Podcast: Rocky Boiman on Notre Dame's start and improving linebacker play

The first win of the Marcus Freeman Era is finally in the books. It wasn’t easy, but Notre Dame held onto a 24-17 victory over Cal on Saturday.

The challenge shouldn’t get any easier this week with a road trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., and a matchup with North Carolina’s prolific offense.

Former Notre Dame linebacker Rocky Boiman, co-host of "The Eddie & Rocky Show" for Cincinnati's 700WLW and college football color analyst for ESPN, joined this week's Inside ND Sports podcast to discuss the difficult start to the season for the Irish, the performances of ND's defense and linebackers, the challenge of transitioning to playing linebacker at the college level, why defenses can struggle to get important stops, riding the ups and downs of quarterback changes, how captains can guide a team through a tough start and more.

Then Tyler James and Eric Hansen answered questions from Twitter and The Insider Lounge (27:22).

SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

The Inside ND Sports podcast is presented by DeadSoxy. Click here to look at all the premium sock offerings from no-shows and casuals to traditional dress socks. Enter Lucky (not case sensitive) at checkout and get 25 percent off your order.

The podcast can be listened to above via SoundCloud or on your preferred podcast platform including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean and Pocket Casts.

Thumbnail photo credit: AP Photo/Ed Reinke

---------------------------------------------------------------

• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.

• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.

• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @ByKyleKelly.

• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports

• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports