Eric Hansen: Welcome to a bye week rendition of Notre Dame Football Live Chat from tropical South Bend, Ind.
Some quick programming notes …
► If you missed the last episode of our aspiring-to-be-viral Notre Dame Football YouTube show, Football Never Sleeps, it keeps its shelf life long after the live presentation. We remain in our normal Monday at 7 ET time slot. Remember, if you miss the live show, you can catch up anytime on YouTube. We had two postgame shows on our YouTube channel last weekend worth checking out — Into The eNDzone with former Irish O-lineman Bob Morton and our Postgame Takeaways show late Saturday night.
► The Inside ND Sports Podcast will drop Thursday. To discuss the College Football Playoff picture in a smarter way than Saturday’s ESPN broadcast, Tyler James and I reached out to CBS Sports College Football Playoff expert Jerry Palm to join last week's Inside ND Sports podcast. Palm discussed his observations of Notre Dame this season, if the perception of the programs on ND's schedule are hurting the Irish, how Texas A&M's success is helping ND, why he thinks ND is likely to lose again this season, if bias has been shown in previous playoff committee rankings, how high ND could be ranked if it finishes 11-1 and more. The podcast can be listened to via SoundCloud or on your preferred podcast platform including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podbean and Pocket Casts.
► Finally, we’re rolling through the bye week at WSBT Sports Radio 96.1. Darin Pritchett and I are together this week on Wednesday on Weekday SportsBeat (96.1 FM, 960 AM, live streaming at wsbtradio.com). The weekday shows run from 5-6 p.m. ET. I’m also part of the Gameday SportsBeat crew, and the pregame show that runs on Saturdays before every game. You can download all episodes, including the pregame shows, as podcasts.
Related Content
► Analysis: Notre Dame's road ahead and how the Irish need to navigate it
► Film Analysis: Riley Leonard put together well-rounded performance vs. Navy
► Snap Counts: Here's who played for Notre Dame football against Navy
► Notre Dame makes significant headway in the polls ahead of bye week
► The five most impressive senior seasons from Notre Dame's 2025 commits
As far as this week's chat …
Please include your NAME and HOMETOWN along with your question(s).
Here are the rules:
Eric Hansen: The "no drinking" rule is still rescinded and we'll add the "no bare feet" rule to the relaxed edict list as well.
OK off we go ...
Marie from Atlanta: Hi Eric, I hope you’re having a fantastic week. Great win for the Irish on the weekend. Despite a lot of people trying to say, it was a lot of self-inflicted turnovers by Navy, I do believe the speed and the pressure bearing down on them by the ND defense indirectly help force some of those turnovers. Since it’s the off week, I would like to follow up on the podcast from last week and Jerry Palm’s comments, implying that with five ACC teams, which he thought most of would be weak, USC, Stanford, and Navy that really only leaves room to schedule four teams, potentially limiting NDs ability to schedule, marquee games, and it might affect Notre Dame’s strength of schedule moving forward. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a strong opinion on whether Notre Dame should keep playing Navy every year, should they drop them, or, should they maybe play them every three years and surround it with a big event highlighting the game? Switching gears: of the younger players this weekend who surprised you the most with their play? Although Navy is running a different offense this year from the traditional triple option, how much do you think the Navy experience will help the young linebackers in the game against Army? Finally, how much do you think a healthy Jordan Faison can improve this offense moving forward? As always thanks for hosting the chat and all the great insights.
Eric Hansen: Marie, there's a lot to unpack regarding the future scheduling that may take some time to get a clearer picture of. What's not certain, for instance, is whether Clemson and FSU will leave the ACC. Also uncertain is whether the league gets stronger, weaker or stays the same. USC is another variable, Can the game stay annual? Does USC get weaker? Will that game need to be scheduled at a different point in the season? And given ND's ceiling as a No. 5 seed each year, do they really need to impress as much with overall schedule strength? There are some good home-and-homes coming up, including Alabama. Now about Navy …
I understand why Notre Dame feels an obligation to schedule Navy annually. But I wouldn't be opposed to seeing that game a little less frequently, maybe every other year to build in some more scheduling flexibility. ... The funny thing is Navy will probably help ND's strength of schedule this season. ... As far as young players stepping up, I'm not sure juniors qualify, but Jaylen Sneed and Junior Tuihalamaka really impressed me. Probably Sneed's best game in an ND uniform and maybe Junior's too. ... Yes I do think playing Navy this close to the Army game will help some, but there are distinct differences between those two offenses. Thanks for the great questions, Marie.
Ryan Frankfort illinois: Good Afternoon Eric what do you think about the play of Leonard Moore he looked good vs Louisville and it was nice to see him get a interception on Saturday GO IRISH ☘️☘️☘️🏈🏈🏈
Eric Hansen: Hi Ryan. I can still vividly remember interviewing Benjamin Morrison after practice one day in August and casually asking about his impressions of Leonard Moore, and Morrison telling me he thought Moore would have a better career at ND than BeMo would, And then I talked to Jayden Thomas about it and he essentially doubled down down on that. And it's kind of playing out in real time. Yes, ideally you'd like to have them both healthy and available, but Moore is such a key piece now with Morrison out. And he so far is delivering.
Mark from Boston: Hi Eric! I’ve been really impressed with the toughness and shiftiness of Kedren Young. Do you see him getting more playing time during the last 4 regular season games? I’m hoping he’s not discouraged with his playing time. I see a bright future ahead.
Eric Hansen: Hi Mark. He is impressive. And had he not missed almost the entirety of spring practice with a nagging injury, I think we might have seen more of him this season. A couple of reasons beyond that, that we haven't. Aneyas Williams really brings a very complete skill set to the mix ... and ND now appears ready to use Jeremiyah Love on third down more. Kedren Young's freshman year reminds me a bit of Audric Estimé's, where Logan Diggs was the freshman who got more carries, but ultimately Audric was the better back. Young has a bigger body type than any of the other backs (and none of them are tiny). And if that doesn't come into play this year, I would think that would play well in 2025.
Manny from San Pedro: Eric!!!! This has been such a fun exciting season!!! Thanks so much for your coverage. What does your weekend look like in bye weeks? Do you watch other games or just listen to Taylor swift records? Also, what is a road game every Notre Dame fan should experience once?
Eric Hansen: Manny!!!!! There is no uniform look to my bye week Saturdays. But I do try to watch a lot of the games and I do still have to vote in the AP Top 25 poll at the end of the night or early the next morning. The last bye week Saturday was a full work day, but I did get to sneak away for a couple of hours for my fourth-oldest grandson's 9th birthday. Taylor Swift was not on the playlist. That's Tyler James' favorite. ... My favorite road game ever was Oklahoma 2012.
Bob from Oxnard, Calif.: Hi Eric. Great season so far! What is Logan Thomas's ideal weight, and realistically, when can he reach it? Thanks.
Eric Hansen: Hi Bob. Loghan Thomas is listed at 6-4, 224, which is actually significantly up from the 196 pounds he weighed when he enrolled as a freshman in January. His goal was to get to 230 by the end of the summer, derailed a bit because of shoulder surgery. If he can play in the 240s next season, I think that would be a good goal for him. He really has a very quick first step on the edge. I am really curious to see how he develops, because I think he can be special.
Brendan from Pittsburgh: What does deciding whether to enter the NFL draft, transfer, or stay at ND look like? How involved is the coaching staff in that decision and how much does the rest of the regular season and postseason matter (in general)?
Eric Hansen: Hi Brendan. It certainly looks different than it did even a few years ago. With NIL money, it makes coming back for another year a more intriguing business decision. In general, Marcus Freeman and the coaching staff at least have a feel for who's thinking about coming out early going into the season. This second bye week is an opportunity for a checkpoint on that. And then after the regular season ends, there's even more discussions. That's both to help get the player the feedback from the NFL he needs but also how he'd fit in for the next season and ND's own roster management needs. The declaration date for early entry is in mid January. So who might be on the fence where the balance of the season could factor in? Possibly Mitchell Evans, who with a healthy season would have not given much thought to coming back, but now? Watts actually has a sixth-year option, but I don't see him returning. And I don't think Ben Morrison's injury will keep him out of the draft, but he'll at least talk things through.
Jordan Botelho will also have a chance to come back if he wants, coming off a knee injury.
Jim from Wheaton, Ill.: Eric, where would us information-hungry Notre Dame fans be without these weekly chats??!! Thanks for keeping us informed and educated with your insights and observations. I understand and respect HIPAA and privacy concerns, but is there any update on Jason Onye's status and potential return, as he was having a breakout early season, and without him, depth in the interior of the defensive line is challenged (glad to have Rubio back)? Also, if you had to pick one true freshman who has the highest future ceiling, who is it? Lots of great choices, but I'm between Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Bryce Young. Finally, why haven't we seen Cam Williams at all this season? As a five-star recruit, even needing some development, why wouldn't he get some snaps in four or fewer games, especially with some of the lopsided victories we have seen? Should we be concerned about his future in the WR rotation? Any updates on his progress/development? THANKS!!
Eric Hansen: Hi Jim. Let me start with the Cam Williams part of your question and work backwards ... and thanks for the compliments ... I was curious about Cam too, in part because he was such a highly rated and hotly perceived recruit. So I asked OC Mike Denbrock about him last Tuesday and here is his response …
"Cam continues to kind of learn the game and the details of the game. He is incredibly blessed with what the good Lord blessed him with, as far as size and being able to run. But understanding coverages and where he fits in the concept and how to route-adjust and different things like that, that process is ongoing. He's gotten better at that, so I like where he's headed, but there's still some work to be done there.”
Q: We've seen that with receivers here before and with some guys who went on to become NFL receivers but didn’t make much of a dent early. So, why is that not more of a universal thing, where some guys are just ready to go as freshmen and some guys are not?
“I think the 7-on-7 world has helped in some ways and hurt in others. I think it's helped identify really quality guys who can run and go get it. I don't know that it's actually taught them a lot about coverage structure, because it's so unique to 7-on-7. They go to these big tournaments and everybody's trying to win the tournament, and they're playing this style and that style. And some of that is real football and some of it's not real football. So, I think there's some good things about it, some bad things about it. And I think for him [Cam Williams] in particular, he just needs more experience. And some guys are a little bit more ready-made, based on maybe what they did in high school and then the training that they've gotten in the offseason. And some guys just need a little more maturity time. And he's one of those guys.”
Eric Hansen: OK, freshman with the highest ceiling? There are a lot to choose from. KVA and Bryant Young would be in the top four. Leonard Moore is in that group. But I'm going to go off the board and go with a hunch and say QB CJ Carr. ... As far as Jason Onye, I think we'll have a better feel for that after the bye week on Monday.
Shane from White Deer, Texas: Hey Eric. I promise I am not a “get off my lawn” guy, but my question may sound like it. Is the color of the uniforms important to everyone but me? My wife asked me what I thought about the blue jerseys a couple of weeks ago, and I can honestly say - I didn’t even notice. I see a lot of discussions about what the team might wear and the different combinations thereof. I will admit I was in high school when they won it all in 1977, which ironically was the green jersey game against USC. Maybe I was excited about that back then. Maybe I’m too old now to be hip to what’s cool. Help me out. Am I just being an old man? Now get off my lawn!! Just kidding. Happy Halloween.
Eric Hansen: Shane, you can venture onto my lawn. But if you do, bring a rake and get to work!!!! I think you and I are on the same page with the jerseys. To me, dressing for success means wearing something without a spaghetti sauce stain on it. But I know if is a big thing for other people, and I'm OK with them being upset or excited about certain jerseys. As long as they let me be numb to it. Happy Halloween.
Larry from Topton, Pa. – Hi Eric! 7 and 1 baby!! 2 QB related questions. 1) I was in the Swamps of Jersey on Saturday, and noticed that it appeared that CJ Carr did not dress for the game. At least for sure he did not throw during warm ups. How likely is it you will get an update on his status during the bye week? If his problem extends into the off season, that has real ramifications for the 2025 QB room. 2) Can you please check your season notes and tell us how many times Leonard has won your game ball? I think it is time fans realize his value, especially considering his elusiveness relative to the O-line issues. I do not know that Leonard will lead ND to 11-1, but I do not feel they would be 7-1 without him. Thanks Eric, Oh Wise One.
Eric Hansen: Hi Larry. The assistant coaches typically let Marcus Freeman be the ultimate spokesperson on injuries. But OC Mike Denbrock hinted last Tuesday that he didn't think it would be long before Carr was back practicing. The new injury policy is helpful in some ways and a pain in the butt in others. Players like CJ, who isn't in the two deeps, gets into some gray area. But I do plan to ask about him next week, so we'll see where that goes. ... I don't know the Eric Hansen's game balls is necessarily a good measure of progress for Leonard, but let me throw out one that is ... his Pro Football Focus great of 91.2 was the highest of his career. A couple of other interesting stats. His on pace to set the ND record for rushing TDs by a QB in a season (he has 11, the record is 14).
He already is fourth for single-season rushing yards (539) with a shot at Tony Rice's school record and he's third — third in completion percentage all time (.662) with a chance of overtaking Ian Book 2018 and Jimmy Clausen 2009. THE KEY is continued improvement. Saturday needed to be a benchmark not the arrival point. And I think there is momentum for that kind of improvement.
Ced Walker from Saginaw Michigan aka sagnasty Saginaw pride how many more players Notre Dame will take in they recruiting class god bless this football team here come the irish trust the process the golden standard rally we are nd god country go irish love thee notre dame our mother pray for us
Eric Hansen: Hi Ced. They'd love to get two more linebackers, one or two more WRs, a defensive tackle and maybe a running back. So ideally, 5 or 6.
Denny from Beaverton, Ore.: Bye Week Greetings Eric; I was just watching you and Tyler on FNS picking the 5 players that could really help Notre Dame the rest of the season. As you were doing that I kept thinking what about Jaylen Snead and I was happy that one of your questioners asked that same question. He caught my attention during the game by how animated he was. Perhaps less playing time during the recent games has lit a fire into him. I think you have mentioned that he is potentially one of the most talented players on the team. I hope that is the case as I was recently thinking that he could be a portal guy if things did not change. What do you think has held him back this year so far? He definitely seemed happy to be on the field Saturday. Your insight and thoughtful opinions are really appreciated by us out here. Thank you.
Eric Hansen: Bye Week greetings to you. And I appreciate this difficult question. There is no question Jaylen Sneed is an elite athlete. He also had a tremendous offseason, which led me to believe he'd finally break through and become an elite athlete AND a really good linebacker. Instead, he's been mostly a puzzle. Saturday was his best game in an ND uniform. But could that carry over beyond the specialized Navy offense? There's a lot going on with the answer to this question. In that five-man linebacker rotation, Kiser has been Kiser. But the other three -- Ausberry, KVA and Bowen have surged ... big time. So living with Sneed's growing pains is not an attractive option.
And quite honestly, he should be beyond those in that frequency by now. So he's at an inflection point. And maybe Saturday not only relights the fire within him, but shows the coaching staff in what situations he can best excel rather than just kind of a generic rotational role. … And yes, playing at that level, he could be a difference-maker, even in limited snaps.
Jack from Strongsville, Ohio: Hi Eric. Since it is a bye week I have a general college sports question. With the advent of the supercomferences, how do the schools justify the financial burdens of the non revenue sports and the additional travel and administrative costs, For example, Notre Dame sending boys tennis team to play at Stanford or Ohio State girls swim team traveling to USC. This forum may not be conducive to such an answer so I apologize in advance. Thanks for all your great work. As a follow-up to my previous question, how about the amount of time in the classroom these athletes are missing due to the extended conference opponents?
Eric Hansen: Jack, it is not something I've put a lot of time into studying yet, so that will probably be something I'll look at in the offseason. Bye weeks are busier for us than it might appear, especially with men's and women's basketball with exhibition games tonight. But it's a good question. What's more pressing for those sports is how the football money being funneled to players appears to be shrinking scholarship opportunities for non-revenue sports at a lot of schools. That is also something I can get to in the offseason. Thanks for the idea.
Patrick Burke from Rochester, N.Y.: Eric, I appreciate your show and look forward to listening. With reference to wide out recruitment given the improvement made over the last two years in securing quality QBs why has the staff had such a difficult time finding high level receivers. I have been surprised that the addition of Denbrock as OC has not helped. What is your explanation?
Eric Hansen: Patrick. my explanation would be patience. Mike Brown hasn't had a full cycle as WR coach/recruiter and players are just now seeing what an ND offense under Denbrock looks like. So 2026 might be the better gauge. But even looking at 2025, Elijah Burress, for instance, has played way above his star rating this season. And don't discount the portal. Beaux Collins at Clemson had more receptions than anyone on ND's team did in 2024. And coming out of high school he was a four-star prospect and No. 63 player nationally regardless of position with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame ... and on and on.
Tanner from Tulsa: What is the schedule makers name because fall break falling on the week before navy. Chefs kiss. Also is there a way to get ahold of anyone involved with the gameday atmosphere, email, tweet, call, because if and a big if ND gets a home game in the CFP, the atmosphere will need to be as big as it’s ever been. Still have to take advantage of the bye week and go 1-0, four more times. Finally, are there any non season injured players coming back within the next 4-5 weeks. Thanks as always for the coverage and insight. 2nd to none my friend 🙏
Eric Hansen: Hi Tanner. Thank you. You are on point with the chef's kiss of having fall break the week going into the Navy game. It allowed ND to get in extra film work while not having to deal with academic demands. It also allowed them to practice earlier in the day to acclimate to the noon ET start. Email me Tanner and I'll try to get you a contact name. I've had a couple of sets of friends who had NEVER been to an ND game come in for one this season. They had a long list of suggestions on what might make for a more electric atmosphere. ... So the players who might be back 100 percent in November will likely be K Mitch Jeter and S Tae Johnson and QB CJ Carr. Maybe Gi'Bran Payne for a postseason game and I can check on that on Monday.
Tom F from Kennesaw, Ga.: Hi Eric, Happy Halloween!!! I really enjoyed your post game show with Bob Morton. His experience and insight, IMO, is similar to yours in that it seems to be very open-minded and looks at the facts as to how players are performing, With that I really like the present O-lline. I hope they can keep it the rest of the season. What is your opinion? How has Knapp improved since week #1?? From what I was able to see sitting close to the bench at the GT game I would say that Mitch Evans and Rylie Mills are two of the more "vocal" leaders on the team!!! What have you been able to learn about the players who are the key leaders for an overall pretty young team?? Thanks for all the hard work and time that you put into keeping us informed. Go Irish!!!!!
Eric Hansen: Happy Halloween, Tom! And thanks for watching and for the feedback on the Into The eNDzone show. I really have a lot of fun doing that with Bob and learn a lot! Let me say, I do like Sam Pendleton and his potential, but I think Billy Schrauth elevates the whole unit and will be good for Anthonie Knapp. Knapp's improvements are probably more subtle than obvious. His Pro Football Focus pass blocking grades the past two games have been his best of the season, and quite dramatically so. For me, it's not having as many missed assignments. He seems to learn quickly and not repeat those mistakes. As far as leadership stuff, it’s more anecdotal for us than observed, given we're no longer at practice and we are so far from the sideline at games. And there are lots of positives there, including Ben Morrison "coaching" from the hospital post-surgery.
MikeD from Rochester N.Y.: Hi, Eric!! Great postgame YouTube with Bob Morton this week, he offers great insights and isn’t afraid to share them LOL. Does USC have enough really good receivers to test our depth at CB? If they put 4 WRs on the field, I would assume Hobbs would have to cover one or, if we incur another injury back there, you or Tyler might have to suit up. I’m sure Al Golden and Mike Mickey’s will be prepared for something like that but it worries me because USC seems to always have strength at WR. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and insights in these chats, you are the best!!!!
Eric Hansen: Hey MikeD. Thanks for the plug and for watching Into The eNDzone. I wish we could do it for every postgame, but the home games don't lend themselves to that this year. Our next one will be after Army. Yes USC has a lot of receivers and they can and do play four at a time at times and there is very good balance statistically in that group. They do throw the ball a lot. They do not throw it well consistently. They're 57th nationally in pass efficiency. But still, especially after playing Army's triple option the week before, they are going to be a difficult changeup.
It's difficult to say how much Hobbs may have progressed by then. I could see ND throwing Rod Heard II into the mix more given his cornerback speed and cornerback background.
Tom from Toronto: Hi Eric. I think that the smart money says that ND will win out and make it to the playoffs. I also expect that once in the playoffs there will be a very hard fought game that will take an extreme effort to win. My concern is whether Coach Freeman has planned well for the contingency of getting ready for this next game. Sometimes even a very good team with an excellent coach can fall prey to a next game malaise. ND and Florida State in 1993 comes to mind. No. 2 ND beats No. 1 Florida State in South Bend by a touchdown. The next week, ND loses to Boston College in South Bend by three points. Needless to say, the team was flat. As to my questions, do you know whether ND will avoid another night flight that gets the team in at 4:00 am the next day and make sure that everyone gets a chance to rest property, physically and mentally. Do you know whether Coach Freeman has spoken to Lou Holtz about this, and whether Coach Holtz would have done things differently in the prepararon for the next game? And has ND's psychological guru put together a plan to deal with this possibility. And do you think that I should be banned from asking questions for future chats for the rest of the year? As usual, I look forward to your insights. Thank you.
Eric Hansen: Tom, you went down a deep rabbit hole there, and I'm going to attribute it to a post-Canadian Thanksgiving tryptophan hangover? No, there will be no banning you, but if you're going to have a Molson, at least bring me one. Let's start with the 4 a.m. flight concept. The only game away from ND Stadium before USC is Army in New York. ND will come back right after the game, so it will be late when they get back, but not 4 a.m., I don't think. That is also a light week academically.
I think keeping the NIU game front and center should be enough of a reminder of what can happen if ND doesn't prepare mentally the right way. I don't think Marcus needs Lou Holtz's advice on that. I think keeping it simple is a good way to approach it.
Mike from Phoenix: Eric, Happy chat day my friend. My coffee is tasting better and the sun is shining brighter these days and before you ask I haven’t spiked my Kool-aid just yet. Can I just say how much I love what HC Marcus Freeman is doing?! Continues to show the NIU lowlights to the team and after winning by 37 says there’s so much more. Sure beats shopping down a different isle and hoping the other team doesn’t come out at half. Can I dream for a bit? Coach in 3rd year, loses game 2, goes on to beat Purdue, Army, Navy, USC and GT. I’m talking about 1977 of course. The last 3 teams that the 1977 team beat? Clemson, Miami and Texas. Marcus Freeman is the RKG. questions… QB, OL, LB, TE rooms set for next year. How many portal additions do you think ND adds? Nickel back, corner depth, interior DL? Sorry for the essay. Cheers! Go IRISH!
Eric Hansen: Mike, I don't know what's in your coffee beyond caffeine, but I think I want to live in your world. Very cool. I did read your essay and will pass that along to your 11th-grade English teacher. I'll handle the questions! The portal additions will be influenced, as you know, by portal departures and also how the 2025 class fills out these final weeks of that cycle. But putting those factors aside, interior D-line makes sense, maybe a defensive end depending on the recovery timelines for Botelho and Traore. For sure nickel and kicker, maybe WR, maybe punter. Cheers.
Roger from Peoria: Hi Eric! Certainly a big win for the Irish over Navy. How disappointed must the Navy team and its fans be, kinda like Irish fans after NIU. Maybe? The Irish have lost significant players on defense and the o-line this year. If you had the ability to enable ONE of the players lost for the 2024 season to be recovered to play the rest of the 2024 season, who would you pick and why? And, while wishing no one else to get hurt, what ONE player do you feel the Irish can least afford to lose to an injury and why? Again, thanks and kudos to you and to Tyler who are simply un-Rivaled!!
Eric Hansen: Hi Roger, thanks for the kudos and the well-played pun! In playing with the first part of that question, I am assuming you'd get that player at 100% and not one with physical and mental hurdles. If so, I'd still take Ben Morrison, with Boubacar or Botelho my second choice. Jagusah makes a ton of sense, but we really don't know how good he is with just one full college game and a few snaps beyond that. Someday, yes, big time. To the other question, ND can't lose another cornerback. Can't.
Len from the Jersey Shore: Hello Eric!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for hosting. Hope you enjoy this second bye week. Next Tuesday will be the first time that CFP committee will rank the teams under the 12 team format. Based upon expectations after next week's games how many conferences will have multiple entries? It could be Sec -4 , Big 10 - 4, Big 12 - 1-2, ACC 1 - 2 plus that 5th conference champion, currently most likely Boise State. That is as many as 13. How many do you see from each conference and, If ND is in the top 12 in these first rankings, what conference will be complaining?
Eric Hansen: Len!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You win the exclamation point battle today, even defeating the OG, Manny. Congrats, your very own autographed picture of Tyler James is on the way! Let me start with the ND part of your question. Given that the Irish are 9 in the AP poll and nine in the coaches poll, being in the top 12 by the CFP committee seems pretty safe, no? I did the seeding based on a combination of conference leaders and AP poll position. I had to use the coaches poll to break the tie for the final at-large spot. But the committee won't be seeding these teams, just ranking them. And so Boise State won't likely be in the top 12, but they would be in the playoff field if the season ended today. So the math is pretty easy.
Based on the AP poll, it would be 4 SEC teams, 3 Big Ten teams, 2 each from the ACC and Big 12 and ND. Will the CFP perfectly align with the AP poll? Probably not. And there are games this weekend that will shuffle the rankings, but I think this is pretty close. Now in terms of the playoff field, whole different ball game. It would look like this if the season ended today: Byes and 1-4 seeds: 1. Oregon, 2. Miami, 3. Texas A&M, 4. BYU. 5. Georgia, 6. Penn State, 7, Ohio State, 8. Texas, 9. Tennessee, 10 . ND, 11. Clemson and 12, Boise State.
Kelly from Calgary: Did we recruit Marshall Pritchett at any time.I seen he has landed at Alabama.If he's half as good as his dad Wes was at ND,he would be an asset to the Irish.Keep the good work going.
Eric Hansen: Thanks, Kelly. Marshall is a really good tight end and ND did a deep evaluation of him. He visited four times, including a couple of camps at ND. In the end, there was another legacy tight end ND preferred, and that was James Flanigan, son of former Irish standout D-lineman Jim Flanigan.
Matt (KC): Quickfire Five: 1. Any chance any of the season ending injuries might actually be available if we get into playoff and make a deep run? 2. What do you think the pundits get really wrong about this Notre Dame team? 3. Is CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey the real 3rd string QB? 4. Do you expect Mitchell Evans to become a real factor in the offense over this last stretch? 5. Seems like we are now thin at CB, can our safeties play CB in a pinch or would we adjust scheme a bit?
Eric Hansen: Hi Matt. 1. Other than Gi'Bran Payne and Tae Johnson (who isn't out for the year, but hasn't yet debuted), it's hard to think of someone in that category who could come back and make an impact, and even those two would be a stretch at their impact. 2. I am too stupid for this question. I'm not sure if you're asking me to predict what someone will get wrong about ND or what they haven't gotten right at this point. The fact that the AP preseason No. 7 team is currently the No. 8 team, they didn't miss by much so far. 3. Minchey. Carr is hurt. But that means nothing when ot comes to who is No. 1 in 2025. That is WIDE open. 4. Yes, yes, yes. 5. Yes, Heard and Clark can play outside corner. The preference, though, is for them to be emergency options and not rotational ones.
Lorne from Reno. Hello, Eric, and thanks as always for the chats. I enjoy watching prospects from recruit to player to the draft and the pros. I have not seen anything since the beginning of the NFL season on Irish in the pros. Is there a list somewhere of who is playing where? Any chance for a bye-week follow-up on our former players? I still remember the draft "expert" who said what a bad pick Harrison Smith was for the Vikings. On the props-to-analysts side, you nailed it with your projections of Wagner starting when he got big enough and Love exploding this year.
Eric Hansen: Hi Lorne, thanks for remembering my correct predictions. I'm sure I got a bunch wrong too. ... As far as ND guys in the NFL, we'll probably try to get one of them on the podcast down the stretch. For now, here is a complete list of who's playing where as of last Monday, courtesy of ND.
Matt from Austin: Hi Eric, I hope that you are able to enjoy the bye week with some rest and family time, though I'm not foolish enough to think that you won't still be super busy. After the very strong win over Navy, do you see any major hurdles to us running the table (injuries aside). We should be strong favorites in each remaining game. We also seem to be building skill, confidence, and execution each week.. Could it be that NIU was the wake up call or reality check that ND players needed to realize that Coach Freeman's emphasis on getting better every game was, in fact, very true? Thank you Eric, as always!!
Eric Hansen: HI Matt. I did an analysis earlier this week on what ND needs to do better and how it can get better. Being as good as they are now isn't going to be good enough in December and maybe not in November either. But I do think ND has dealt with the NIU loss in the most productive way possible. And yes, you can see the improvement both on paper (with stats) and with the eye test.
JBuckley from San Diego: Greetings from Sunny San Diego, Great win, and now it seems were starting to get a little respect. What did you think of Faison's Play, difference maker!!!!!!!!! . Also, how did you like the play of some of the backups, Luke Talich seemed to play well, I'm trying to look at the future of this team, and really like where we are at depth wise. What position do you see where we need to add some depth? DB's? Is the D-line going to Ok after next year? Where is Brendon Vernon? Bad practice player? What's holding him back? I heard Montana was a bad practice player, but just showed up in games. Anyways, Thanks for all you do and all your football wisdom you in part on us. ;)
Eric Hansen: JBuck. You are awesome and I love your questions, but if I had a nickel for every time I've been asked about Brenan Vernon this year, I'd be able to move to San Diego and retire. So let me start there. Short answer. Changing positions, changing his body, 2025 spring and season will be key to how that's going. He was not expected to be a factor this year. ... As far as what the team will look like in 2025, ND is going to add through recruiting and the portal. And there will be some surprise roster exits -- there always are. But the irony is we'll be talking about the surplus of offensive line talent next year and all that experience. Probably the position groups of least certainty for 2025 at this juncture -- and that can change -- are interior D-line and WR.
Ed from Sayville, N.Y.: Hello Eric and hope you are doing well. When I think of sustainable success for the Irish on the field and throughout the program, it becomes more and more clear how essential it is to have talented people working hand in hand with Coach Freeman and his coordinators to identify and recruit talent from multiple pools (H.S., portal etc), manage NIL, maintain relationships with players and parents, the list goes on and on. My question is would it be possible to get Chad Bowden on the podcast? I realize he isn’t the only individual supporting the myriad needs of the program, but a discussion with him would be well worth a listen. Go ☘️
Eric Hansen: Hi Ed, We have tried and will continue to try. He had some bad experiences with doing some media commitments a year ago and might need some time to get past that. I would love to have him on and really enjoy talking to him.
Sean from Portland, Ore.: Any update on how some of the transfers *away* from ND are doing this year? I think Rico Flores is doing fine on UCLA even though they're bad. How's Tobias at Cal? Tyree is a 5th option at Virginia?
Eric Hansen: Hi Sean. I've done some updates earlier and will do them again when we get to bowl/playoff season. Deal?
Mike from Phoenix: Eric, I know this is beyond your scope as you are in the press box but can I petition to have Sean McDonough be the voice for ND in future games? One of the best in the business. Thank you.
Eric Hansen: I thought he did a great job on the Navy game. That whole crew was really good.
Sean from Schaumburg, Ill.: Eric, another spectacular FNS. I thought from minutes 28-33 talking about the O-line of Schrauth moving to the left side was great. Insightful. Apropos. Minutes 38-42 was great insight as well. You guys, like the team, are rounding into great form. My question is-rounding into form in late October/early November isn't cutting it. I'm from the NW Burbs of Chicago and the NIU game hangs over this team like the Sword of Damacles. How can Freeman make another evolution and eliminate those early season stumbles? OSU/Marshall in 2022. Even the Stanford loss in 2022 was foundation shaking. OSU/10-men on the field in 2023. NIU this year. The team has a narrower margin by being independent. Need TAMU to keep winning. Army in NYC and then USC in Cali. I'm like Tyler-apprehensive to believe they can win out. FSU is causing angst at 1-7. The spector of NIU is ever-present. Thank you. Go Irish!!
Eric Hansen: Sean, thanks for the compliments and your observations. I don't think there's anything I can say that will make you feel better. Life isn't about avoiding adversity. It's about how you handle it. And I think Marcus has handled his learning curve in a pretty impressive fashion. It took Brian Kelly several years, with experience before coming to ND, to consistently win all the games ND should win. His stumbling block was handling things consistently on the big stages, which Marcus has done a better job of as a young coach. I like the trajectory Marcus Freeman is on, and I can reassess that after the USC game. But in the 12-team playoff era, losing to NIU isn't what it was on the four-team playoff era.
Patrick from Los Angeles: Thank you for the chats. Can you kindly rank the three toughest remaining games in order after USC, and give your opinions for your rankings?
Eric Hansen: OK, Patrick, so you are saying USC is the toughest. From there I'd say Army, Virginia and Florida State in that order. Rocket science at its best. 😀
Eric Hansen: ALMOST got through the entire queue today. Thanks for all the great questions. We'll be back next Wednesday at noon ET to do it all over again.
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