Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540307
6 OCT. 18, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NEW THREADS Shocking news! As a lifetime Notre Dame fan and former resident of South Bend, "The Bend" on Notre Dame sports jerseys is a direct reference to a down-and-out bar on South Michigan Street! George Page Thanks for sharing, George. As men's head coach Micah Shrewsberry noted , "The Bend" uniforms pay tribute to the school's hometown of South Bend, in- corporating a host of design elements reflecting the community and its history. 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 was not a smooth start to the season for the Notre Dame defense under first-year coordinator Chris Ash. The Irish found their footing in the fourth and fifth games of the season, though, holding Arkansas and Boise State to 13 and 7 points, respectively. Irish fans realized that they may have underestimated the loss of defensive coordinator Al Golden, who took the same job with the NFL's Cincinnati Ben- gals, and All-America safety Xavier Watts, a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft who is currently thriving with the Atlanta Falcons. The good news, though, is that this year's unit seems to have turned the corner. Here is what some Irish fans had to say about that topic on our mes- sage board at BlueandGold.com. Cdvund2K: I must be an idiot and was really drinking the Kool-Aid this off season. But for me (and likely many fans) to not think there was going to be major ramifications to losing the Broyles award winner, 3rd year DC and 2x AA veteran safety, literal eraser of all mistakes on the back end was stupid. And to do that and play the first two teams we played was sort of suicide by schedule. Unfortunately, ND has struggled with having an elite front 4. The [Isaiah] Foskeys and the [Jerry] Tillerys don't come around very often. Luckily, we have [defensive backs coach Mike] Mickens, [head coach Marcus] Freeman and a very talented back 7. Once Golden adjusted to this, he structured his defense accordingly to blitz and pressure often and marry that to sticky man coverage. Paramount to that was X Watts being able to leverage almost any coverage lapse and let [Adon] Shuler play closer to the box. Fingers crossed, it seems like we are getting back to those principles and if [redshirt freshman safety] Tae Johnson hits, we should have the person- nel to pull it off again. Also, [redshirt sophomore defensive end] Boubacar [Traore] seems to look like that special type of edge that we haven't had in a long while. mh2365: Long post to say the defense has played great the last two weeks. Moshpickle94: I had the same thought. This thread was more relevant three weeks ago, but I guess it's better late than never. Domerdad: Maybe late but not wrong. [Graduated linebacker Jack] Kiser [was a big loss], too. Youarethe298: Agree, and Notre Dame AD doesn't help either opening every year on the road vs. a top-10 opponent followed up by another top-20 team. I mean who does that? Also, this is where Notre Dame's refusal to take undergrads hurts. What if you could have brought in a couple of 5-star studs undergrad D-lineman or a safety DB like Ohio State did when they brought in Caleb Downs after their best corner went to the NFL? Bigjoe22: I think we will see how far the defense has really come when we play USC. NYC2020: If USC loses to Michigan, they might have packed it in by the time they play ND. But yes, that's the only decent/pretty good offense that ND plays the rest of the year. If no major injuries to their top players. Their defense is still pretty bad. JonSal: If they lose to Michigan they will be desperate for a win against us and that scares me more. Hope they win in a slugfest and come to South Bend battered but in the top 25. jpm34_NDFI: I think maybe [Bryce] Young may have over-grown? But the defense does seem to be catching stride. JBM19: We played the #1 team in the country on the road with a freshman QB! Then a top-10 team immediately after and much went wrong and lost by a point! Charlie T: In the 2025 draft, Ohio State had 8 defensive players drafted and their DC left. The way we have been recruiting along with the portal and still making excuses. goirish94: Agree … but, as for our defense, we need a lot of girth in the middle. Man, we have "tiny, but MIGHTY" [redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan] Hinish in the middle. No offense, but on the big screen, he looks like one of Dorothy's munchkins lined up against a giant King Kong … No AI needed … LOL … Go Irish! FROM THE WEB .com .com JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! Sign up for just $1 for the first seven days! "The Bend" uniforms are a great way for both the men's and women's programs to recognize and honor the community that supports Irish hoops. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS