This was supposed to be a snapshot — and a “before” picture at that.
A frozen moment in time for the seventh-ranked Notre Dame football team, with perhaps hints of what a Saturday night venture into a sweltering, swollen, strident SEC football venue might turn into someday.
Instead a 23-13 subduing of 20th-ranked Texas A&M, in front of officially the fourth-largest crowd in Kyle Field history (107,315) and unofficially one of the most flabbergasted in recent years, felt oddly defining.
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Not from a “this is the ceiling” standpoint. Not even statistically across the board, though Notre Dame’s experience-lacking, doubt-attracting offensive line helped produce some stunning numbers — 5.8 rushing yards per carry, ZERO sacks allowed — to help offset some unflattering growing pains.
Those included 11 penalties incurred by the Irish (1-0) in their 2024 season opener for 99 yards.
Where it reeked with seemingly perpetual definition was what this program has become culturally. And no more apparent was that than early in the third quarter, when Notre Dame third-year head coach Marcus Freeman elected to go for a first down on a fourth-and-1 from ND’s own 33-yard line in a 6-6 game.
After getting stuffed on both second-and-1 and third-and-1 from the same spot.
”Yeah, we want to be aggressive,” Freeman said. “We want to be attacking. If I tell our group that we want to be aggressive and attacking, I have to be that way as a coach.
“And you got to live with sometimes on 4th-and-2, you didn’t get it. I felt confident that we could get it. I made a decision, and that’s why we did it.”
Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard, making his first start in a Notre Dame uniform, used his fortitude and his 6-foot-4, 216-pound frame to power ahead for an eight-yard gain.
Three plays later, the Irish faced another opportunity to flaunt their 24-year-old Australian import punter, James Rendell.
Instead, Freeman left his offense on the field and called Leonard’s number again.
He appeared to gain enough with third effort to keep the Irish drive going, but the ACC officiating crew marked him ½-inch short, and the ACC replay center upheld the spot.
Where this showed real growth in Freeman’s coaching was not what ensued next, but how much premeditated planning had gone into those decisions and how little it was about getting caught up in the moment.
Freeman knew he had one of the best defenses in the nation, and they lived up to it time and again Saturday night, but especially when it mattered most. Like after the failed fourth-down attempt at midfield.
A 12-yard pass from Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman to Jahdae Walker on the very next play put the Aggies (0-1) just outside of Aggie kicker Randy Bond’s field goal range. But the next three plays didn’t get him much closer, and then it was A&M first-year head coach Mike Elko’s turn to deal with a fourth-down decision.
Elko — like Freeman, a former Irish defensive coordinator-turned Power 4 head coach — elected to leave his offense on the field on fourth-and-8 from the Irish 37, and a pass from Weigman fluttered incomplete.
The offensive centerpiece of the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in the 2022 cycle, and one of only 15 out of those 30 signees still on the Aggies roster, finished 12-of-30 passing for a benign 100 yards with two interceptions — one picked off by All-America safety Xavier Watts, the other by a rising star at the safety position, sophomore Adon Shuler.
“For us, our coaching staff put us in these positions in practice every day,” Shuler said. “Just go out and execute and do your job and let things come to you.”
On the ensuing possession, things finally came to the Irish offense. Leonard guided Notre Dame 63 yards on four plays, and overcoming a 15-yard offensive pass-interference penalty along the way.
Texan Jadarian Price covered the final 47 yards on a second-and-14 play for the first touchdown of the game for either team. Running mate Jeremiyah Love led all rushers with 91 yards on 14 carries, with a 21-yard scoring run of his own with 1:54 left in the game to give the Irish the lead for good, at 20-13.
Leonard contributed 63 yards on 12 carries to the Irish running game and 158 passing yards on 18-of-30 accuracy with no interceptions. To put Notre Dame’s 5.8 yards a carry against what was the nation’s No. 13 rush defense last season, carried over an entire season that would have ranked fourth nationally in 2023.
“That’s obviously one of my strengths,” Leonard said of his contribution to the ND running attack. “The way I play the game, I won’t change that for anybody or anything or any injury. It can’t stand in my way. I was able to use it to my benefit tonight and get after it with the legs a little bit.
“It’s tough, especially in that environment,” he continued. “That’s an environment that I’m sure none of us have really ever played in before. The SEC’s different. Coming down here in Texas is different.
“I remember looking up and trying to see the end of the stands, and you literally can’t even see the top. Incredible place to play. Very grateful for the outcome, obviously. I love these guys.”
What Leonard might love the most is every time Texas A&M answered Saturday night, Notre Dame had a louder answer. And everytime the Aggies went bold, the Irish were brasher.
And were better for it.
For whatever the Irish fanbase makes of former coach Brian Kelly’s sloppy exit after setting the school record for coaching wins and longevity — now going on three seasons in the rearview mirror — Kelly did coax Notre Dame convincingly and persistently back onto college football’s grander stages.
Yes, the Irish more often than not fell off those platforms, in part because they tiptoed when they arrived there.
Saturday night in College Station, Texas, Marcus Freeman wasn’t about to tiptoe.
“I’m exhausted. Obviously exhausted — probably more than our players,” an emotional Freeman said postgame. “Man, that was a huge victory for our program over a really, really good football team.”
Sunday will bring a long to-do list of how the Irish can and have to become better aesthetically and statistically in the weeks ahead, but they may have found their new calling card in the most unlikely of places.
Not a snapshot after all, but something more lasting.
A toughness, a soul, an evolutionary step that won’t fade anytime soon.
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