Notre Dame was held to their lowest output of total offense last night against the BYU Cougars since their season opener against Wisconsin. The biggest difference: the Irish beat Wisconsin 41-13 on September 6 but lost to the Cougars 28-24 a month and a half later. The Irish struggled to generate momentum in the first half and their inconsistent play, lack of execution and questionable play calling played a role in their first loss in 17 games.
Thankfully, Notre Dame, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterback CJ Carr have a bye week this upcoming weekend to get some things corrected, and it couldn't be coming at a better time with their matchup against the Miami Hurricanes rapidly approaching. These are my key takeaways from the Notre Dame offense in their four-point loss to BYU.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES PROVED COSTLY
The Irish missed way too many opportunities on offense last night and it was evident from the first offensive possession of the game. Carr missed Faison on a wide open touchdown which turned a promising touchdown drive into a field goal drive. At the end of the first half, they went on a 10-play, 69 yard drive and got the ball down into the low scoring zone but after a botched play on an attempt to spike the ball, the offense came away with zero points.
In the second half, they forced a turnover on downs after BYU tried a fake punt deep in their own territory. It took the offense 10 plays to go 28 yards and only came away with a field goal. Two drives later, the defense picked off quarterback Bear Bachmeier in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the offense went three and out and failed to put the game away. There were a lot of points left out on the field last night and against inferior competition, that didn't prove costly. It proved to be very costly against BYU.
LACK OF CREATIVITY TAKING A TOLL
Notre Dame's offense is becoming predictable. Depending on the down, distance and situation the offense is, Denbrock has honed in on calling a handful of plays and it's starting to become noticeable on the field. Against teams like Rice, Purdue, Michigan State and Stanford, it was able to work, simply because they had the superior athletes and talent on the perimeter and in the trenches. Last night, BYU caught onto what they wanted to do on 3rd down and in the red zone causing drives to stall and points being left off the scoreboard.
SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL TAKES A STEP BACKWARDS
Last weekend against Stanford, Notre Dame went 8-13 on third down and 4-4 in the red zone. The week prior, they went 4-5 in the red zone against North Carolina, one of the best red zone defenses at the time, and they accomplished that on the road. Last night, they went 8-19 on third down and 3-5 in the red zone. Their inability to sustain drives turned three potential touchdown drives into field goal drives and when you lose a game by four points, changing the outcome of one of those possessions could make a world of difference.
They were also dominated in the 'Middle 8' on offense, a key situational area that head coach Marcus Freeman was very proficient in during their run in 2024. In their final two drives of the 1st half, the Irish went three and out on the first and had a turnover on the second. To kick off the 2nd half, Notre Dame had back to back punts including a three and out and a four and out.
WELCOME TO 2026 JADEN GREATHOUSE
One of the few bright spots from last night's performance was the play of senior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse. Earlier in the week, we speculated that this could be a big-time performance for the 6-1, 212-pound Texas native and indeed it was. Greathouse finished the night with 8 receptions for 125 yards and was targeted 13 times throughout the night. It wasn't just his raw numbers that caught my attention, but it was the level of clutch plays he had to keep drives alive and help engineer a comeback. Greathouse had his coming-out party in 2026 last night.
As frustrating as this loss was, this side of the ball never quit. Neither side of the ball did. Unfortunately, with losses like this, there are no moral victories, especially when you're the 2nd-ranked team in the country. All is not lost, but the Irish have now put themselves in a 'win or go home' type of scenario. Things will have to get cleaned up, but not once did I question the heart of the Fighting Irish offense.
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