Notre Dame has to improve this against Northern Illinois to finish undefeated

the stakes might not seem that high for Notre Dame's home opener against Northern Illinois but a dominant performance could say a lot about the direction of this team and their chances of finishing undefeated that's next on lock on Irish you are locked on Irish your daily podcast on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey what's up and welcome to locked on Irish I'm your host Tyler rojack I'm your Notre Dame grad and producer at Fox Sports and it is great to have you here on Thursday September 5th and thanks for making this your first Liston of the day you can listen to the show wherever you get your podcast and you can watch the full thing on YouTube as well please remember to like this video And subscribe if you are watching on YouTube or rate review And subscribe to the podcast if that is how you're tuning in today and today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-we free trial of NFL Sunday tiet from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com to get started really really excited about today's show I had the chance to catch up with one of my favorite people on the Notre Dame beat Tim Ali from Irish Illustrated and we covered a lot Tim and I are both on the same page about Notre Dame's game against Northern Illinois we're both expecting a bit of a letdown performance even though we both think the Irish are going to end up winning by double digits plus we talked about the first impression this team made against Texas A&M what they've got to clean up in the short term and what they could look like at the end of the year and we even wondered if Benjamin Morrison could go down as the best cornerback in Notre Dame history this was a lot of fun I hope you enjoy it he is Tim Ali from Irish Illustrated Tim there's a lot I want to talk to you about today but let's start with the game this weekend against Northern Illinois I did this long opening monologue in yesterday's episode about why I'm not feeling all that great about this game and I referenced your article about aftermath games as you refer to them as and as you explained Notre Dame tends to have these let down performances in week two after playing in a big Prime Time game in the season opener that's the past we're in the now what are your expectations for the Irish this weekend yeah I know that you know the past isn't always predictive of the future but human nature is back in play it it what it happened in 2015 to a lesser extent because they had to travel to Virginia but Notre was could not have looked better beating Texas 38-3 16 and a half Point favorite out of Virginia you of course you need the one of the most memorable miracles in lame history to win 2018 my favorite line in the history of interviews Julian love sums it up two days later when they beat Ball State 2416 all right man let's face it we overlooked Ball State that was fantastic I could see Michael Burch the media relations director kind of cringing and then accepting the fact that he had just said those words uh 2021 Toledo escaped by the skin of their teeth and with not for a kneel down they would have with a kneel down they would have probably lost that game 2022 we know what happened with Marshall it is a tough situation to bounce back um all those games Texas Florida State especially Ohio State and Texas A&M the entire offseason was geared to those games it is just human nature to come down a little bit and the Mac team with little respect but not a Tennessee State type team right it's it's not that situation that you're facing where you're just so badly overmatched you're gonna pull it out I think you just always got to wonder about game number two the stats are skewed as you saw only 56% of the time in the last 60 years has no won game number two that's not fair to this situation because that's a lot of Michigan Michigan State Penn State Nebraska and Perdue and they were good but they've struggled in this situation um I don't expect them to lose and people will say well this team's different the 2018 team went undefeated they were different too there's it's human nature I was watching Marcus Freeman and his assistant coaches on the field pregame they do this every game they do this every practice they watch through the stretching lines they high five tap on the head couple words dap these guys were fired up going these coaches were fired up going through these lines talking to people the players were fired up the energy is incredible you just can't have it every week um but 28 and a half I would take the points but I do think nor was going to Prevail in this game and probably won't need an onsite kick like they did against Ball State yeah that's my point here like I don't think Notre Dame is in any danger of losing this game but but if there was if there was a first half line I would absolutely Hammer Northern Illinois it it's not available on FanDuel I looked it up just to see what it is it's not even available and you know Notre could end up covering it might be an ugly game but I honestly feel like if Notre does come out and dominate I will be thoroughly impressed even if it is against an overmatched Mac team because I think this is an important game for them even if it doesn't mean anything on the national level I mean unless of course they lose because it shows that this team is focused and they prepare the right way so what Stakes are in play for a game like this for you yeah there's also a couple indicators if you see Riley Leonard never running he shouldn't run 12 times but if you see Riley Leonard never running you know he was coached not to run you're only playing Northern Illinois that's what happened with Wim Bush and Ball State if you see five new guys on kickoff number two I don't mean five new guys in the third quarter five new guys on kickoff number two like you saw in 2018 and 2021 they're not they're resting players for some reason you know I mean they have Purdue next week that's a harder game at the road you just got done with A&M Howard cross gave everything he had does he get to play the whole time Riley Mills obviously was tired in that game but how much do they play there's indicators here at stake is just play well and I suppose don't have anybody saying we have a surprise at halftime in South Ben Notre name 17 Northern Illinois nine something like that you don't need that um I think for the growth of the team the defense is going to continue to grow they're very good they're nationally top tier uh you'd like to see Riley Leonard and his wide receivers get on the same page reviewing it for the film thing the X things to say I I mean it was clearly Jeremiah Love's fault on that corner route in the end zone where he didn't turn to the corner I think if you just have Jaden greous or Jaden Thomas there they turn to the corner maybe it looks different but I think Riley Leonard was a little bit off still I think 11 months off does that to someone so maybe what's at stake is n's passing game becomes a something where you're not making an excuse for it after the game yeah and I'll admit part of my concern here has to do with the fact that the national media is already penciling in this team to run the table and make the playoff I have been hurt by this team enough to know that it is way too early to assume anything but is there something specific maybe it's multiple things maybe it's the passing game like you just referenced that you're hoping to see on the field that would make you feel more confident that hey this team really does have it all and they could go undefeated I mean the defense is so good uh I guess maybe a dedicated Edge rusher like bubacar tayori or RJ Obin not having that stat line that goes zeros all the way across after 31 yeah he uh the secondary I don't I don't know much more the secondary can grow other than if Leonard Moore comes in and Rod herd get the two picks this week they are they're outstanding the linebackers were better in game one than I thought they could be because I didn't I mean you know the coaches probably saw bust I didn't see obvious bust they didn't result in anything um defensively I just think it's plug-and play right now for L gold and they're going to keep getting better yeah I guess the things they need to see Riley letter passing um Bo Collins build on his performance I'd like to see Jaden great house separate because I've always thought he was going to be the main receiver this year You' like to see some of that and maybe how they start integrating the other guys this was not going to be A&M was not gonna be a big game for Jadon Harrison and Chris Mitchell in their first game situation trusting the line to block to throw deep to Chris Mitchell it'd be great to see Chris Mitchell run away from someone tunnel screen to Jaden Harrison where the blocks are executed and he makes moves I I guess it's really for me on the receivers and the quarterback and goes without saying that whenever you say that you have to say it out loud anyway the offensive line can't take a step back against Northern Illinois remember they looked terrible against Toledo uh in 21 they were on a good line they didn't look that great against Central Michigan and Tennessee State and they were a good line so you you don't want to see the offensive line take a step back because they certainly have to play better than they did in A&M that was grading on a curve we won't be grading on a curve Louisville yeah how much do you think Den Brock is going to change his offensive philosophy in this game because the offensive line is still developing and it was clear during the A&M game that they were going to do everything that they could to help out their offensive line Riley Leonard was getting the snap getting rid of it right away and I remember back in 2022 against Marshall like I made the point yesterday that all for all the conservative nature that not had in that first game they went away from that in the second game like they really pushed the ball down field and they just could not convert I still have flashbacks to br linday running wide open down the seam at the very end of the first half if he makes that catch who knows how different not football is but they really tried to force it Notre Dame could try to test it a little bit obviously this weekend going up against Northern Illinois but it's a different offensive coordinator different team how much you think they're going to change I think it's a great question um I hope not a ton I think he's stayed true to himself other than more deep shots because you have more time I think you could probably start to trust nap because there's no Nick scorton the Shar line is not there pounding against you for 60 snaps the speed of A&M they're they're they're still a quality fast defense when you look back and watch the game I think it was the tunnel screen to Jaden Harrison you just thought wow that that that's a fast defense going after him there were no angles for some of these guys so I'd like to just think that they're building Dem Brock warned us all and then he doubled down in his warning we're gonna be better as the season progresses I hope we're judged on that and that's exactly what a coach should say and feel definitely it's just the wrong sport for that when you're Notre name because you you couldn't lose that one game and now they didn't so now we can all take him his word they could just keep getting slightly better from there the more and more he said that during the preseason I was like is he basically preparing us for a loss because he's almost like apologizing in advance now clearly they won and the game was very important to them but I do think that it's going to change a lot by the by season's end like that Notre Dame USC game who knows what both of those teams are going to look like where do you think Notre Dame needs to make the biggest Improvement on offense in the short term so let's just say like by the end of September yeah so heading into the Louisville game maybe the first four games I'd like to see the wide receivers be what I thought they could be um I think it's I think it's more Leonard and the receiver Synergy than either's talent I think Riley Leonard will I mean I look at the Pro Football Focus numbers and last year obviously he threw the ball down the field terribly in a truncated season you can't go four for 21 with you can barely try to go four for 21 throwing the ball down the field over 20 yards but he was very good 10 touchdowns 37 yards of completion under 50% % of course the year prior in 2022 but that that is what happens he was throwing to Duke it's not a high percentage pass exactly he's throwing to duk's players against Clemson and Miami and and they didn't play Notre Dame that year but Florida State teams like that it's not it's not an easy situation in for for Leonard right now I would I think Leonard should be humming maybe at the end of the Purdue game you could hope to see Riley Leonard in the second half against Purdue Jaden great house has made his seventh catch for 97 yards and Bo Collins had 82 yards and a touchdown and then you think all right because we of faith and love in price as long as the line is blocking to execute as the season progresses I don't I know price had more yards on one carry than he did for the game last week I don't think that's happening again that would be a bad sign though if you see as many run stuffs against Northern Illinois as you did Texas A&M I agree and something I considered going into that Texas S&M game was there was a chance that coming out of it we were all going to be talking about the offensive line in a way like okay that was the group to start the season it could change do you feel like Notre is going to stick with this unit do you have confidence that you know barring injury this is the five we're going to see the rest of the way yeah I do otherwise I think the change would have been cougan and or Spindler in game one for Pendleton but I mean we've said this a few times on our Irish Illustrated podcast Pendleton went out and beat an established starter and an established backup Anthony nap is going to be a very good player and he could be have a very good player this year but he didn't beat out someone established so I was always more impressed with the Pendleton situation I think it would be really weird if they change now I saw something on our message board saying don't expect to see the same line and I even address it because unless someone knows about an injury that I haven't heard about then uh I don't know I that'll be self-defeating I don't know what why that would happen um you don't need to throw guys a bone if they're like Pat cougan and Rono Spindler if they're bought in they're Tosh Baker if he wasn't bought into being on the Notre Dame football team he would have transferred in the off season because it seems like he lost the job prior yeah if there's gonna be a change he would have to be at left guard like there's there's literally no other option and I mean yes Pendleton definitely got beat on a few play I was actually surprised at at how well natap played compared to Pendleton if you look at the PFF grades we all know there's they are far from perfect nap had the second highest grade of any offensive lineman Pendleton had the worst but that being said I wouldn't swap Pendleton after just one game that's pretty unfair to him yeah I agree um and the cougan thing is interesting I mean he can't only be groomed as the backup center but they certainly had to groom a backup center for this season because he's one snap away from becoming an 11 game starter Pat kugan for the Notre name at Center that's there's really nobody else as we know Pendleton tried and it didn't really take I would be surprised if Pat kugan starts I think he would have started against Texas ANM and I don't think they're gonna look at one 60 snap sample size for penlon and say that's not that's not good enough okay where do you think we'll see the biggest change by season's end because it seems like we're in agreement on the offensive line personally I think that wide receiver rotation is probably going to tighten up a little bit as the season goes along I think some guys are going to separate themselves which hopefully will lead to a more effective pass in game but do you think it's going to be a schematic change what do you think we're going to see when nor plays USC it's a great question if Mitchell Evans isn't back healthy I bet there is a bit of a schematic change if he is back healthy and plays the rest of the year I mean Dem Dem Brock is he's not going four wide in a running back without Mitchell Evans if he's healthy now I think denrock has more tight end love in him than anybody gives him credit for it's just that LSU he had phenominal receivers and a quarterback that made it run that way I think Riley Leonard benefits from having a second tight end on the field every once in a while um we all like Cooper Flanigan I like him a lot more as the number two tight end we all like Eli Ren I'd like to see him reward our liking does that make sense yes I think it's time for step up a little bit I was a little disappointed he didn't do anything in that A&M game yeah and he had some issues on the uh it was Riley Leonard's third and one that set up the fourth and one where he got stopped or except next you said the fourth one that you got uh yeah I'd like to see the integration of we barely got to see any red zone offense in that game I all I remember is Leonard's two passes that he was being very careful with the second one obviously I think I said he might have had Mitch lens on the Dwight Clark play going across the back of the end zone there yep he did at least for my vantage point yeah from mine as well and I thought on the replay as well so I think I think red zone is probably way we judge them going forward you would not expect look we all expected field goals in that game which 2316 was my pick 2314 2313 was what a lot of people decided I mean was the final score if you were thinking they were going to score five touchdowns you just weren't listening probably to den Brock and also just reality m i mean& M's best units the front n's best units the defense the front and the back that's not Conor Wegman is he could be a good NFL player you didn't see it I doubt it I do too now holy cow he was 50th on a on a preseason draft board that is 24th on Dane rugers 24th and he knows what he's doing Dane rugers I know I like the Beast is like a an automatic read for me in the in April after that game he was the 50th quarterback on the draft P so something Something's Gonna have to change for them as well but hey you gotta Ro for A&M a little bit right oh absolutely I hope wigman figures it out and I hope he doesn't become exactly what happened to Phil jovic when at one point in time he was listed on first round mock but considering we talked about this team and even the matchup against Texas A&M seemingly every single day for 8 months straight it's hard to be surprised about pretty much anything but was there something that happened in that game that you definitely did not see coming I gotta think this is the best I've ever done on a prediction I think in a game just literally saying more punts than more punts than touchdowns no Dame Secondary will be the difference because both defensive fronts are going to win running game will get going and that'll win it for them don't expect Ry Leonard to pass that well it was all there I guess the biggest surprise the linebackers didn't have any busts that I can think of to I mean they rotated those linebackers you could have Jack Kaiser played well but it seemed like if Jack Kaiser wasn't in there it was okay I thought they would be able to Target Osberry sne especially with his aggress aggressiveness Drake Bowen a little bit more in the passing game maybe they should have been able to do that um maybe Wegman couldn't pull it off but you have you got that secondary behind you man and those that that pass rush you're not the pass rush but that just Stout front it helps the linebackers a lot but I used to make fun of everybody when JD and Maris leaa are drafted and they're going to play for their NFL teams this year their linebackers might be better by the end of this year they they look so good in the first game that's that's that's probably my biggest surprise I remember thinking what is Jaye osprey's role gonna be on this team like where does he fit and he only played 17 snaps but damn was he those were AOW 17 yeah he was everywhere when he was out there on the field and that's one of the things I'm most excited to see this weekend against Northern Illinois is like how are these snap counts going to be distributed specific specifically at linebacker the rest of the way Tim will be right back here with us in a second to debate is Benjamin Morrison going to go down as the best cornerback in notam history but before we get to that I want to tell you about an awesome new promotion courtesy of our friends at FanDuel you've heard me talk a lot about America's number one sports book and now we have something a little different for you so now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you'll you be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel at any time I honestly cannot recommend this enough I have had YouTube TV for years now it is by far the best option it's great affordable and this Sunday Ticket option makes it even better like what's better than watching her favorite team win on every Sunday being able to watch all the other games going on so you can check in on your fantasy team and make sure that they're winning too football season is so close it's already started colle NFL starts up this week I am so excited and FanDuel allows you to get in on the action like never before just visit fanduel.com to download America's number one sports book I want to throw something at you I need your historian perspective on this I know about Todd light I know about Bobby Taylor so don't get mad at me just call me young benjam Morrison is GNA go down as the best quarterback in school history am I wrong so I know about Todd light and Bobby Taylor too Bobby Taylor left or well benjam Morrison is going to leave early so if Luc Emoji God Rest his soul were alive or Tim Priester were on this they would let you know that Luther Bradley is actually the best quarterback in Notre name history um but let's go past that one toddl two-time All-American National Champion three-year starter he also like picks in 89 eight picks in 89 uh he was kind of alone in 90 as well um me let me let me make the case for Benjamin Morrison though he's awesome Morrison what Al golden asks him to do is a ton and if you look at how the game is played now and the emphasis on the passing game the quality of receivers it just it's it's like comparing eras and basketball it's probably not fair but like that game just solidified it for me I was kind of thinking about it in the summer and then it's it's the plays that he doesn't make where the ball isn't thrown his way where you just watch him and you're like dude how does anyone get open on him when he is just so like his technique is perfect he's got the length the athleticism everything like that so I think by the end of the season that's kind of the conversation we're gonna have to have about him I don't mind the conversation because he's better than both them as a freshman even better than Bobby Taylor as a freshman now Taylor Taylor's uh 933 season so his sophomore season they were putting him on the best wide receiver one on one and he was taking them all out of the game um he actually was injured in that Boston College game and it showed he got beat and Bobby by the way Bobby Taylor was in the Press Box uh on Saturday looks like he can still play the shaking Press Box that apparently it's a constant earthquake yeah more you're right though morison has a lot more going on than toddl ever did at corner playing off coverage out there but Todd light was a was a killer too so you got some there's a lot of good it's funny because we can name like five great ones and there's like these 10y year gaps where there's nobody yeah I mean honestly Julian love isn't I don't think anyone's going to confuse him for like the best ever but he was up there man he was really really special especially season he's the most productive for sure and his Lo yeah his loss was certainly felt in Dallas gonna say we know the difference he made right value over player was a thousand honestly you I'm not saying that this is the best secondary in Notre Dame history but if you look at the entire secondary and you think about the potential for gray and Schuler finish the sentence it's the best Notre Dame Secondary sense since the statistics were kept for pass efficiency because these guys aren't going to get challenged by their quarterbacks and wide receivers on the schedule they do not have CJ stad they do not have Caleb Williams they do not have a Trevor Lawrence they what I mean who's who's next Louisville with because Braum's a Wonder yeah Braum's such a good coach with his scheme he can get you but I mean it's this is the worst selection of quarterbacks in a long time yeah it's not great but I'm not gonna say anything negative about Tyler shuck because I I still think about last year before the Louisville game when prer was like Jack plumber stays about this I don't know why this came up I guess Ty I guess we were talking about this same subject coming off the elevator out of the stadium and John Bryce goes we can't say anything Jake plumber I like that's true it's over we can't we can't rip out a quarterback but look CJ strad Caleb Williams and at that time Clemson we thought oh Clemson's gonna have a quarterback they didn't but that season with when k Club Nick replace DJ you imagine beginning with CJ Stout and ending with Caleb Williams Wegman yeah and even then like Caleb Williams obviously got the better of Notre defense in that game and stad certainly made some plays but like considering that was Al Golden's first year as defensive coordinator those game specifically the Ohio State game like Caleb Caleb was great Caleb was great and cam Hart and trick bracie didn't play in that game that's very good point and he was also great because he ran around it looked like a force field on him those throws too that USC game I mean it seems so far away but it's like is that really going to be the next time we see like that Notre Dame defense be tested specifically the secondary I mean Lincoln Riley's going to figure out a little bit after what happened last year that was an embarrassment but um who knows we'll have to wait and see but one of the things that was a little bit surprising to me when I went back and rewatched I didn't I didn't really feel this way live but I honestly think the defensive line was the worst unit on the the notame defense I mean Jordan batell played great as a whole they were fine I mean RJ obin's struggles were pretty noticeable Riley Mills look gas I don't think Howard cross is fully healthy despite the sack that he made what do you what do you make of their performance is it something that you're like just going to continue monitoring or do you think is just a product of the circumstances so I would be completely with you except we talked to Al golden last night and the underlying part of the question was he does he doesn't care as much about stopping the four five six yard run on occasion as he worries about what gives points up and that's explosive plays so he even said he's like look they got some push I'm not bringing an extra guy in if I don't feel I need to if you're not going to score so unless you're like rear grading those guys how those three I think you got to remove batell from this because he was fantastic if you're looking at how let's say Burnham Obin Mills hinish and cross fared you would have to really watch like Gap integrity and stuff because I don't think ND was shooting linebackers enough what they they felt they needed to what Drake Bowen did a couple times he of course had the Highlight Reel he got stood up one time so I think sometimes when guys are getting caught up in the wash it's like you can't stop absolutely everything um it's a very good point because they were the third best unit on the defense there's no doubt about that I mean the sa the safeties not the third best the fifth best the safeties the corners the linebackers the defensive ends just because patella was great and then kind of the interior was good a little bit less there's a little less penetration there I don't I don't I don't think that will continue I think the healthier Howard cross is and Riley Mills Riley Mills look gas and I that could be so many different things like was he sick did Riley Mills not hydrate properly there there's so many things that could get you when it's 110 degrees it was a million degrees and I feel like we're nitpicking here a little bit it's because you know part of this has to do with our expectations for that unit are so high you know like the offensive line yeah you could definitely use Rubio it's like offensive line we're praising their performance because their expectations were so low with the defensive line you're like okay honestly expected a little bit better um what did you think of the way that they utilized Howard cross because there was a point in the first half where I legitimately thought he might be out for the rest of this game because he missed two drives completely I thought he must be hurt um I think they were probably resting him for the second half because he ended up playing 50 snaps and a lot of it was in the second half they must have had been prudent thinking we need him fresh more than we need Donovan hinish fresh at the end of the game because heish got a lot of run in there um I when he got a sack somebody from Notre Dame texted me very well into the program like I thought you know along the lines of I thought he was hurt I'm like is he out there that much though like he's really not you can't be like I told you so after he literally just sat out the two previous possessions entirely I don heish played way more than I expected he played you know well all things considered but I would have preferred Howard cross a fully healthy one yeah and H got better as the game went on too so I I think it is probably tactical um would have been a good time to ask el golden that but they don't like to ever hint about about injury situations either but it's not injury situation when it's 100 degrees it's like were you specifically trying to save cross to keep him fresh because you need him in the fourth quarter yeah and I think if you're in a place or Donovan hinish is basically third string and he can come out and play that well like that shows you how good the depth is in that room even if it could definitely be better and I think once they get Rubio back things will get better do you think that how it cross uh and or Mitchell Evans will play it all in this game on Saturday I mean I assume Mitchell Evans is still just kind of worked his way back in he was what 10 third Downs he'll be all third Downs the the you would wonder if like do they do they not yet does he not yet trust his knee to plant and block I'm sure he trusts it to run downfield and make plays I think I saw him block once in the first quarter maybe maybe second quarter I saw him kind of try to set he successfully set the edge on a block um I think cross must be okay to play 50 snaps I think cross must be okay now he should play less because yeah hopefully well this is this is why you get in trouble with Northern Illinois because how cross is rotating out of the game and all of a sudden arml muk's first game and you have Northern Illinois running up the gut for 25 yards but um I would assume you can that you could start rotating mukam in now um the whole Leonard Moore could play a little more because you you could take Benjamin Morrison out for five plays other than when maybe he gets dinged on the shoulder uh Xavier Watts played every snap you could see Rod herd playing that SP spot instead of um kind of that dime role he plays I think that rotation gets deeper and that could help Howard cross rest a little did you get any information about what happened to Benjamin Morrison why he went to the locker room during the no we didn't and I it seemed like it came after he missed that he kind of went for a pick um I assume it wasn't his shoulder he came running right back in but it was a Miss tack it was a Miss tackle when he kind of went I shouldn't call him Miss tackle he went for the pick didn't get it he he busted the guy loose is basically what happened but all of a sudden I looked up and leard Moore was in isn't it funny we heard so much good stuff about Leonard morr like oh cool Leonard Morrison I want to see this Benjamin Morrison's out oh great yeah I don't want to see this anymore suddenly I don't want to see letter Mo right now Freeman did say that one player had to go get an ivy maybe it was Morrison I don't know I I I don't want to speculate too much but I thought it was interesting like I didn't even I noticed that letter Moore was in but it was so quick that I I didn't really think that much of it until after the game and then I saw on Twitter that Benjamin Morrison ran to the locker room I was like oh that's interesting but um okay so circling it back to the beginning I think we're both on the same page we're expecting a little bit of a let down from Notre Dame I don't expect the defense to give up much at all unless it's like a couple crazy trick plays but I think a lot of it is going to have to do with the offense so has your perspective on Riley letter changed it all after one game and if so like what did he do or maybe didn't do that makes you look at him differently no I thought he'd struggle against Texas A&M as a passor so I I don't want to say that if we get together after Miami going into Louisville yeah as I said there should be no excuses for Riley Leonard against Northern Illinois at Purdue even and Miami of Ohio I think it's just he should be he should be hitting his stride Miami Ohio and Louisville and uh I mean that is a really good front and he did have to what was it the quickest it was 2.3 per snap I think it was less yeah it's close that's I think that's just not exactly his game you can't really throw deep when you when you're doing that either his best asset was his elusiveness in the pocket I said that are two quarterbacks in the past like seven years who could have won that game for Notre Dame and it's Riley Leonard and Ian book because those were the two best at avoiding pressures that I've ever seen like s is not winning that game nine yards was huge when he would scramble that was a giant scramble I mean that's you almost like if you're in Texas ANM fan by the middle of the third quarter like all right how about we don't let him out of the pocket anymore and let's see if he's gonna stand here and hit some digs on us but it's easier said than done of course because he's he's quite an athlete when he gets out of there too yeah and for all the criticisms we might have about his p game on that last drive he delivered a perfect ball to janen great house on that out that's an NFL throw on Third and five to keep the drive alive and then perfectly plac ball to Bo Collins thank God they didn't throw that flag and I remember telling the person s next to me when that's I me like a just unbelievably stupid move flag for that in your lifetime watching a game either on the road in Tex crying out loud the the refs are pretty tough both ways like I remember seeing a bunch of people being like Oh the refs we're out against Notre Dame uh like they like the fourth and one they didn't give it to him and I was like uh the biggest call in the game went Notre Dames away so I don't know if we're really in a place right now to complain about the Reps but the fact that Riley Leonard led the team down the field on that drive is so impressive I mean I don't know about you I would put that as like the third loudest environment I've ever been in I mean they were playing moom on the speakers when Notre took the field I was like dude I can't hear myself think and they still went down the field and scored how did that environment compare to some of the other greats that you've been to yeah I was trying to figure it out it was just such an imposing place too I thought letter be the best comedy's like I looked up I couldn't see the end of the top of the stadium and you kind of can't it's ridiculous um Georgia was an amazing environment um I think the only reason maybe Georgia was louder they were ahead and had more reasons to cheer I thought A&M when they tied the game up at 13 was I I hate to say third loudest the craziest was I the craziest is Miami because something happened I don't I can't even explain that there was like a a hostility there was a hostility in the air that turned into a party and they were still violently partying when it was going on it was a rough that was a rough place to be I don't I don't I don't I didn't like that one yeah I don't I don't think anyone liked that my my buddy Luke was like it's the only time I feared for my life at a game and I was like I would hope it's not like top three most life-threatening games as a fan but um last question I have for you so when I was doing some prep about nor norn Illinois I looked into their week one opponent and boy did I learn a lot about the Western Illinois leatherneck a 25 game losing streak that's impressive most of which if not all were by double digits and I think it's safe to say that they might be the worst football team ever assembled I made the claim on Twitter that if we created a team of Notre D media types we could score on the leathernecks what position are you playing I suggested maybe quarterback what position are you playing and how would you fill out the lineup well actually Driscoll plays quarterback because he played quarterback so D play quarterback yeah I would play wide would not have been my guest but okay no exactly he played quarterback I would play wide receiver for sure and then I guess uh looked like Greg said he's uh what does he say flanker he's gonna be flanker we're bringing back like the 19er I guess I have to be split up if he's blanker then I want to see Priester like maybe he's safety lurking yes no AC no one's going to run across the middle on him Chuck Cecil kind of safety where there yeah borderline legal on every hit I was just I literally spent an hour probably just reading about West Illinois like this can't be real this can't be like imagine you're like fresh out of college you start a new job and you're like yeah I played college football and you're like oh like where and then Western Illinois and you start looking them up you're like oh I think you just keep that to yourself does doesn't start for the flag team with the company picnic right there yeah I think it would be more impressive if you just said yeah I played flag like on an interal team and they'd be like oh nice you're a champion um all right thanks so much man you can read all of Tim's work on irishillustrated.com or you can listen to him on his podcast Irish Illustrated Insider also well you got Irish illistrated Spotlight overtime I'm missing Irish overtime comes in after the games now it's there's a lot of it you know I want to throw in though in God Rest his soul Bob Elliott one of our favorite coaches in 2015 they were out of lineman when they're playing Ohio State in the fiesta ball Matt Freeman and I were on the field and he went up to Matt Freeman tapped him on the chest and said we'll two Gap you tonight so Matt frean makes our team too to be uh he's on the defense all right man hey I'm I'm being honest I think we're we're putting up some points but uh I hope you have a nice peaceful relaxing Saturday you can avoid all the the skies falling takes if this game is closed in the fourth but I hope you enjoy it man it's going to be a fun season hey thanks for having me on today's episode is also sponsored by LinkedIn when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs is the tool self find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free speaking from my own experience I know that whenever we're looking to make a new hire we use LinkedIn to help find the perfect new team member and it is so easy because they do the heavy lifting LinkedIn isn't just a job board LinkedIn helps you hire professionals you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role in a given month over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites so if you're not looking on link Lin you're literally looking in the wrong place on LinkedIn 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours so what are you waiting for hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn post a job for free at linkedin.com lockon colge that's linkedin.com lockon col to post your job for free terms and conditions apply that's going to do it for today's episode thanks again for making locked on Irish your first listen of the day this is your last call for mailbag questions we've got another Friday mailbag coming your way tomorrow if you have a question you want to submit yours just drop them Below in the YouTube comments or send them in on social media you can send them in on Twitter at lockon Irish or on Instagram at lockon Irish pod also remember please subscribe on YouTube or wherever you're listening to the podcast if youve not done so already and for your second listen check out the lockon college football podcast with Spencer mclin and I'll see you guys tomorrow