And In That Corner … Stanford Cardinal’s weaknesses line up perfectly with Notre Dame’s strengths

By Douglas FarmerOct 13, 2022, 9:30 AM EDT

The beauty of Notre Dame playing both Stanford and Cal within one season is the same college-football mind can provide insight on both the Bay Area opponents. The only regret is both games are in South Bend, so a San Francisco beer cannot be personally bought for Alex Simon of The Mercury News.

He deserves one for turning around these answers on shorter notice than usual, given the effects of Las Vegas delayed much work around here.

The Irish host the Cardinal on Saturday at 7:30 ET on NBC.

DF: Wait, you were at Stanford’s 28-27 loss to Oregon State as a fan? You chose to go to that game? I ask this only somewhat in jest, why?

AS: The simple answer: it’s college football! I also love the Stanford band, which was their usual incorrigible delight. But as someone who is typically still working on Saturday nights, the one Saturday night I had free was this one (after I covered David Shaw’s son catching a game-winning touchdown pass, no less), and the chance to show a friend the underrated Stanford tailgate scene. And the game ended up being quite worthwhile!

I did not watch most of that game. More precisely, I saw the final six or seven minutes from a stool at a blackjack table in the Excalibur in Las Vegas, only a short walk from Allegiant Stadium. I missed most of the broadcast shots of fans sleeping through Stanford’s first chance at an FBS win in a long while. My primary takeaway was that the Cardinal is prone to giving up big plays. I don’t say that solely because of that disaster of a losing play; including that tackling catastrophe, Stanford has given up 10 explosive scores this season. Would you put the onus on the scheme or on players just getting beat?

It’s definitely more player-based in terms of the breakdown on that play. But even more than the scheme, there’s just a talent difference for the Cardinal right now. Stanford has always found specific niches where they were successful, and longtime defensive backs coach Duane Akina has been a bright spot — current Saints corner Paulson Adebo was just drafted after 2020. But in the last few years, the recruiting has dropped off rather significantly, and it’s starting to show on the field.

Note from Douglas: That is former Notre Dame commit Paulson Adebo, the Irish finishing as runner-ups to the Cardinal for the Texas product, a two-time first-team All-Pac 12 cornerback who could have, in theory, helped keep Notre Dame a bit more competitive in two Playoff appearances where its defensive backs were exposed.

Incredible. pic.twitter.com/LAQH6kj19Q

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 9, 2022

My instinct was both. It would be hard for one or the other to lead to a defense giving up 6.85 yards per rush against FBS opponents (sacks adjusted). Going against a Notre Dame offense that has leaned into the ground game the last three weeks, is there any reason to think the Cardinal will slow the Irish rushing attack? I am not saying Notre Dame will match the 281 yards on 54 carries it used to rout Stanford, 38-17, in 2018, but I did think to look up those numbers.

I would say no, but I do think the main way they could slow down the rushing attack is by being too vulnerable through the air while focusing on the ground. The Irish have obviously been more run-based in their recent upswing, but the Cardinal could sell out to stop the run and force Drew Pyne to try and beat it. North Carolina found out how that goes the hard way, but I still think Stanford’s more inclined to test it secondary rather than leave itself light in the box.

It seems I have little respect for the Cardinal defense. Tell me why I’m wrong.

I mean, this is a 1-4 team that ranks 110th of 131 FBS teams in points allowed per game — and that includes a 10-point effort against an FCS team. You’re well within reason to not give much respect! But could turnovers be a factor? Outside of the FCS game, Stanford has forced zero fumbles and has one interception. It wouldn’t shock me to see Stanford’s turnover luck swing its way here … if it creates the opportunity for it. We’ll see (… I’m grasping at straws here).

Offensively, Stanford became one-dimensional when sophomore running back Emmit Smith Jr. was sidelined for the year. I say that pretty harshly, and I stand by it even if the Cardinal has averaged 4.14 yards per carry in the last three games without Smith, gaining 356 yards on 86 carries (sacks adjusted). This is a fraught way to look at stats, but if you take out Stanford’s longest run in each game (22 yards, 24, 18), then that average carry falls to 3.52 yards. It is anything but a sustainable ground game. Have I overreacted to Smith’s absence in these judgments? Do you expect Smith to revive the running attack next year?

If anything, I think you could make the point that you’re underreacting. There was a point late in the fourth quarter on Saturday where I looked at the stats on the wraparound scoreboard and couldn’t believe Stanford had triple the passing yards (269) than rushing yards (90) against the Beavers. Tanner McKee is a good quarterback, but this is a very un-Stanford-like offense right now.

In looking at those rushing figures, I found Washington sacked Cardinal quarterbacks eight times for 37 yards. Eight times? Did the Stanford offensive line just wave through the Huskies? Is this the weekend Notre Dame sets its official sacks record, unofficially officially at nine?

I don’t think so, if only because Stanford’s use of the Wake Forest slow-mesh handoff could take would-be sacks of McKee and make them into tackles for loss of the running back. But yes, the Irish, Marcus Freeman and Al Golden should feel like this is a week they can really put up some strong numbers when rushing the passer.

Cardinal quarterback Tanner McKee has some NFL potential, but this team is thoroughly wasting it. Don your NFL scout hat and give me a rundown of what makes the pros so high on him.

Well, let’s start with the measurables: 6-foot-6, 230 pounds is essentially the same as Josh Allen (6-foot-5, 237 pounds). So if you take that as the archetype, then apply how Stanford has been blending its usual pro-style passing game — and he’s earned high remarks for his ability to move through his progressions, when given time to throw — with some modern innovations, like the Wake slow-mesh handoff, and you see adaptability. Even though the Cardinal seems hesitant to let him run, he’s shown flashes of being able to do so, like when he went for 15 yards against USC. His numbers even on a per-play basis are better than when Allen was at Wyoming … so if you see him like that, you can see big potential.

Two contrasting things worth pointing out, though: McKee is already 22 years old, having taken an LDS mission after high school. McKee also, technically, is only in his sophomore season of college eligibility right now. Does he get a high enough report that he decides it’s time to go pro now? It’s an interesting dilemma.

I suppose with a quarterback like that, I should take Stanford more seriously, but it is 0-11 against its last FBS opponents, losing by an average of 18.64 points. With that context and knowing the Cardinal is a 17-point underdog on the road this week, what do you expect to see Saturday night?

Well, last season, Notre Dame went to The Farm as a 19-point favorite and led 24-0 at halftime. That game finished 45-14, and to some, it was obvious that Notre Dame was going to have no trouble covering that number. The reason why is still true this week: Notre Dame’s biggest strengths are perfectly aligned with Stanford’s biggest weaknesses. Sure, Notre Dame could be more inclined to take its foot off of the gas than in last year’s game, when the College Football Playoff was still a remote possibility and the Irish wanted to send the best result possible. But even if so, Stanford’s already lost both of its road games this year by exactly 18 points. If you can get Notre Dame at -17 or lower …

It's deja vu all over again. Stanford's weaknesses play into #NotreDame's strengths. pic.twitter.com/KrwRvUtCwh

— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) October 9, 2022

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Georgia OL prospect the first commit for new Notre Dame OL coach Joe Rudolph

By Douglas FarmerMar 29, 2023, 4:49 PM EDT

@AnthonieKnapp55

New Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph pulled in his first recruit by continuing to chase a prospect he initially wanted at his last job. Three-star offensive lineman Anthonie Knapp (Roswell High School; Ga.) committed to the Irish on Wednesday afternoon, picking Notre Dame over Rudolph’s former employer, Virginia Tech, as well as Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

In total, more than half the ACC offered Knapp a scholarship. The Irish offer came only this past weekend with Knapp in South Bend catching up with Rudolph, who was the first Power Five coach to offer a scholarship to Knapp back at Virginia Tech.

“The hospitality and the heritage it kept made the school stand out,” Knapp said to Inside ND Sports in a text message.

At 6-foot-5 and less than 270 pounds, Knapp will need to put on weight at the next level, though that can be said of most high school juniors. He played left tackle last season, but unless the weight piles on quickly and consistently, Knapp will most likely play guard at the next level.

His footwork already looks more fundamentally sound than most high schoolers display, all the more impressive because Knapp could simply rely on overpowering his opponents as most offensive line prospects understandably tend to do. Knapp is content to use his length and footwork to let a pass rusher charge upfield, well past the quarterback.

Strength and mass will come with age and entering a collegiate conditioning program, and Knapp needs both of those, but length is uncoachable and footwork fundamentals hold up early careers as often as lack of strength does.

He is the second offensive lineman in the class, joining four-star offensive guard Peter Jones, also a preps tackle that is expected to move inside in college.

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Leftovers & Links: Notre Dame’s biggest offensive progressions this spring will be smallest to spot from afar

By Douglas FarmerMar 28, 2023, 6:00 AM EDT

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When Marcus Freeman was first hired as Notre Dame’s head coach in December of 2021, it was widely expected he would retain three-fifths of his offensive coaching staff. Instead, promotions elsewhere awaited two of those coaches, leaving only Tommy Rees as a constant.

Then Rees and one-year returnee Harry Hiestand departed this offseason, meaning Freeman’s entire offensive coaching staff turned over — and the offensive line coach twice — within 15 months of that supposedly being a piece of stability he could lean on as a young first-time head coach. Yet, one thing has not changed about Freeman’s relationship with the offensive coaches: He is trying to stay out of their way.

“Most of the [newcomers] are on the offensive side of the ball, so really I just try to stay out of the way and let those guys meet,” Freeman said last week at the start of the Irish spring practices. “Give them time to be together. They’ve been together a lot and met a lot and really, you have to meet to get everybody on the same page. A lot of that is cohesion, that ability to view these guys as teammates.

“… I’ve been in there a bit, and then we have our staff meetings to make sure everybody understands our culture, understands our expectations. It’s not where it’s a finished product, but it’s definitely progressing to where we want to see it.”

A year ago, the cohesion Freeman was most worried about on the offensive side of the ball was between Rees and a pair of inexperienced quarterbacks. Now, it’s the collaboration between an offensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach and an offensive line coach who had never worked together before a month or two ago. Freeman, of course, knew offensive coordinator Gerad Parker for more than a decade, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli for seven years and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph since Freeman’s playing days at Ohio State beginning in 2004.

That has been a common theme in Freeman’s hires, tying to former Notre Dame special teams coach Brian Mason, current cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and defensive line coach Al Washington.

“There’s nothing more important than experience with somebody,” Freeman said. “I don’t have to wonder what this person is like when I’m not around. … When I can find a quality coach that I know can be the best at his profession, but also I have personal experience with them — I’m not saying we’re friends, but we’ve worked together. Coach Rudolph was at Ohio State when I was a player, but I knew what type of person he was.”

That is the commonality between those three new offensive hires, though a few pieces of similar backgrounds can be found between Parker and Guidugli. At 42 and 40, respectively, they both grew up in the Ohio River Valley and played college football along the same Kentucky-Ohio Interstate corridor. Parker then went straight into coaching while Guidugli knocked around the Canadian Football League and various iterations of short-lived secondary leagues in the United States until he went into coaching in 2010.

At the least, though, their formative years should have shared enough to lay a foundation now, the foundation upon which Freeman is counting on them to build an offense. That progression may be as important as any other made on the offensive side of the ball this spring.

After just one practice, Freeman saw value in a quarterbacks coach who can somewhat ignore the rest of the offense. Rees’s focus was assuredly on the quarterbacks, but Sam Hartman, Tyler Buchner & Co. are quite literally all Guidugli needs to concern himself with each day.

“When you take some of that responsibility off their plate, and it’s just coach the quarterbacks and see if they made the right decision because there’s so much that falls on [the quarterback’s] plate that isn’t really his fault,” Freeman said. “I know he gets the praise and he gets the criticism, but my biggest thing, did you make the right decision? That’s so important at the quarterback position.”

Parker thinks there may be more to the gig than the right decision. Wake Forest graduate transfer Sam Hartman should have little trouble with any intangibles of acclimating to a new campus and a new roster, even if he did not have to run many huddles with the Demon Deacons, but there will be one tangible shift to his quarterback play that Hartman might need to work on.

“Just in its simplest form, just taking snaps under center,” Parker said this weekend. “As simple as that. Just being able to secure a football under center.”

Parker wants to emphasize that because even as Notre Dame presumably opens up its offense a bit more with a deeper receivers room chasing passes from a stronger-armed quarterback, the Irish offense will still hinge on its veteran offensive line and trio of proven running backs.

Finding that balance can come in August. For now, finding that snap will be Hartman’s focus while Parker, Guidugli, Rudolph and a litany of offensive analysts strive to learn the same shorthand.

Shrewsberry: "I don't watch the NFL at all. I love college football. But I grew up a Notre Dame football fan. You don't know how many games Saturday afternoon I sat on the couch and turned it to NBC to watch it." https://t.co/Gj1o64K17n

— Tyler James (@TJamesND) March 25, 2023

INSIDE THE IRISH
— Sam Hartman’s practice debut features Notre Dame veteran Chris Tyree move to receiver, at least for now
— Thomas’ leadership, freshmen arrivals already improve Notre Dame’s receivers room
— Dynamic incoming freshman safety Brandyn Hillman exits Notre Dame before enrolling

A few facts for y'all:
1) Notre Dame's Blue-Gold Game is in less than one calendar month.
2) It is available exclusively via Peacock.
3) John Wick I, II and III are all on Peacock.
4) John Wick IV comes out today.

— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) March 24, 2023

OUTSIDE READING
— Here’s the actually interesting thing about that Notre Dame NYT op-ed
— Notre Dame AD says NCAA could break apart without stronger NIL guidelines
— Ryan Bischel, Trevor Janicke will return next season for Notre Dame hockey
— 2023 NFL draft Big Board: PFF’s Top 150 prospects
— Bears tight end Cole Kmet fulfills promise, returns to Notre Dame for degree
— Increase in countable coaches rule reportedly unlikely to pass
— Timing rules changes proposed in football
— Men outnumber women at Notre Dame for the past 20 years, University denies gender quota
— 1 in 4 prospective students ruled out colleges due to their states’ political climates

This is one of the cooler things I've seen on campus in a long time. Good by whoever had the initial thought. https://t.co/kJBPQpup9Z

— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) March 25, 2023

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Thomas’ leadership, freshmen arrivals already improve Notre Dame’s receivers room

By Douglas FarmerMar 24, 2023, 6:30 AM EDT

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As much criticism as Drew Pyne and Tommy Rees received for Notre Dame’s ground-bound offense last season, much of that approach was due to a reality beyond their control. The former Irish quarterback and offensive coordinator could not run the routes or catch the passes.

Notre Dame had few who could run the routes and among them, it seemed even fewer who could catch Pyne’s passes. Thus, the Irish threw for fewer than 200 yards in six games, not even reaching triple digits in the 35-14 upset of Clemson to start November. They threw 21 or fewer passes four times; raise that to 26 pass attempts and three more games qualify.

Of Notre Dame’s 192 completed passes in the regular season, 35 percent of them landed in the hands of tight end Michael Mayer. Another 22 percent found running backs. Six Irish receivers combined to catch 94 passes for 1,306 yards total last year. Seven receivers across the country caught 94 or more passes on their own in 2022, and three topped that yardage tally.

There simply were not ample options among the receivers for Rees to draw up plays with Pyne targeting them, particularly not after Avery Davis and Joe Wilkins were injured in the preseason, Deion Colzie was hampered in the preseason and Tobias Merriweather’s season would be cut short by a concussion.

The Irish moving running back Chris Tyree to at least a part-time role at receiver this spring will help solve that dearth but not nearly as much as the arrivals of Virginia Tech transfer Kaleb Smith and a trio of early-enrolled freshmen will. With them, Notre Dame has nine receivers on hand this spring, though who exactly leads them is a vague wonder.

Smith has the most collegiate experience with 74 career catches, and his size should place him into the starting lineup, but he is just as new in South Bend as early enrollees Rico Flores, Jaden Greathouse and Braylon James all are. Of the three rising juniors on the roster, each had a moment or two of note last season, but Jayden Thomas’s may have been the most consistent, finishing with 25 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s the challenge I’ve had for that entire room,” Freeman said of finding a leader in the position group. “Guys that have been here. … I hope Jayden Thomas continues to excel on the field and then in his leadership roles.

“What he’s done in the weight room, I think he’s matured and said, okay, I can play at a higher level when I take care of my body or I’m at a weight I feel really comfortable at.”

Those were mostly generic platitudes, but Thomas’s 2022 stats alone are impressive enough to garner a leading role when dug into a bit. Of his 25 catches, 18 of them gained a first down. Of those 18, eight of them came on third down and another two were on second-and-long. If Notre Dame needed a chunk gain and Mayer was covered, Thomas was the most likely outlet.

That should give him pole position to be the boundary starter heading into 2023, with Colzie and/or Merriweather pressing him forward. Smith’s experience and size should pencil him in as the field starter, leaving the slot the question on the first unit for the next 14 spring practices.

Tyree could emerge there, but he is more likely to be a utility knife type of option, concealing any offensive alignment until the snap. Instead, rising junior Lorenzo Styles may get a chance at the slot. He has the tools if he has the focus.

Styles dropped six passes last season, more than anyone else on the roster and a bothersome number regardless of his final stats, but one that stands out in particular when realizing he caught only 30 passes for 340 yards and a score.

“It became I think mental last year,” Freeman said Wednesday. “Lorenzo Styles is a talented, talented football player, really talented. With him last year, it almost became a mental struggle, even just the basics of catching the ball.”

Last year, those mental struggles were enough to somewhat undo Notre Dame’s offense, because the Irish had no choice but to play Styles through his missteps. Now, whether it be injury or some headspace frustrations that Chuck Knoblauch could relate to, the Irish have some depth at receiver if needed. As the season progresses, that depth will become only stronger with the freshmen rounding into form.

“The young wideouts caught a couple balls, and it’s going to be good to see the progression of all those freshmen,” Freeman said. “They’re all going to be in different places on the road. That’s what I spend a lot of time talking to our team about, we’re all freshmen, you can’t compare your journey to this guy’s journey.”

Wherever those journeys are, they are welcome additions to Notre Dame’s offense. As much as newly-promoted offensive coordinator Gerad Parker will relish the luxury that is veteran quarterback Sam Hartman, simply having options on the perimeter for Hartman to look for should be an Irish improvement.

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Sam Hartman’s practice debut features Notre Dame veteran Chris Tyree move to receiver, at least for now

By Douglas FarmerMar 22, 2023, 12:48 PM EDT

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Marcus Freeman’s second spring as Notre Dame’s head coach has begun. As he pointed out Wednesday, it is quarterback transfer Sam Hartman’s sixth spring practice. Both are still looking around a bit for their proper cues, though Hartman’s hesitance now should be short-lived.

“He’s like a freshman, it’s new,” Freeman said. “I was joking with him, this is his sixth spring ball, but you’re at a new place, a new system, still figuring out where to go, what a drill is called, so you can see him at times just trying to say, ‘Okay, where are we going, what’s the drill, what are we doing, how many plays?’

“But he’s got some natural ability when he throws the ball and when he plays the game of football. You’ll see the leadership traits that he possesses grow because I know he has them. He’s a leader the first time you meet him. You can tell that he really commands respect.”

Freeman mentioned a “quarterback competition” between Hartman and rising junior Tyler Buchner only once, something that will reoccur throughout the next month, though more in name than in reality. Whoever takes the lead at quarterback, and it will be Hartman, will have a new target to get comfortable with in rising senior Chris Tyree.

Tyree spent the first spring practice working at receiver after lining up at running back the vast majority of the last three years. Freeman would not commit to that being a full-time shift for Tyree, but given the Irish depth at running back — led by rising juniors Audric Estimé and Logan Diggs, with rising sophomore Gi’Bran Payne the next in line for the spring while classmate Jadarian Price continues to “progress” from a torn Achilles last summer — Tyree working at receiver for the long-term should make some sense.

“He’s a guy that has multiple skill sets, and we know Chris Tyree is a guy we have to have on the football field,” Freeman said. “The ability to put him at wideout, we know what he can do as a running back, to really be a guy that can do multiple different things.”

Tyree took 100 rushes for 444 yards and three touchdowns and caught 24 passes for 138 yards and two more scores last year. The ball-carrying was a step forward compared to his previous seasons, but he caught 24 passes for 258 yards in 2021. In three games in 2022, Tyree gained more than 20 yards through the air. He was one of the more reliable pass-catchers on Notre Dame’s roster last season, finishing tied for fourth in receptions, one behind Jayden Thomas’s 25 catches and just six behind Lorenzo Styles, the leading returning receiver.

“You’re seeing more of that in college football and in the NFL,” Freeman said. “Guys that can play multiple different skill positions on offense, so do you treat him as a running back, do you treat him as a wideout? That’s what we have to do, and gain confidence in the quarterbacks in him as a wide receiver.”

Tyree’s shift was the most notable on the field on the first day of spring practices, but a handful of absences also stood out.

Junior linebacker Will Schweitzer, junior safety Justin Walters and junior quarterback Ron Powlus III have taken medical retirements, while junior cornerback Philip Riley, junior offensive lineman Caleb Johnson and junior kicker Josh Bryan are all no longer with the program, presumably each pursuing a transfer following this semester.

With those departures, Notre Dame’s roster now has 87 players on scholarship, two more than the NCAA maximum allowed when the season starts.

ON SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR Marty Biagi
In hiring Marty Biagi from Mississippi, Freeman strayed from his usual habit of hiring coaches he has previous experience with. He did, however, have some mutual connections to reach out to about Biagi.

“I remember when we were playing Purdue when I was defensive coordinator (at Notre Dame in 2021), I was sitting in a special teams meeting, and they did some unique things on special teams.

“I still know some people back in West Lafayette from my time there, and he does, too. Somehow his name got brought up, so I was interested in interviewing him last year before I hired [former Irish special teams coordinator Brian Mason]. I didn’t know [Biagi] personally, but I had talked to him before, I knew enough about him. It’s important because you need to know when you’re not around, you can trust those guys that you’re working with.”

INJURY UPDATES
Defensive backs Cam Hart and Thomas Harper will both be held out of contact for at least the near future as they recover from winter shoulder surgeries, while early-enrolled defensive lineman Devan Houstan Will Likely miss all springtime work due to his own recent shoulder surgery.

Tight ends Eli Raridon and Kevin Bauman will not take part this spring due to ACL injuries in the fall.

Freeman expressed some optimism about Price’s timeline, but even that was measured.

“I don’t know if he will be full go, but he has done a lot of running and I see him progressing to more and more actual football practice.”

Given Price is still less than a calendar year from a ruptured Achilles, it is most likely he is limited well into the summer.

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