Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 SEPT. 20, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED INAUSPICIOUS DEBUT It was obvious to me that Chris Ash's defense isn't Al Golden's. 1) Practically zero blitzing on obvious Miami passing downs, giving Carson Beck way too much time! 2) Way too soft coverage by defensive backs, allowing wide open receptions. 3) Obvious lack of competitive size on our D-line. It looked like a high school D-line against a massive college O-line. Do we not have any 300-pound nose tackles? We really do miss Rylie Mills! C.G. Tyner Definitely not the debut Ash and Co. were hoping for, C.G. Two things to note: Miami's massive offensive line — which averages 6-6, 318 pounds — was as good as advertised and the Irish D-line — whose top eight averages 6-4, 278 — did play better as the game went on. Moving forward, the Irish front four needs to be better from the get-go. In the offseason, the Irish had a stated goal to mix in more zone coverage to complement their heavy man-to-man mentality. Unfortunately, the Hurri- canes had the personnel (veteran QB and speedy receivers), scheme and the pass blocking to pick apart the zone. With that said, if the Irish are going to play that much more zone coverage they need to get better at it. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Following the Miami game, the Notre Dame football team has some issues to resolve but some encouraging signs as well. The offensive and defensive lines need improvement. For offense, the QB pass protection wasn't good, nor ability to open holes for a run game. For de- fense, there was inadequate pass rush, and mediocre stopping of the run game. Also, the backfield defense allowed too many pass completions by Miami quar- terback Carson Beck. On the other hand, after a shaky first half, Irish quarterback CJ Carr pulled his game together and made a strong run at winning the game (not sure why the coaches didn't call more run plays, but that remains to be answered). Some excellent receiver pass receptions were encouraging. There are a number of new starters and coaches, so let's hope they can find answers to these concerns and move forward in the weeks ahead. JT O'Reilly '61 Despite the loss, JT, there was plenty to be encouraged about, not the least of which was the play of Carr. Consider that the Irish did not play their best and still had a chance to win on the road against a top-10 opponent, before surrendering a long field goal with just more than a minute to go in the game. FAN FORUM BE HEARD! Send your letters to: steve.downey@on3.com or mail to: Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 It's never fun to open the season with a loss, but — for the most part — Irish fans maintained a posi- tive mindset after Notre Dame's 27-24 season-opening defeat at Miami. Here is a sampling from the BlueandGold.com message board of how they were feeling during the week after the game. Irishcliff: It's early in the season, close loss to good team during rainy night game at their house, and we had a first-time starter at QB. A number of positives to build on. But SMH at classic ND: finally get elite or damn good talent at all the skill positions, and the O- and D-lines lose some of their legendary physicality. Gvl_Irish: Still wondering why we didn't give the ball to RBs more and kinda forgot that Chris Ash is calling his first game. Freeman and Golden both had their struggles early on with the defense. We played a C-type game and lost by 3. Joe M: Not much better. The areas that were supposed to be a strength of this team were average (defense) and bad (OL). I know the defensive stats weren't terrible, but the defense just seemed off in Game 1. Not as fast or aggressive and too many easy tosses and catches to open receivers. I also think we miss Xavier Watts more than we thought we would. I think he would've made a play on at least one of the two longer TD throws from Beck. PuntaGordaIrish: ND will be just fine, a 3-point loss on the road to a current top-10 team is nothing to be ashamed of. Growing pains are a part of the process, the overall mission hasn't changed. Lots to clean up, but I'm confident this staff will get the team ready. A&M is leaving with a loss. 51yardboot: I'm fine. I saw some good things. And the bad things are correctable. If the team comes out flat against Texas A&M, then I will start making other plans for Saturday afternoons this fall. As of right now, I fully expect the team to run the table the remainder of the regular season; get a #5 seed; and, at least make it to the quarterfinals. irishfan_1983: I learned a long time ago not to allow the outcome of a football game determine my mood going forward. I was over it before I got out of the stadium. I'm optimistic that the coaching staff will figure it out before aTm comes to South Bend in two weeks. The Big Montana: Overall, not a bad loss at all, and lots to like despite the score. Going into the next game, my questions are whether the defense can find that aggressiveness and create turnovers or other errors, and whether the offensive line can establish the run against good teams. FROM THE WEB .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! Sign up for just $1 for the first seven days! First-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash had a rocky start in Notre Dame's season-opening 27-24 loss at Miami Aug. 31. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER