SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Twelve thoughts on Notre Dame’s 35-14 win over Virginia, which keeps the Irish on schedule for a one-loss season and a spot in the College Football Playoff.
1. That felt like the first time in Notre Dame’s eight-game winning streak that the Irish didn’t get better. That doesn’t mean they are regressing or that anything in a 35-14 win (that could have been 42-0) should sound an alarm. It just felt like the kind of performance that could have put Notre Dame down 10-0 against a more serious opponent in December. There’s not a muffed opening kickoff every week or a roughing the passer penalty. Sometimes going three-and-out on four straight possessions can hurt. This wasn’t one of those weeks.
2. Although some weeks the officials understand the mechanics of a fake punt. Or what being in shotgun means.
3. Marcus Freeman seems to understand all that perfectly. So did Marty Biagi. And Jack Kiser, who was aligned behind the long snapper but not “under center” seemed to get it, too. Notre Dame insists that the ACC officiating crew blew the call, not that it mattered in the grand scheme of the game. But it wiped away a highlight from Notre Dame’s video library.
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4. Before you start, the ACC officials are not out to get Notre Dame. We’ve said it before, and it’s worth repeating. We inflate the likelihood of malevolence and overstate the regularity competence. It’s not that the ACC crew was trying to stick it to Notre Dame. The crew just turned in a Group of 5 performance for a game with Playoff implications. But the same thing happened in Clemson-Pitt and Wisconsin-Oregon. It was a bad weekend for officiating. Just ask Tennessee.
5. Did Freeman get choked up pregame talking to Zora Stephenson about the senior class? That’s fantastic. We don’t see that often from Freeman.
Notre Dame improved to 9-1 with its win over Virginia on Saturday. (Michael Clubb / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
6. Freeman is 28-6 since his 0-3 start when the Notre Dame job looked potentially too big for a first-time coach. Guess it wasn’t. That’s an 82.4 winning percentage during the past 34 games, just under Ara Parseghian’s 83.6 percentage in 11 seasons that included two national titles.
7. Tip of the cap to Kiser, who has played in more games than anyone else in Notre Dame history. In 63 appearances, Kiser has played for two head coaches and three defensive coordinators. He has been part of 50 wins in a Notre Dame uniform. Compare that to Ian Book, who holds the record for wins by a starting quarterback at Notre Dame with 30.
Yes, there were COVID-19 exemptions and new redshirt rules, but the fact Kiser got ready to play 63 college football games at Notre Dame is basically an Ironman Triathlon.
“There’s a lot of people that go into me stepping on the field 63 times,” Kiser said. “The trainers, family, teammates, strength coaches, coaches in general — there’s a lot of people that play into that. That’s the best thing about this record. It’s not a me thing. It’s a we thing.”
In 24 years on this beat, few players make for a better Notre Dame commercial than Kiser. When the Irish signed him out of Royal Center, the hope was he would be a high-floor prospect who would help on special teams, at a minimum. Kiser turned into a heck of a lot more. Now he’ll have a place in the Notre Dame record book for a long time. Maybe forever.
What would it take for somebody to break Kiser’s record? Probably the Irish playing for multiple national championships during a five-year span.
8. That was the James Rendell we watched during the preseason, the player who looked like a special teams weapon: five punts, an average of 47.6 yards with just 10 total return yards allowed and one 31-yard lob wedge that backed up Virginia inside its 20-yard line. Notre Dame gained 45.6 yards of field position every time the ball came off Rendell’s right foot. It shouldn’t have taken this long for Rendell to find his groove, but he’s finding it. Just in time, too.
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9. Do we need to have a conversation about Beaux Collins? Notre Dame’s passing game has been scattered all season, but during the past six games Collins has been targeted 29 times, caught 14 passes and scored one touchdown. A player who felt like a potential WR1 leaving College Station is suddenly a 50-50 proposition when the ball comes his way. Notre Dame hasn’t needed Collins during the past month. But it’s going to need him at some point.
10. It’s probably time we grade graduate transfers with more nuance than “hit” or “miss” when it comes to evaluations. Jayden Harrison and Rod Heard are the perfect examples. They probably haven’t hit the heights they wanted in coming to Notre Dame. Harrison had All-America upside in the return game. He has returned seven kickoffs with a long of 34 yards. Heard felt like a utility knife at defensive back. He has been easy to miss in the box score. But both were outstanding against Virginia, the kind of performances that prove they’re value-adds to Notre Dame’s season. Harrison’s 78-yard touchdown was called back by a Pat Coogan penalty, but it was the kind of explosive play at wide receiver the Irish have lacked. Heard’s forced fumble in the first half helped break the game open. And Harrison’s coverage on Rendell’s 64-yard punt was textbook.
Whenever this season ends, the graduate transfer story will be Riley Leonard and Jordan Clark. But Harrison and Heard deserve a chapter, too.
11. Notre Dame’s alliance with the ACC is still good. It’s not perfect. Nobody said it was. But winning is winning. And Notre Dame wouldn’t go 41-3 against the Big Ten or SEC the past eight years during the regular season. It wouldn’t have gone 41-3 against the Big 12 or Pac-12 either. So this is the deal you make with yourself if you’re Notre Dame. And it’s a no-brainer. You get to stay independent. You win a ton of football games. You find an ideal home for all your other sports. You just have to play more forgettable football games than you might like. Again, it’s not perfect. But have you looked around at college football? Nothing is.
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12. We’re done talking about Notre Dame making the Playoff. Beat Army. Beat USC. That’s it. Notre Dame will make it. But the idea of hosting in Notre Dame Stadium feels like a coin flip, depending on how the committee slots the two-loss SEC teams on Tuesday night. Let’s assume Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas and Georgia win out. That puts Alabama versus Texas in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama wins. Does Notre Dame stay ahead of Texas (11-2) and Georgia (10-2)? The Irish and Longhorns would have the same good win. After that? Not great. And Notre Dame would have the worst loss. Georgia’s wins are superior to Notre Dame or Texas. And the Dawgs’ losses aren’t terrible.
Assuming Penn State and the Big Ten runner-up (Ohio State or Oregon) are the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, the decision comes down to Notre Dame, Texas and Georgia. The Irish wouldn’t need to be ahead of both. Just one would do.
Maybe Texas A&M could just beat Texas and save everyone the trouble.
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
