Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1491978
24 MARCH 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA M arcus Freeman's first season as the head coach at Notre Dame had a bit of everything. Close but not-close-enough calls versus multiple Heisman Trophy- caliber quarterbacks. Multiple home losses to teams Notre Dame just couldn't afford to lose to. Multiple victories over teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at the time of kickoff. Four of them, in fact, including a resounding three-touch- down win over then-No. 4 Clemson. It even included having to use two different quarterbacks. Not out of choice but out of necessity. Freeman would be happy to replicate the ranked wins in 2023. He can do with- out another loss to Southern Cal's Caleb Williams and whoever else might emerge as a world-class signal-caller. Clemson's Cade Klubnik? Ohio State's Kyle Mc- Cord? The potential is there, which is a scary proposition for the Fighting Irish. No Notre Dame season is ever a cake- walk. It only took Freeman two weeks to realize that last September. He's going to run into more obstacles this year. It comes with the territory. Many things, though, he can plan for. These are Notre Dame's top five story- lines heading into the upcoming season. QUARTERBACK CLARITY The 2023 Notre Dame quarterback room went through a makeover. Two of the faces, junior Tyler Buch- ner and sophomore Steve Angeli, are the same. But the other two, graduate student Wake Forest transfer Sam Hart- man and true freshman Kenny Minchey, are different. In the end, Buchner is once again bat- tling for a starting job. Only this time, he's in a completely contrasting position com- pared to where he was a year ago. Then, he was widely billed as the favorite to beat out junior Drew Pyne for the starting job. That's exactly what he did. This time, he's got to be as close to perfect as possible to earn the nod over Hartman. The five-year Demon Deacons veteran left Winston-Salem, N.C., as the ACC's all-time leader in touchdown passes (110). He has 45 college starts to his name. Bu- chner has three. The shoulder injury that required surgery and held Buchner out of 10 games in 2022 is the reason why he's playing catch-up in a year many thought might be his breakout opportunity. Experience is paramount at the most important position in the sport. Hart- man has it. Buchner does not. Notre Dame's offseason quarterback com- plexion is as clear as a model's face on a Proactiv commercial as a result. Barring anything unforeseen or unusual, Hart- man will lead Notre Dame into the 2023 season as the team's starter. GRUELING SCHEDULE By the time August rolls around, Notre Dame fans are starving for Fight- ing Irish football. They're going to get it in bulk this year. When Notre Dame kicks off versus Navy Aug. 26, it'll be the first of eight weeks in a row of the Irish kicking off on Saturdays. They have to go all the way to Dublin, Ireland, to get things started against the Midshipmen. They return home to face an FCS opponent, Tennes- see State, for the first time ever. The talent gap in that game is going to be immense, but going against any foe one week after strapping up overseas is no small feat. Playing at North Carolina State one week after that is a tall task, too. Notre Dame should be no worse than 2-1 after that matchup, but the physical and emo- tional toll taken could be extraordinary. All of that comes before a Sept. 23 re- match against the Ohio State Buckeyes, whose schedule to that point is much more inviting than that of Notre Dame. Two road games against ACC teams that combined for nine conference victories in 2022, Duke and Louisville, immedi- ately follow the Ohio State game. Then Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Wil- liams and Southern Cal travel to South Bend one week before the Irish finally get a break in the action. A team's bye week not coming until Oct. 21 is unusual. How Freeman and his team handles the peculiar nature of the 2023 slate will go a long way in de- termining how the Irish fare as a whole. Round Two With his inaugural season as Notre Dame's head coach in the books, Marcus Freeman has more managing to do in Year 2