JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Oct. 22,, 2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Oct. 22,, 2025

Eric Hansen

3:36

OK, half hour past and I still am not close to emptying the queue. Sorry for the ones I did not get to. There were some great ones leftover, Thanks for everyone who asked, who lurked, who ate cheeseburgers. We'll be back to do it all over again next Wednesday at noon ET.

3:34

Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You snuck in because of the quality of your question, but the exclamation point drew my eye in what is still a very loaded question portal. To your questions ... 1) I am going to do a freshman to watch piece on Friday. I am talking to sources this week, since so many of them haven't played yet. So, keep an eye out for that. 2). I think Malachi Fields, Jaden Greathouse and TE Cooper Flanagan will get more involved in the second half of the season and the playoff. 3) I expect you'll see the best version of him yet at that point against some difficult defenses.

Mike

3:32

Mike from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Hello Eric!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 34 ! for the 34 points ND put up against SC this weekend. I was at the game this weekend and the atmosphere, once the game started, was electric for sure. My 1st question for you is are there any freshman that we haven't seen so far, or seen in a limited fashion, that may break into the scene in this back half of the season? If not, which ones are you most excited to see play next season? Of the current receivers, who do you think will have the most productive 2nd half of the season? Lastly, what are your expectations for CJ if/when ND gets into the playoffs? Thanks for all your work and Go Irish!!!!!!

Eric Hansen

3:31

I think the interest in Freeman is real. And I think is disinterest in leaving at this time is even more real.

Stephen from New Orleans

3:31

Earlier this year Pete Bevacqua spoke with reporters about how Freeman said there wasn’t anything he really needed to help elevate the football program. Now that Freeman’s name is popping up in coaching searches this carousel, what is Bevacqua likely asking Freeman needs to stay? Do you think that broader administration is willing to support adjustments for things like admissions and transfer students to at least show a genuine sign of good faith if salaries and facilities aren’t a big issue as they were 10 years ago?

Eric Hansen

3:30

There's Bob's question. I got these out of order. Will fix in the transcript. I'm trying to do a lightning round without eating lightning-delay green bearns.

bob gorman oak park, il

3:29

After a win, it is easy to gloss over the plays that often would be a point of focus had we lost...kicking woes and all the penalties we had. thankfully, the lads overcame the flaws through great energy and determination in general. So what was up with all the penalties? Lack of fundamentals? Lack of execution? Or were the refs calling the game closely and our lads did not adjust to how the game was called? We were certainly flagged more than the Trojans and I am accustom to us playing cleaner historically

Eric Hansen

3:29

Thanks for checking that out, Matt!

Matt from Austin

3:29

Eric, thanks for the link. Landon did a great job of breaking down Absher's play. Great analysis and questions from you and Mike as well!

Eric Hansen

3:29

Hi Bob. I usually don't get as wrapped up in officiating as most people do. I thought there were some bad bad calls in that game and some that actually went ND's way and then got reversed. Not saying there's bias, just maybe incompetence.

3:27

Hi Brian. ND will bring in a couple of freshmen, but I would think it would be either Aneyas Williams or Nolan James Jr.

Brian K, South Bend

3:27

Hi Eric $$$$$, A Great ND win vs Southern Cal in the rain!!! RB recruiting seems to be trending upward with Kemon Spell leaning toward the Irish. Looking toward to the '26 Season, is ND's leading Rusher on the current roster? If so who would you predict it to be? Go IRISH!!

Eric Hansen

3:26

He did, and I laughed, because I didn't actually cover him very much during his time at ND, I was the Big Ten beat writer for most of his run and the Notre Dame MBB writer at the end. I did have some ND football games, but usually as a sidebar guy or an opponents guy. My time as a full-time ND football guy started with Davie. So, it was kind of funny. But I appreciate that he did the show. We'll get clarity on Rubio oh Monday, but I didn't sense this was expected to be long term. Thanks Tim.

TIM - STL

3:23

Great of you to do this chat on a bye-week.Did Holtz give you a little shot last Wednesday concerning your reporting in the 80's-90's? LOL. Concerning the 314horsemen (Love, Gray, Williams and The- Stash) What is the injury report on Rubio ?

Eric Hansen

3:22

Hi Anthony. Makai Lemon, as you know, plays in the slot. Ohio State's slot receiver, Brandon Inniss, is its third-best WR, so you wouldn't want to move Moore on him. Jeremiah Smith is the boundary guy and that would be a great matchup. Last year, though the Buckeyes flipped Smith to the field and Carnell Tate to the boundary in the title game. If that happens, wow they are both good, but I'd probably flip Moore to cover Smith if he's to the field side.

Anthony - Plymouth, IN

3:19

Having Leonard Moore shadow Makai Lemon went about as well as you could ask, not without mentioning good DL pressure and LB play. Assuming we make the playoffs and cross paths with OSU again, do we deploy this again or it was a one-off. Thanks!

Eric Hansen

3:18

If Charles Jagusah returns, it is going to depend on who's healthy and when he returns and who's playing well at that time. But let's say it's a playoff game? He's my left tackle if he's the Charles Jagusah of last January.

Brian Hockney

3:17

Brain, Detroit Do you think Charles Jagusah returns this season and where will he play?

Eric Hansen

3:17

Mike/Mo^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks for the emails!!&*$# In the straight Rivals rankings, Moore was a top 250 player, but still way underrated. And there are all kinds of good reasons for players being overrated or underrated. But your question is which is the hardest to evaluate. For me, I would think it would be D-lineman, just because there's so much projection going on with what their size is in high school and how different that might be in college and whether they can maintain burst, speed, etc. Or some are high school linebacker being converted. Some are ends that have to play inside in college. So lots of variables.

Mike AKA Mo from Maumee OH

Question is this: which position is hardest to evaluate simply by looking at high school ratings, like On3 Composite? Example would be Leonard Moore, Ranked as the No. 390 overall recruit & No. 36 cornerback in the Class of 2024. He of course went on to become 2024 FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year, and is looking just as awesome this season (tackling miscues aside). Thanks!

3:13

Hi Eric!^! (added a different punctuation mark - not used enough). I personally welcome the bye week- blood pressure lowering daily.

Eric Hansen

3:13

Hi The Beave. My tastes are pretty eclectic. Probably most consistently, I listen to new wave and classic rock, but I like a lot of the artists now. The Voice is my favorite show to watch, so that keeps me kind of current. And I have a buddy, who did our Football Never Sleeps them song, who does a livestream every Sunday on YouTube with requests. Any love the stuff he does. So what symbolizes, ND's season? I so wanted to shoehorn Sheena Is a Punk Rocker by The Ramones or anything by The Pretenders in here, but I'm going to go with I'm Still Standing by Elton John, and give you the link to the FNS theme song guy, Piano Man Steve Lungrin, doing the cover: HERE.

The Beave (Grand Rapids via Tallahassee today)

3:07

Eric: I don’t believe you’ve divulged you musical preference in these chats, but I’m guessing your a classic rock guy. Whatever your genre, what song title best describes the 2025 season to date?

Eric Hansen

3:07

Len!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the compliment and the plug on The Football Show. Mike Singer and I will be doing those for the rest of the season live on Tuesday nights, which will incorporate the CFP standings reveals, which will be fun. And I think Landon is up for joining us, and he is so good. That's 8 ET Tuesday on YouTube. And thanks for the plug on FNS Monday nights, where it's a more question-oriented format from our live viewers. ... To your questions ... Jalen Stroman only played on special teams against USC, in part because his role is being diminished and he's gotten passed up by both Tae Johnson and Luke Talich. And in part because ND played a lot of three linebackers against USC. Jaden Greathouse played in all 16 games last season. I think you are thinking about the 2023 season.

Len from the Jersey Shore

2:57

Hello Eric !!!!!!!!!!!! I totally enjoyed the last two weeks of the coverage of you, Mike with guest Landon Tengwall. I had been critical of the O line play this year. Landon's review of O line play after the NC State game vindicated my thoughts. For any fellow chatters who like X's and O's and technique needed to play O line, the show is "The Notre Dame Football Show". Second, you and Tyler hit it right on "Football Never Sleeps" with your discussions on ND's position depth challenges. As I see it we are short on the O line, Defensive backs and Wide Receivers. Is Stroman not trusted in big games? Did Talich move past him on the depth chart? Or just against potent passing teams like USC? After Sullivan A who is next up on the O line? Will Greathouse be back soon and didn't he hurt his leg last season? Ironic that Jagusah, Craig and now Billy S all hurt two years in a row in the same order. And, if I am right, Greathouse with a leg injury.

Eric Hansen

2:57

You know what, either my brain or fingers need a reboot. It's almost the end of the chat and there's too many great questions to get to, so let's roll 'til 3:30, shall we?

2:56

Happy bye week, Kevin. I do not anticipate turkey this week, but I won't turn it down. Actually, the better Arkansas does, the better it makes ND's domination of them look. If ND wins and keeps improving, they're in. If they lose or they slop around and regress, they'll sweat. I expect scenario A for a Marcus Freeman-coached team. I think USC looking good the balance of the season would have maybe the most impact, since that's a game that ND won and won deeper into the season.

Kevin from Calgary

2:53

Eric, happy bye week, although unlike Canadian Thanksgiving I suspect there will be no turkey. Seeing Miami upset at home this week (not to mention A&M squeezing by an Arkansas team we demolished) I’m beginning to worry our impressive losses may lose their lustre. What are the chances a 10-2 Irish make the playoffs if one, or both fall out of the top 10? Always a pleasure to take part in the chats!!!

Eric Hansen

2:51

Man, that sounded self-serving. Yuck. You can easily Google for stuff I was wrong about as well.

2:50

As far as which teams could ND beat? That's more fun when we get to the end of November, because I think that version of Notre Dame's team would beat this one. I'll make you a deal, if ND is 10-2, I will do that exercise. But I think it will be pretty easy to find, last year I said the three teams ND would want to draw away from in a playoff bracket were Ohio State, Oregon and Tennessee, because of matchups and they indeed drew away from all three.

2:48

Now the backstory. It doesn't happen every season, but there are times you see a player start to flash in a practice and you go, wow, I wonder what he could turn into and it becomes for lack of a better term, kind of a football crush. Tae Johnson, Kyren Williams, Xavier Watts, Drue Tranquill are the four that come to mind before they broke through. I am confident Tae will eventually be an All-American. Not this year. But soon. (more)

2:45

Mike!!!! Now I'm hungry thinking about chicken parm after wolfing down my bye week cheeseburger on a whole grain bun. As for Tae Johnson. Let me answer your question first, and then give you my backstory on him. It was a significant turning point in the season when Tae had to start because of a targeting infraction that caused Adon Shuler to have to sit out the first half of the Purdue gam eon Sept. 20. When he came back, instead of Tae moving back to No. 2 behind Shuler, he played alongside of him. Huge. Huge. I can't type enough exclamation points to make my point. (more)

Mike, Phoenix

2:39

Eric!!! Happy Birthday to you! cheers! Hope you get to enjoy your day with your family and a big plate of Chicken Parm! Thank you for these chats! How much has Tae improved this D from the back end? Which teams do you think could beat ND right except OSU? Here come the IRISH! ☘️

Eric Hansen

2:38

This year ND is 11th in net punting and has been trending upwards all season. That average is 43.9. But if you delete that touchback with the relative new weird interpretation of batting the ball back, and that is downed at the 1? He'd be second at 46.3 and a fraction of a yard out of first place. And thanks for the compliment!

2:36

John!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are my manners. If I missed the exclamation points earlier, I apologize. John, yours woke me up. And you are spot on in your observation. Let's look at the net punting rather than the raw punting numbers. Net punting is what you have after subtracting return yardage and touchbacks. Last year Rendell averaged 40.16 in net punting, which was 37th nationally and he got better in the playoff. (more)

John from Scottsdale

2:28

Eric!!!!! I enjoy your work on all platforms that I receive. My question relates to an area we haven’t needed much this year but that appears to have improved. It is impossible to tell for sure on TV but based on coverage and return yards it appears our punter is getting more hang time and is punting better than last year. Is that in line with your observations in person at games?

Eric Hansen

2:28

The list for the last thing you asked would be pretty long, but let me condense it down and say, it's very plausible, Some of it will be determined outside of what ND can do for itself. As we get closer to Selection Sunday, we can revisit that when the list is shorter and clearer.

2:26

Offensive MVP: Jeremiyah Love. Defensive MVP: Leonard Moore. Most improved offense: Faison has surprised me the most and Eli Raridon did not surprised me, but both are significantly most improved on offense. on defense? Tae Johnson. True freshmen? On defense it's either Dallas Golden or Madden Fariamo. I'm going to go with Golden, since he's played more snaps and had the more difficult task. On offense, can we say anybody. They've barely played. I'll go with Scrap Richardson's scout team work of giving the defense some great looks at dual-threat QBs. Position group coach MVP. Well the guy who had the most to prove was WRs coach Mike Brown, so I'll go with him, but lots of great choices there.

Marie from Atlanta

2:26

Playoff and host a home game if the following things happen:
as always, thanks so much for hosting the chat, particularly on a bye week. I know we all appreciate it and love getting your great insights.

Eric Hansen

2:19

Hi Marie. In full disclosure, I celebrated by working, which usually happens. But the cool thing is I can move the date around and celebrate more fully later. And it was great to hear from so many people that weren't Facebook bots trying to steal my identity! So a sincere thank you. I opened the chat with the assessment of CJ, so I won't deep dive again. But if this is what it looks like when he struggles, rejoice. I mentioned how I think this season will turn out for him in my 5 Bold Predictions column that I posted shortly before the chat, so worth a read. Short answer, I am not concerned. So let's get to your midseason questions: (more)

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