were going back and forth you know about the game my point blank ask you tell me what you thought about the game and I just want to quote you on this give you props you said in text I feel a frustrating first half making it close in the second half and pulling head in the fourth quarter I mean you nailed that dead to rights uh it was I mean it's just a perfect way to describe it it was frustrating in the first half our defense did their part the offense just seem to sputter at times uh from my in a different in a different way like not a not a Jared Parker type sputter that just felt like there was when it sputtered it it was like okay we're g to we're going to do something different quickly I don't know if you guys picked up on like I felt that but it was just a it didn't feel like banging your head against the wall like multiple times like a Jared Parker offense that goes back to having an offensive coordinator who actually knows what he's doing and doesn't just call dumb not piing plays out of a hat that's what it seemed like the last two OC's were doing I will I will admit yeah I I I I I I pick up what you're putting down I at times just frustrated with Dem Brock I think tomorrow light of day sober you know I I me I'm not rewatching the game but you know when I when I re when I when I go through the game again uh the frustration clearly I mean we got to get flowers an& m i mean they their defense is as good to them they're their defense is as good as advertised okay the frustration they caused the offense was legitimate I mean their their dline made it problem atic all night long uh I I I think I'll say from my perspective my frustration is that we we just didn't we didn't take shots downfield but it was never a situation like last year versus Clemson or some of the other games where it's just like it didn't never seemed like we didn't have answers tonight it just seemed like things weren't working at we got spoiled by by decent play calling because then all of a sudden we're we're doing like advanced play calling that that we thought should happen like they they were stuffing eight guys in eight nine guys in the Box they had one deep safety um and we weren't taking deep shots but we didn't need to what the adjustment we made like Chase like Chase said we started Bouncing Balls to the outside instead we we started running to the outside and that's what was exciting too is that against a fast SEC defense we got the edge a couple times able to run run plays outside the hash marks for with success against an SEC defense baby not got some speed but that was on the off the the defense if you were to compare the defense the defense was like shut down SEC speed level it doesn't matter I would I would go back and say that um it on the offense it felt like Den Brock with a new car testing that's a good like what that's a good way to put it how do how how fast like how fast can this go like does this like how does it turn how does yeah you just don't know yet I felt like test driving a little bit made this and and not to mention that but like you're test driving it on a [ __ ] F1 course against you know for like lap speeds it's not like we there's no preseason we didn't get to see it's not the NFL we didn't get to see this offense against other P5 offense like and this is I you know I love my friends and it's something you think you've built too like you don't really know what got and so it's just kind of like hey what what do we have what do we have like so again I say this from the lens of Andy pulled it out they got the victory big picture we'll talk about a little at the end phenomenal from my perspective uh Pros you know the defense is as advertised I thought at times you know they gave up when they had the second uh second string defensive line in there they're they were subbing in uh the second string they allowed Texas A&M uh to drive on them at times but really all we heard all summer was Connor wigman the former five star Connor wigman this Conor wigman that and like we shut him down uh I mean this the secondary is as good as we thought for for the record Conor wigman 12 for 30 someone do the math on that 100 yards averaging 3.3 yards per throw two interceptions uh great davier Watson Aiden Schuler with interceptions I mean the secondary shut them down they tried to go after Christian Gray our young Corner early and and they got they got him a little early if that but man he brought did you see that hit stick he brought in the fourth quarter and that one that one Crossing pass defense you I have at this time no concerns you know maybe they're a little undersized up the middle maybe but now's not the time I think to talk about that I I am G to bring up my biggest concern of the night was just Riley Leonard for all his pluses I was just shocked about his inaccuracy I and even I I mean that was his you know that's what they talk about in the off season and what they said and this is one of those things like my own children you you kind of avoid the flaws and then you see them brought to your face you know again I will give him the benefit of a doubt four now that was a phenomenal defense that he played against they were in his face all night he knew the pass rush was there that's it's cyfield it's loud as hell but my god there were there were some throws that weren't even close there were some throws there were some plays when he was scrambling the ones that come to mind early uh when we're in the red zone and he just missed player like he just missed players and again it's game one but I mean he's he's a lifetime what you said Ryan a 58% passer I don't I mean I don't think he at best I don't think he's going to be more than I mean maybe he gets a little better than that rest of the season but I think this is going to be an ongoing issue All Season yeah the good news is the inaccuracies were missing open receivers they weren't making mistakes uh so I don't know if that's coincidental or I mean if maybe he's just not he's not making dumb plays and this is the best defense will play until until Christmas yeah that and that's that needs that needs to be hammered home and that's that's something like in the moment I was admittedly guilty of like without a doubt I mean I I just don't who I mean who else do we play before you know potential playoff we play Florida State and so that that um I mean yeah Florida state is probably the best I mean defense on paper that we're gonna we're going to play again if they play differently in the United States but and we got play jch too though you know that's that's a discussion for J jch the always refer to jch well look I don't know how you do it down south but up here in south central Pennsylvania you know it's always been J Tech to me J Ru oh J Ru okay so we make of us going two for 12 on third down it's I I I think not ideal not a recipe for success I think it's a a combination of one their defense being really good up front shutting down our running game for most of the night especially early and two I mean I I don't know what we ended up but most of our third Downs I mean you saw the stat at one point were like third and eight plus like most of the time Arthur Downs were [ __ ] miles third and 9.2 was the yeah that's not a recipe for success for anyone I don't think it's sustainable long season long term but it's not something I'm necessarily worried about because I don't think we're not we're not facing A&M rest of the season uh all right so moving on kind of big picture pros and cons let's let's let's talk big picture a little bit here chase this is something this is this is a point you brought up and I I just want to give you a moment here to shine you said this was a one game season we won that one game Where Do We Go From Here stay healthy stay healthy stay healthy but after today you get the opportunity to have a Michigan style Michigan 2023 style schedule to tweak everything to improve to make get three so we got we have uh Northern Illinois next week and then Chase gun will be in attention or yeah Purdue and then Chase gun will be in attendance in uh against the Miami RedHawks so we'll probably lose but I mean and then Louisville there's not much there's those are practice rounds so get better get better figure out what the left side of the line Looks like figure out what you're what you're test driving and emphasize those things and actually get out of the the noise environment so that you can open up the Playbook a little bit more so I think I think you get you get four to five games now to just figure out where you're comfortable what you're good at and avoid what you're bad at and we have a Glide slope to late November yeah and for those wondering we played our next on paper big game is Louisville week five who admittedly just put up 62 points against Austin P so I mean I you know they they they can put up points they I mean they they took us to the Woodshed last year but that's the next big game both teams should be undefeated going into that game uh Rhino so we at home so yeah true that that I mean and I'll be honest like I I mean more rad games this year I mean I I think we whip the [ __ ] [ __ ] out of Louisville there's no way after this game we should be in anywhere close I mean on paper Notre Dame should be a double digit favorite I'll go out there and say it right now I mean look that that game should be circled right now we should take care of business against the other teams but they beat us last year this is our chance to get some [ __ ] revenge against Jeff Brom uh Ryo i w to I want to go specifically to you about the o line obviously the biggest concern all year what did you see tonight that you take forward against the rest of the season well Billy sh didn't [ __ ] the bed so that that's good actually hear his name one didn't hear his name one time don't hear his name he did well he did um for I mean nap had his struggles but I mean he was going against a complete stud too not just the best not not just a great defense or defensive line but like the best one of the best five defensive ends in in the country um so if if we if we did that I remember there was a quote during the uh during the game uh that an NFL scout told Mike Al like I'd like to trade defensive lines with you uh so that's coming from an from an NFL scout so if if that tells you about the caliber of defensive line that they had uh can sorry can you so they who oh wait who's trading whom do we said to Mike Elco I wish I could trade defensive lines with you yeah yeah I yeah they're yeah I mean honestly like I think their defensive line as advertised I I mean I think they were the best unit all night I mean they for a large part controlled the game Notre Dame took advantage second half uh they broke off that run with jaran price end of the first half and they I was shocked when I saw the stat second half where they had Notre Dame had like 120 yards rushing in the second half I didn't I was didn't believe it but I was amazed here's what I was most impressed with the offensive line their ability to pull um all I I know I mentioned the outside runs before but whether it's inside runs with just some deception or the outside runs they did a they they made some big holes when they were pulling and that that's I feel like squid I think used to play o line but I mean I feel like that's kind of an advance like an advanced part of it right I mean I I played offensive line like every kid plays t-ball so I mean I don't feel qualified to actually talk about offensive line uh but R I feel like pull pull blocking is an advanced skill they like I said I I just I think my like I think the offensive line was what we expected plus if I could say that I I think like A&M got theirs they had sacks and tackles for losses they got you know they they made their plays they pressured Riley uh but I by and large and there were moments where I didn't think it would be that way because it looked like it was going the other way when we couldn't run and do anything especially first half where I you know I was I'm legitimately worried that as you know the prognosticators were saying that the de the defensive line in was going to dictate the game and we couldn't do anything but I I think our offensive line by and large held their own I think that's the worst they're going to play all year I think nap that's the worst he's going to play all year that's his first game that's we I mean we saw a ton and by by and large from both sides like we saw a a [ __ ] ton of penalties from both teams and this is one where I can't even I can't even put it on the refs I thought they caught it fair both ways by and large but they weren't offensive line penalties we I mean we had our uh we had a couple we had Holdings we had a couple false starts they were all fair though I thought they were like there's that that one that comes to mind where like Ashton Craig up the middle [ __ ] WRA the guy the linebacker uh they were fair so again one of the bigger concerns I had I think we talked about it was just generally accuracy from Riley Leonard but uh I do have to give a moment to rhyo to give him his flowers uh it was slightly unimpressed with James Rondell I thought he did well in that he seemed to as some have pointed out some very smart members of the public and this podcast pointed out seems to have an uncanny ability to control the spin of the ball we got got a lot of good bounces but I was from what I saw from the zuder footage from Camp before season started where he was booming the ball he has a very weird short quarter kick swing of the ball and it just never seems like he's like you know like the he's fully like the legs going up extending and like booming the we didn't see that yeah I thought he could have done better was like a soccer goalie ra loed it to his side and kicked it score a touchdown Which I was kind of expecting uh but maybe that was a bit much for me but uh I don't know Rhino Chase we're all going at it about the punter uh what' you see are you guys worried that we've just signed up for ray gun ray gun baby I don't think it's that bad I I think I am I am uh happily no longer worried about actually having to get a tattoo on my body for the award-winning Ray guy award winner p uh but like I do hope you know again that and for him and I will say he did well we got a lot of good bounces from our punter uh I was just expecting Excellence I think we got Jag plus level punting and you know that's a tough environment for him too that's even though he is a professional punter you could you could punt with with all the noise in the world or no noise I think feel like kicking the ball the no the noise affects that the least he had trajectory on the trajectory on the balls were the problem it was real low yes he got good roll he can control the spin or however you want to spin it um because because this is not a paid podcast we should probably move on after special team if if a punt returner fielded any of these punts our punt coverage would have been [ __ ] out of luck because it had like two seconds of hang time I could talk more about punting I won't uh I will let let let's finish up here uh rest of season and as a reminder I'm just going to go through the schedule real quick here uh NE next week hit your snooze button yeah next week next week home against Northern Illinois following that on the road against Purdue then home again against Miami of Ohio uh again the next real game is Louisville home September 28th then we have a buy then it's home against Stanford home against Georgia wow we have a lot of home games Georgia Tech home against Navy another buy and then we're home against Florida State and after that wow Jesus Christ home against Virginia and then home against Army and then on the road again against USC we play oh no we're sorry Army is admittedly that's the New York City game we're playing Yankee Stadium I believe but even still that's I mean just looking on like looking at like if you pull up the ESPN under the schedule that's like that's a lot of home games in a row I mean two more true two more true two more true Row games and one of them is Purdue and the other one is USC I mean on paper to me fellas Notre Dame should win out and I I know that's calm down crazy to say week one after win I mean after winning on the road at A&M this is that was the hardest team will play All Season wait what do we play we play can we get can can we get a sound for a a hasht squid squid take look obviously Florida state Florida State at home is going to be tough but who knows what they're going to be by that point in the season they they could be I mean that that is a mercenary team with Norville uh and mercenary teams look at look at Colorado if if they're not winning they they fall apart and they fall apart fast and just everyone out like this is you who said this is the Michigan schedule last year we should be favored in every game we we by going on the road at A&M all we heard all summer was how hard this was going to be for a team to be good enough to win on the road and cover and cover handily [ __ ] the haters we are favored we should be win out we should win out we this should be a five seed 12-0 Notre Dame team where where where have I going wrong here right now so I will change my season prediction one game in we're not going to go to the Pop-Tarts Bowl we're not going to play West Virginia we're not going to go nine and three we're GNA go 11 and one be the six seven I don't know who we're going to lose to so don't ask but we will um we be the six seven seed in the playoffs and we might win a game um what gives me hope too is that we did this without our best offensive player we talked about Mitchell Evans so much yeah he he played he played did he did okay yeah he was he was he aor in our was a non-factor it definitely it definitely seemed like he was on a pitch count yeah with our schedule he gets to rest cross was on a pitch count face on face on was hurt so we won our biggest game without three key players so now we we can it's weird after one game we're already in a position where we can start resting players for the playoffs but we already can um so the next two three weeks like this is I mean rest Mitchell rest Howard cross yeah and I mean this this is when we should get the you know the backups get some playing time and get some credit Chase how do you see what do you see for the rest of the season sorry Ryo what do you got I was just saying and props to us because with the exception of our [ __ ] props to us yeah with with the exception of our [ __ ] punter our adopted sons and breakouts did really well Jeter ER Botello um I feel like everybody we named yeah yeah yeah I'm glad you brought that up I mean credit to Jeter there was there was some concern Rumblings if you were that involved off season he didn't look great in Camp but he made three for three absolutely all three essential field goals uh none of them were really ever in doubt so I mean credit to him I I think any concerns anyone had about Mitch cheeter or out the window that kid I mean he when it lights go on he's got he's got ice in his veins not concerned about him I'd like to retroactively adopt J Daren price and Christian ja is yours you guys want to talk about Christian Gray you want we should we definitely should I mean because like he as the corner opposite to Benjamin Morrison A&M clearly had a game plan Colin Klein the OC at A&M to go after and attack him and they had some success early but he adjusted second half and it just seemed to shut [ __ ] down I mean I he that whatever play it was in the fourth where A&M had the ball with the chance to either tie it or you know make things interesting and he just trucks truck stick the kid across the middle to make it like third and eight credit to him pass break up I think on fourth down yeah I mean I I think he's the real deal and I think any struggles we saw early is just a a result of him again this is his first time starting this is game one of him as a starter as a true sophomore by the way like that's what that's what's exciting the kid is Young and most most of the team is Young the most of the most of the concerns that we as a Notre Dame fan base have are players that are super [ __ ] young like offensive line it's not fair to him either because he's who defenses are going to pick on so he's who we're going to see the most so we're I mean when we notice him it's because he's making a bad play but when they don't throw at him he's actually making a good play and but that means he's gonna have opportunities and that's what you know Benny Mo took advantage of getting picks Xavier watts and and credit while we're giving flowers out uh Xavier Watts Aiden Schuler I thought he played a great game I know once his face Rod herd had a a great open field tackle in the back field at one point I just I really do think like our secondary I think is just legitimately really good obviously this is not a scary passing offense that Andy faced tonight but they did exactly what you would want to do against a team that doesn't have a dynamic passing and they shut that [ __ ] down I you know I I have nothing but confidence in them moving forward uh Newman who was the other other there's oh gener yeah let me just let me just emphasize that the Christian the Christian Gray play I think I think was a I think it was a coaching play and not to take anything away from Christian Greg because I think he played terribly and then rate towards the end but I think I think if you if you watch Marcus Freeman on at the end of the game and you watch him mouth his words I that's what I that's what I was saying I remember that they made a pointed that on the broadcast yeah I think I think I am I am confident in saying that Marcus Freeman and Company uh trigger and had had the video on that slant route that Christian Gray drun jump Dred I should beware Dred Dr that will forever be a drum from now on he Dred it yeah and 100% And we should I mean we should call out the coaches here too because again I think at the end of the day this is a coaching win yeah uh this is they they deserve everything here I I think I got frustrated at times with Den Brock but again he's working with it what he's working with on the offensive line in the timing and his quarterback but like by and large again Rhino giving you giving you credit here this is what you called this what you said this was going to we knew this going from the start this was going to going to be a rock fight this is an early 2000s SEC field position defensive battle we knew it was going to be that way and it was and Notre Dame took care of business uh and I'm just ex I'm excited for the season coming forward last thoughts last comments anything anyone want to point out get in before we we we turn this over to uh next week against Northern Illinois so this game is different this season seems different but you know you know what's different about the season we did a freaking podcast we we haven't we haven't won a game like this in Seasons when we haven't we have not lost since we've done a podcast I just want to point that out I would also like to point out we're not going to have a podcast after the Northern Illinois game yeah this that's a very that's a great Point uh to to our loyal fan base to every three of you listening uh expect us intermittently throughout the season like the peacock Hard Knocks documentary here come the Irish we will selectively choose when we come in and out uh and likely maybe Louisville seems like the next logical step we'll re you know reassess where we're at at that point I think you'll hear from us again please comment in the chat subscribe like join our comments let us know what you feel uh I am squid your white boy here everyone that was Rhino Chase and Newman uh thank you everyone it's been a blast We Are One and0 Go Irish go Irish this is Notre Dame freaking podcast