Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 SEPT. 20, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Chris Ash Doubters Look Pretty Smart Right Now The refrain by those who weren't convinced Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made the right decision in hiring Chris Ash as his defen- sive coordinator focused on Ash coming out of nowhere in the college football defensive coordi- nator market. He spent the last four seasons in the NFL, and the last was a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It seemed unfair to hold Ash's failings as Rutgers' head coach or recent NFL roles against him in gaug- ing his ability to succeed in his current role at Notre Dame. Ash seemed to fit the mold of previous defensive coordinator Al Golden, who rebounded from being fired as Miami's head coach by spending multiple seasons in the NFL before Freeman hired him as his first defensive coordinator. Maybe Golden set the bar too high for Ash. For- get clearing the bar. It hit Ash square in the fore- head in his first two games at Notre Dame. The Irish defense looks nothing like the one we've come to expect under Freeman. It can't cover. It can't pressure the quarterback. And it folds in the deciding moments of the game. 2. Notre Dame's Secondary Depth Isn't As Strong As Perceived When cornerback Leonard Moore limped off the field with a right ankle injury in the second quarter, Texas A&M didn't waste any time in taking advantage of Notre Dame's secondary. Quarter- back Marcel Reed completed back-to-back passes to wide receiver KC Concepcion for 16 and 45 yards, which put the Aggies at the 1-yard line to set up a rushing touchdown. Concepcion's second reception of the pair came after beating freshman cornerback Mark Zackery IV, who replaced Moore, deep down the field. Notre Dame also surrendered a touchdown in the season opener at Miami when fellow starting cornerback Christian Gray briefly left the field with a throat injury. At least for Zackery, that one didn't come at his expense. The Irish were forced to play Karson Hobbs as its lone nickel back after he split reps with Alabama transfer DeVonta Smith in the season opener. An ankle injury in pregame warmups unexpect- edly kept Smith sidelined for the game, Freeman shared. Hobbs had a hard time covering slot re- ceiver Mario Craver, who finished with 7 catches for 207 yards and 1 touchdown. Hobbs could have been a hero when Reed over- threw Concepcion in the end zone on A&M's final drive, but Hobbs failed to catch the ball that went right by him. 3. Wildcat Formation Might Be A Necessary Evil Notre Dame's direct snaps to running backs Jer- emiyah Love and Jadarian Price didn't offer a lot of creativity, but it's hard to complain too much about offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock get- ting the ball in the hands of those playmakers. The results were mostly underwhelming, but Love powered through a fourth-and-1 conversion from a direct snap that set up his go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Love made a poor decision on the previous fourth-down attempt out of the Wildcat forma- tion. He tried to run outside rather than plunging ahead of blockers, and that put him on the path to an unblocked defensive back. Notre Dame probably needs to introduce some wrinkles to its Wildcat looks to make it a long- standing part of the offense, but I'm more open to it than the screen passes against Miami. 4. CJ Carr's Growing Pains Are Understandable And Frustrating Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr has lived up to high expectations in the first two starts of his career, but he's also looked like an inexperienced quarterback at times, too. He shouldn't have thrown the pass that got tipped and intercepted against Texas A&M. He could have easily picked up yardage with his legs rather than trying to force a pass to Price. Carr shouldn't have clapped his hands near the end of the first half while center Ashton Craig was over the ball. Carr clapped in disgust, and Craig thought that meant Carr wanted the ball snapped to him. Fortunately for Notre Dame, it didn't turn into any points for Texas A&M after Randy Bond missed his 52-yard field goal attempt. Carr also needs to clean up his intentional grounding penalties. He already has three in two games. He panicked when throwing away a botched screen pass against A&M. 5. Finding The Silver Lining For The Irish Yes, Notre Dame's College Football Playoff chances might be dead by mid-September. Yes, the first two results have been incredibly disappointing for Notre Dame. But losing twice by a combined four points to a pair of teams that may belong in the top 10 in the country is far from embarrassing. Maybe if Notre Dame can string some wins together and chaos ensues elsewhere, a playoff path for the Irish will reveal itself. Regardless, the rest of the season is far from meaningless. If Notre Dame can find improvement this season and continue to develop a quarterback who can be special in the future, there's a lot to work with for Freeman. FIVE THOUGHTS BY TYLER JAMES Sophomore cornerback Karson Hobbs (No. 21) missed an opportunity to be the hero when he failed to reel in an overthrown pass in the end zone on Texas A&M's game-winning drive. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER