Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 17, 2026 15 "I think we're growing, right?" Den- brock said. "If we can lean on the run game when we need to and still have the explosiveness that we have to throw the football vertically down the field, then we become a lot harder to defend, obvi- ously. So, that's the goal. "And I think we've continued to make a little progress every week. It may not be as fast as some people may like it, but I'm happy with where we're headed and really [with] the response that they've had week to week about getting better at some of the little things. And it showed up in games." THE FINE LINE BETWEEN TALENT AND TRUST Junior wide receiver Mylan Graham, a transfer from Ohio State, and freshman tight end Ian Premer, a former five-star prospect, have the upside to help the Irish now. So why haven't they contrib- uted more? Entering the Stanford game Oct. 10, they had combined for 3 receptions this season — all by Graham — for 32 yards. He had 75 offensive snaps on the sea- son, but didn't play a single one against North Carolina, with just two special teams cameos in that game. Most of Premer's playing time has been on special teams. Against North Carolina, he played 9 special teams snaps and 1 offensive snap, bringing his season total on offense to 22. "I think they're both close," Denbrock said. "The thing for me really is you get to critical situations in the game. To me, third down is one of those — wherever you are on the field, right? Red zone, you have to earn the opportunity to be in, in those down-and-distance situa- tions, in my opinion. "That trust is earned through what we do on the practice field, and it's earned when you do get an opportunity in a game to prove that you're capable of doing that. The argument can always be made: how do you know whether he can do it or not if he doesn't get an op- portunity in a game? "I see him every day. We've got to con- tinue to build consistency and depth in guys that we feel like we can put in those situations, knowing how critical it is to us staying on the field and continuing to possess the ball as we get through the season. And, hopefully, we continue to do that. "I mean, it's not a conspiracy theory where we're necessarily trying to keep anybody off the field. It's more of a [sit- uation where] we've got to continue to build enough trust between not only myself, the position coach, the quarter- back and those players and everybody, so that we can execute at a higher level." Sometimes it takes a light bulb mo- ment for that player to understand what's required to earn more opportunities. "I think we all know what's going to happen if [Jordan] Faison's in that posi- tion when it's a critical moment," Den- brock said. "Is that Micah Gilbert? It's becoming more so that way. But beyond those two guys, the running backs have done a really nice job. "So, where are the other guys? We've got to continue to bring those guys along, because we're going to need them before this whole thing's over to be a bigger piece of the puzzle." One player whose production hasn't reflected how much trust he's built is senior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse. Greathouse played in each of the first five games, logged 149 offensive snaps and yet had a modest 8 catches for 108 yards and 1 touchdown heading into the Notre Dame-Stanford game. "He's an incredible contributor to what we do offensively, regardless of whether he's catching 10,000 footballs or not," Denbrock said. "I think he's blocking his behind off. He's running routes and doing his responsibilities within the framework for our offense at an unbelievable level. "The ball hasn't happened to find him as much as all of us would like. But, hopefully, as we continue to go, if he continues to be consistent in what he's doing, the football gods doth reward people who play the game the right way. And I look forward to seeing him in and getting some of that." DEFENDING THE CALLS — AND THE QUARTERBACK Notre Dame fans want more play-ac- tion passes, it seems, and wonder why the Irish are near the bottom of college football, allegedly, in utilizing that part of the game. This exchange illustrates what Denbrock thinks about that: "I would argue with Pro Football Fo- cus and their numbers based on — what the hell do they know whether it's play action or not?" Denbrock said. "Are they talking about straight naked boot- leg? Are they talking about flash action to the back? Are they talking about us chipping out? What exactly are the pa- rameters they're using to come up with their 15 percent?" Q: What percentage would you put on that? "I'd say it's probably 25 percent, maybe 30 percent of what we do." Q: What concerns do you have with the quarterback taking his eyes off down- field? "No, I don't have any concerns." Q: What makes a good play-action quarterback and a play-action team? What makes that more desirable to do? "A really good consistent run game." Another wrinkle in the offense that raises eyebrows and sometimes con- cerns is QB1 CJ Carr running the ball. Carr had carried the ball just 12 times in the first five games — only three more than his predecessor, Riley Leonard, did on Notre Dame's opening scoring drive alone in the 2024 season's national championship game. Carr's 12 carries, which included 2 sacks, went for 28 net yards with 3 touchdowns and a long run of 9 yards. "Quarterbacks are unaccounted for," Denbrock said. "And when people put 10 guys in the box, you don't have a lot of choices. You can tell a running back, 'Hey, you've got that guy and that guy and run them over and make a first down regardless, because that's what we do.' "Or there's situations where you're outnumbered, and the only way to get the numbers back in your favor is to run the quarterback. And we'll be very judicious about when that happens, but it will hap- pen. And CJ's not a china doll. He's spent a lot of time in the weight room. "And he is upset with me when I don't call his number, because he's a com- petitive dude, and he knows that there's times when that's going to be called on him to do. So everybody go on your pod- cast and calm Irish Nation down. "We're not going to put him in any more danger than we have to. But the fact of the matter is there are going to be times where it's critical that we get something done. "And if that calls upon us having to run the quarterback, then that's a deci- sion we have to make." ✦