Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 NOV. 7, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC HANSEN T he season's first College Football Playoff rankings were released Nov. 3, three days after the Irish resumed play with a neutral-site matchup against Navy and four days before the Nov. 7 showdown in South Bend with No. 1 Miami. No matter what the CFP selection committee's first snapshot said about Notre Dame, what really counts is who the Irish become in November. Fifth-year head coach Marcus Freeman's November record is 14-2 (.875) heading into the Miami show- down. That includes an active 11- game win streak in such games, with the most recent loss coming at Clem- son (31-23) on Nov. 4, 2023. Parity is real, and so are Notre Dame's national title ambitions. But just because you're not broken doesn't mean you shouldn't evolve with urgency. How- ever, the Navy game wasn't going to be a very good gauge of what that process looked like during the bye week or what's to come in November. Which isn't all bad. Miami is the first team to find out whether the Irish are truly new and im- proved — beyond simply executing what they already do at a higher level. For a team that would be on the cusp of receiving a first-round bye in the 12- team College Football Playoff if the sea- son concluded at the end of October, Notre Dame feels like a team with as many questions as answers. Here are four predictions about what that evolution will look like in Novem- ber for a team I believe will make the CFP field: The Best Of CJ Carr Is Yet To Come Some of that is the road ahead. And some of it is junior quarterback CJ Carr learning to trust his teammates — and allowing his teammates to raise their own level — rather than trying to do something heroic when something routine is the better path to victory. A third-and-6 call from the sidelines with an easy 10-yard upside beats the risk of a 30-yard heave into the end zone in tight coverage, and Carr knows it. He just had to be reminded. One of Miami's few statistical soft spots is its pass defense. The Hurricanes were 55th in pass efficiency defense at the end of October. That was only third-best of Notre Dame's November opponents. And when you look at all 12 opponents, Wisconsin (seventh as of Oct. 30) and BYU (19th) are by far the best they'll see in that category this season. The Badgers (5-2), incidentally, limited South- ern Cal to its fewest points (7) under fifth-year coach Lincoln Riley in a 24-7 victory Oct. 24. The next step for Carr isn't becoming more spectacular. It's becoming more selective about when spectacular is necessary. Jonaz Walton Should Never Be An After- thought Again The game-day communication about which running backs are in the game — and which ones should be in the game — needed to be streamlined, with the of- fensive play caller breaking any ties. The freshman running back Jonaz Walton not only gets the tough yards in traffic but also provides explosive plays in the running game. And that can affect how opposing defensive coordinators game plan for the Irish, including committing fewer resources to pass defense. But not if Walton is only going to get 5 carries, as he did in the BYU game before the bye week Oct. 17. The Irish Will Tap Into Charlie Par- tridge's Expertise One of the pluses of bringing Charlie Partridge on board this offseason as Notre Dame's defensive line coach under longtime cohort Chris Ash isn't just their familiarity. It's the different perspectives they've devel- oped when their coaching paths diverged. That, and Partridge having both the li- cense and gumption to challenge the second- year Irish defensive co- ordinator in the meeting room and vice versa. Partridge has a long track record of success- fully marrying fronts to coverages. The BYU game shows how much that skill set needs to be highlighted. The re- sult won't necessarily be a dramatic sche- matic makeover. It could be something more valuable — a defense with more answers when its first plan doesn't work. Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock Will Unleash Some Schematic Wrinkles That Have Been Fermenting That includes not only building a deeper re- ceiving rotation around Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse and Micah Gilbert, but also being more creative with Faison. Jet sweeps. Misdirection. Lining him up or motioning him into different spots in the formation adds another dimension to the nation's No. 6 scoring offense — one that should translate against the better defenses Notre Dame faces. The computer rankings that used to be part of the old BCS formula may already see Notre Dame as a national championship contender. Whether the Irish become one in December and January will depend on how much they're willing and able to evolve in November. ✦ UNDER THE DOME PREDICTIONS FOR NOVEMBER What the Irish become in the final month of the season matters much more than the early CFP Top 25 snapshot Freshman running back Jonaz Walton should be a bigger part of the Irish offense after getting just 5 carries in the loss at BYU Oct. 17. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER