JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Oct. 2, 2024

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Oct. 2, 2024

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Eric Hansen

3:08

OK, out of time. I've got another commitment coming up and have to get to it. Sorry for the questions I couldn't get to. Thanks for all the great questions I did get to and all the fun punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We'll be back to do it all over against next Wednesday at noon ET heading into the Stanford game.

3:07

QB play, offensive line, run defense.

Bob (Oxnard, CA)

3:06

Where can the team most improve between now and USC?

Eric Hansen

3:06

Ha. Jemes, he sat near me at Marcus Freeman's press conference. I think he is in the role that suits him best and leave it at that.

James , Placitas NM

3:05

Is there a chance Fr Dowd, CSC has college football eligibility?

i noticed he was seated at the end of the game near Jaden Michie and just wondered if he might be in the transfer portal from UND Academics to Notre Dame’s Defensive backfield due to the attrition there !

Eric Hansen

3:05

Robert, I wish I had more time to get into this. It's only Jaden Mickey this year. I see this as more of an isolated issue than one that warrants a rule/philosophy change. But I get your concern.

Robert, Dunedin FL

3:04

Eric- Thanks as always for hosting the Chat! I am a bit concerned with the wave of players opting for red-shirting during the season. I'm sure circumstances/validity vary by player, but I also think it can be disruptive to the Team. If this trend continues, perhaps a rule should be considered that the player sits out the number of games prior to the redshirt declaration the following season? If they commit to play (and barring injury) I think they should honor the commitment they made to the team. Is this thinking off the rails? I appreciate any take you might provide.

Eric Hansen

3:04

Monday at noon.

Scott from Louisiana

3:04

Do we have any updates on injuries that happened during the Louisville game?

Eric Hansen

3:03

It makes it easier to blur that line legally yes. And remember, this gray area is only going to be there for maybe the rest of this season.

The Beave. Grand Rapdis

3:02

Eric: Thanks. For being here even on an off-week. With all rules suspended, I will ask a math question. In response to several questioners earlier in the year asking how ND got down to the 85 scholarship limit, you responded that ND was able to essentially pay NIL money in lieu of free academics and keep a player above the 85 limit. If that is allowed, doesn’t NIL effectively eliminate the 85 scholarship limit? 85 on scholarship + [add the number] with tuition paid through NIL = Infinity?

Eric Hansen

3:02

That came into play with Matt Jeffery as well. And because ND can kind of skirt that issue with NIL money until the scholarship limit goes up to 105 perhaps as soon as next year, there is a workaround there.

The Beave. Grand Rapdis

3:01

Also follow up to Kevin’s Tyler Buchner question. As a walk on on scholarship in LAX, wouldn’t ND have to burn a scholarship if Buchner plays as they did with Jordan Faison last year?

Eric Hansen

3:00

JB, shoot me an email and I'll hook you up. ehansen@insidendsports.com.

J Buckley, San Diego

3:00

One more, I'll be at the Stanford game with a bunch of peeps, any new food joints that I need to hit up? Thanks again, and I'll look out for ya when I'm there. Take care and Go Irish

Eric Hansen

3:00

Thank you!

Chris in Albuquerque

2:59

You are the man!

Eric Hansen

2:59

Finally a refining of the five-man linebacker rotation would help ... not eliminating it but honing in on the roles and situations more so that the pairing make more sense and the matchups are to ND's advantage.

2:58

I think there are going to be weeks when flexing the strength of the tight end room makes sense, especially when Cooper Flanagan comes back (soon), and some weeks were it doesn't make as much sense. The goal with this offense is to be good at all those things by November, so in December you can deploy the style that attacks the opposing defense the most effectively. .2. Some of what ails ND in its run defense is scheme. And the Irish are willing to at times give up chunks in the run game to prevent explosive plays. And that was understandable against Louisville with Brooks and Lacy at WR for the Cards and a freshman playing all 76 snaps at cornerback. But I do think post-bye DC Al Golden needs to be better with the shifting from that philosophy to loading the box when needed. Howard Cross playing a great game helps too. He did not look like himself until Saturday,. Rubio coming back, Mills stepping up would help too. (more)

Patrick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2:54

Sorry about messing up the order there ... Now to Patrick's question.

2:53

HI Chris. It is, and yet do all those quarterbacks stay at ND. There is SO MUCH movement at that position throughout college football, but when was the last time there was a third-stringer as good as Kenny Minchey and a fourth-stringer as good as CJ Carr? Wow.

Patrick from Boulder

2:53

Eric!!!!!! Two questions this week. Do you anticipate our that in the second half of the season we will see the Tight Ends more involved in the passing game? Also, it seems that we continue to be vulnerable to good rushing attacks - what do you see that we can do to mitigate that going forward? Thanks as always for your great insights.

Chris in Albuquerque

2:52

Hey Eric, I know you are not the usual recruiting guy (I think) but outside the optics of potentially losing Deuce Knight, I feel like our qb room is set up very nicely for the next several years to come, thoughts?

Eric Hansen

2:51

Hi Ryan. He sure did. It'll be interesting to see of he can get the safety rotation to expand a bit in the latter part of the season. Even if he doesn't this year, it feels like he's got a bright future ahead of him on defense and a bright present on special teams.

Ryan Frankfort illinois

2:50

Good Afternoon Eric what do you Think About the play of Kennedy Urlacher he has looked good during the Purdue game and the Louisville game when he got the fumble recovery down by the Goal line GO IRISH ☘️☘️🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

2:50

I liked how you framed the Loren Landow question. I think it's unfair that any time there's an injury to knee-jerk into it being the strength and conditioning coach's fault. But I do think it's fair for Marcus Freeman and his staff ... and you ... to put it under the microscope. ND leans so heavily into sports science, it's hard to believe there's a correlation, but again it's worth studying and asking those questions.

2:48

Hi Sean and thank you. I don't think Joe Rudolph's seat is hot at all. Marcus Freeman regularly praises him and not because he's defending him in a question. Keep in mind, even the GREATEST OF GREAT (and I'm talking about Harry Hiestand) have some challenging situations that can only be mitigated during the season. His last season at Tennessee before coming to ND comes to mind. Tennessee fans' reaction to him leaving ranged from shoulder shrug to don't let the door hit you in the ass. And Harry is as good a position coach as I've covered in four decades of doing this. What I do think is fair to expect/demand over the last seven games of the regular season is real improvement by the O-line. (more)

Sean, Portland OR

2:44

Eric, thanks for your engagement and all you do. I don't live in an area where many people are ND fans or care about ND football at a critical level, which is why it's hard to keep to the "no 17-part questions and no manifestos." Here's my best effort: 1) As much heat as R.Leonard is taking... the O-Line is making him look bad. They are bad, no way around it. How hot is Joe Rudolph's seat? Last year he had a stacked O-Line and they underperformed. This year they have a young, questionable, and now unhealthy offensive line. Regardless of what PFF says, the eye-test says they're below average for major college football. 2) After TA&M where their players were cramping and spending much of the 2nd half laying on the turf, we were singing Landows praises. Now, ND may be the most injured team in the country. When Landow was let-go from the Broncos, their injury rates were way up (I know correlation is not equal to causation). Is he part of the injury issue? How about UA shoes, field turf, or just plain bad luck?

Eric Hansen

2:44

Hi Sean. I think there's some natural built-in challenges in September home or away that you're not facing later in the season. Especially if you are playing a team with a new coaching staff or new coordinators or a coaching staff that is overly familiar with how your team operates. I figured it would take ND a while to pull away from a Chuck Martin-coached team. The Cal game in 2022 was Drew Pyne's first start and he pressed too much. Marshall was a hangover from Ohio State loss. NIU was the head scratcher. No reason for it. But mistakes happen in football. It's how you respond. And I think responding to fumbling the opening kick by answering with 21 first-quarter points against the best defense ND will face this year was a damn strong answer.

Sean, Schaumburg, IL

2:39

Hello Eric, What's with the slow/poor starts at home? Especially, in September. Marshall, Cal, NIU, Miami-Ohio. A fumble on kickoff return to start the game vs Louisville. Allowing Louisville near 10-yards per play on first down plays in the first half. Outgained by Louisville over 100+ yards. They did win. It wasn't pretty but winning is all that matters from here on out. We've all talked about MF focusing on road trips and being prepared. Do you think he's over-compensated and has neglected home preparation in some non-obvious ways? Getting up too early? Eating too early? Not praying enough? Praying too much? I'm joking on those last two. Just throwing out ideas. Thank you. Go Irish.

Eric Hansen

2:38

Ced, both Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Jaylen Sneed have lined up at vyper already in certain sub packages. And I see no reason why that would not continue. But if someone is tell you Jaylen Sneed at 6-1, 224 is moving there full time and playing there on running downs, you might want to check whether they've been at Happy Hour before they hit the keyboard.

cederickwalker

2:35

ced walker Saginaw Michigan aka sagnasty Saginaw pride with the injury of boubcar traeor im hearing jaylen sneed might be getting reps at vyper god bless this football team here come the irish trust the process the golden standard rally we are nd god country go irish love thee notre dame our mother pray for us

Eric Hansen

2:35

Hi Jim. I tried to get a picture for you of eight men in the box, but didn't have time to search for a good one without holding up the chat. Typically, in trying to get a team to unload the box, you're looking for quick throws and QB runs. If you have an elite O-line you'd like to take some deep shots too. But if you make a quick throw and there are only three players (or two) not in the box, the l area where there would tend to be less traffic and better matchups stands to reason would be on the outside MOST of the time.

Jim oak island nc

2:32

On 3rd down against a loaded box why don’t we send a receiver over the middle instead of sending them all to the sideline

Eric Hansen

2:32

Hi Matt. If you're a subscriber, Tyler James gives very detailed info in his regular Heat Index updates. You will know where ND stands at every position. And he's got a story about ND coaches out of the road recruiting today and who they're looking at. So, let me give you the Cliffs notes. ... ND still would like to add at WR, they've re-engage and are looking are more edge players on defense, still dealing with QB drama, still feeling good about finishing very strong at linebacker.

Matt from Austin

2:30

Eric, it has been a great week for the ND men's basketball program. With a bye week coming up, do you see any movement with our committed football recruits, as well as any new commits? I know we flipped a WR today and hope to land the two great LB targets. Any insight that you may be able to add on our efforts. Thank you. Matt

Eric Hansen

2:29

Hi Denny, and thanks for listening to the pregame show. We are on 3 1/2 hours before the game until an hour before the game at wsbtradio.com. ... We had a guy from Pro Football Focus on a podcast a couple of years ago, though we were focused on draft prospects rather than PFF's process. We did go down that road a little bit, but you have inspired me to do a story on it. So thank you for the idea!

Denny from Beaverton

2:27

Hi Eric; I took your advice and listened to your pregame radio show on WSBT radio and really enjoyed it. Game coverage by Tony S. and Ryan H. was exciting and fun to listen to, however listening only does not give you a good perspective on the game. I also wanted to tell you I really liked your article a couple days ago on things that Coach Freemen may want to look at during the break. It was well thought out. My question has to do with PFF (Pro Football Focus) where all the players are graded on their game performance. If you have written an article on this topic in the past could you direct me to it? How in the world and by whom is every player graded on their performance by Sunday and more in depth a few days later. What a benefit for the coaches and players. Thanks for your great work and enjoy the break you hopefully get.

Eric Hansen

2:27

Hi Doug and glad your are back to being sunny Florida and not Hurricane-y Florida. Glad you are safe. The college coaching staffs that get PFF reports get a much more detailed breakdown than the version you and I have access to. Notre Dame does its own film grades, so for its own self-scout this acts as more of a cross-reference, if you will. And they don't always align. Where I think there's some real value is in starting a scouting report on opponent ... individual and team tendencies and strengths and weaknesses. ... I'm not sure how much you are getting with the ratings you are looking at and if you're taking full advantage of all the features, but there is incredible detail and breakdown if you dig into it. Again, not the end-all, be-all, but I find it to be an interesting evaluative tool.

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