Key storylines for Toledo Rockets vs. Notre Dame football
The beauty of a season opener — and sometimes the ugliness — is the unexpected.
And Notre Dame’s equally thrilling and troubling 41-38 overtime win Sunday night at Florida State provided plenty of it all.
Jack Coan and Kyle Hamilton provided much of the beauty, while the Irish offensive and defensive lines monopolized the ugly.
And while Notre Dame is 8-0 all time against Mid-American Conference teams, Brian Kelly said that Toledo — which returns 21 starters and is one of the favorites to win the 2021 league title — will provide a greater challenge on Saturday than any of the previous MAC opponents that have rolled through South Bend.
“In my estimation, after watching some of [Toledo’s] film,” Kelly said, “this is probably the finest MAC team we’ve brought into this stadium since I’ve been here at Notre Dame.”
Following are three Saturday storylines in the first-ever meeting between these two schools:
Freeman’s demons
My, how quickly sentiments change.
After first-year Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman was anointed by many of us as the best assistant hire Kelly has ever made — before even coaching a game here — his debut was defensively offensive.
One game does not make a season, but FSU hit Freeman’s defense with 264 rushing yards, 442 total yards and 6.0 yards per play.
For perspective, no 2020 Irish opponent with Clark Lea as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator even reached 230 rushing yards in a game, and only two teams — Syracuse (229) and Clemson (219) — eclipsed 200 yards.
Seven other Irish opponents last season failed to reach 100 rushing yards.
The fact is, the Irish defensive players became tired and slowed against FSU in the fourth quarter, evidenced by the chased assignments and missed tackles.
And with a shortened practice week to prep for a wide-open Toledo offense, improving defensive endurance seems a problem unfixable in five days.
No time to panic, but Notre Dame finished the weekend ranked 100th nationally in total defense and 115th in rushing defense out of 127 FBS teams.
Rocket watch
With six returning All-MAC honorees from 2020 in a program building momentum and a winning climate under sixth-year head coach Jason Candle, Toledo can’t be dismissed as a “lay down, thanks for coming” MAC opponent.
Remember the tense 24-16 Irish home win over Ball State in 2018? That was also the second game of Notre Dame’s season, played one week after a tough 24-17 win at home against Michigan.
Veteran Toledo tailback Bryant Koback entered the season with 2,626 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns on a Rockets team that returned its entire offensive line.
Additionally, Toledo ranked ninth nationally last season in passing offense (325.8 yards per game) and 21st in scoring offense (35.0 points per game).
Listed as about a 39-point favorite last Saturday in their season opener against Norfolk State, the Rockets showcased their depth in an easy 49-10 win — perhaps a “bad beat” for some.
Toledo tallied 441 total yards — 205 rushing and 236 passing — to also demonstrate a balance that can’t be ignored.
Six Toledo rushers had at least four carries in the game but none had more than nine totes on a rushing unit that averaged 5.3 yards per attempt.
Four Rockets receivers had multiple catches, and four tallied at least 27 yards.
An opening betting line against Toledo that made Notre Dame a 22.5-point favorite has dropped to 16.5 midweek because the Rockets enter with a nothing-to-lose, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their talented and experienced players.
History matters
Coming off the tense overtime win, it was worth searching for when Notre Dame parlayed a suspenseful opener into a great season, and the list is short.
Most Notable: Under Lou Holtz in 1988, placekicker Reggie Ho converted a 26-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter — his fourth of the game — to lift No. 13 Notre Dame to a 19-17 win over No. 9 Michigan in the season opener.
The Irish rolled through its next 11 games — no opponent stayed within 10 points, other than Miami (31-30) — to secure the 1988 national championship.
Most Recently: Under Kelly in 2018, No. 12 Notre Dame built a 21-3 second-quarter lead over Michigan then held on for a 24-17 win at home.
The Irish won its next 11 regular-season games — albeit four of those by fewer than 10 points — to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Most Historical: Under Knute Rockne in 1930 — on the same day Notre Dame Stadium opened — the Irish scored in the final four minutes for a 20-14 win over SMU.
Other than the epic 7-6 win later this season against Army at Soldier Field, Notre Dame rolled and finished 10-0 to secure Rockne’s second straight and third overall national championship.
The 13-year coaching legend died three months later at age 43.
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