Five questions Notre Dame must ask after losing to Northern Illinois

Notre Dame’s last second field goal attempt is blocked to give Northern Illinois the 16-14 win in a NCAA college football game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend.

We’re still trying to process how the heck Notre Dame let Northern Illinois win in South Bend. Then again, such things tend to linger when they remain very fresh in our minds. It’s a horrible feeling, but it’s one we all must deal with right now.

The fact that a supposedly dominant Irish team suffered the program’s first-ever loss to a Mid-American Conference team at Notre Dame Stadium can’t sit well with the university’s top brass. What was supposed to be a celebratory home opener instead left everyone with doubts about the football program. Nobody has any idea what comes next now.

As Notre Dame tries to figure all of this out, we figured this would be a good time to help them. That doesn’t mean they’ll listen to us, but that won’t stop us from trying to say something.

Here are five questions we believe the higher-ups at Notre Dame must ask themselves regarding football:

How are they approaching lesser opponents?

Northern Illinois celebrates after wining a NCAA college football game 16-14 against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend.

We never expected to be adding Northern Illinois and Marshall to the list of Football Bowl Subdivision teams the Irish have a losing record against, but here we are. The Irish clearly need to evaluate their approach for games against Group of Five opponents because whatever they’re doing isn’t enough to prevent these humiliating losses. It’s obvious now that this a trend for the Irish, and that can’t be the case anymore.

What’s going on with the play calling?

Northern Illinois linebacker Christian Fuhrman (44) intercepts a Notre Dame pass during a NCAA college…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/five-questions-notre-dame-must-195122669.html

Author : Fighting Irish Wire

Publish date : 2024-09-08 19:51:22

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