The year got off to a rocky start with a loss coming on January 1st with the meltdown against Oklahoma State. This was a matchup where Marcus Freeman was set up to fail. With Freeman in his first game matchup against the most experienced Division 1 coach in Mike Gundy.
The Irish got off to a quick start jumping out to a 28-7 lead with the Cowboys getting a late touchdown before the half making it 28-14. Oklahoma State continued on a 30-0 run making the game 37-28 before a late Notre Dame touchdown. As many Notre Dame fans including myself stood in shock as the Irish led meltdown and there was nothing to be done.
Like I said earlier Freeman was set up to fail with only 3 scholarship wide receivers on the roster as well a new DC in Mike Elston who failed and failed miserably. The need to make adjustments in the 2nd half probably led to allowing Elston to walk and move onto Michigan. The hope by many Notre Dame fans was that Marcus Freeman would take that experience and use it as they had another top 10 matchup with the Buckeyes in Week 1. During the summer the Irish started to collect a future top 10 class despite the losses because of NIL of Keon Keeley to Alabama, Peyton Bowen to Oklahoma, and Dante Moore to UCLA.
Notre Dame fans had another battle to look at before their highly anticipated matchup against the Buckeyes. That was the QB battle between the less talented but more experienced Drew Pyne and the highly talented and athletic QB in Tyler Buncher. Eventually Buncher was named the QB for the upcoming season. Buncher
was the most talented QB that Notre Dame has since Deshone Kizer. Because of Buncher running ability Notre Dame fans expect a dynamic run game featuring a possible three headed monster in Chris Tyree, Audric Estime, and Logan Diggs.
Marcus Freeman's first full season was about to start and it was going to start off with a bang. Notre Dame's first game was in the Horseshoe against Ohio State. This was another massive test for Freeman after he lost his first game against Oklahoma State. This was one of
the most anticipated Week 1 College Football matchups in the past decade. Both the Irish and the Buckeyes were ranked in the top 5 to start off the season. The was going to be Irish first and most important test of the season. And well the Irish didn't fail, Buchner and the offense struggled throughout the game with multiple opportunities to score and just didn't. The defense did play very well only allowing 21 points to a team that was an elite offense. I would give Freeman a B for his performance in Columbus.
The real problem for the Irish started in week 2 where they would lose both their starting QB and their second game of the season to the Marshall Thundering Herd. Marcus Freeman was 0-3 as a head coach and many Notre Dame fans were calling for his job. The tone quickly went from show me the loss to show me the win. Finally when next Saturday came the Cal game it was awful and I hated every minute of that game. Notre Dame got their first win of the season but just by the skin of its teeth.
After Notre Dame got it first win of the season it had a tough set of games against a highly talented but always over ranked North Carolina team and a BYU that was coming off a big top 25 win against Baylor. First up the Irish headed to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels and I might add the HIGHLY overrated Tar Heels. UNC had one of the worst defenses in all of College Football give Drew Pyne the whole field to throw despite his weak arm. After Notre Dame soundly beat the Tar Heels they headed to Las Vegas to continue the Shamrock Series. With Notre Dame now 2-2 on the season Freeman was looking to get his first premier win over a top 25 team and Notre Dame did just that. This game also marks the point in which Drew Pyne started his unhealthy relationship with Michael Mayer. Let me start by saying that I love Mayer and think that he is a great Tight End, but Drew Pyne made it his mission every passing play to find 87 and throw it to him even if he wasn't open. But I need to move off that point and get back to the narrative that was Notre Dame football in 2022, the Irish did end up beating the Cougars despite their late surge.
BUT Notre Dame decided to NOT show up against Stanford. This is going to be a rant for a moment so if you want to skip this paragraph go ahead. Notre Dame play against Stanford was way worse than against Marshall many people say the two games are equal but they are not. Marshall finished the season with a 9-4 record and you could fairly say that Notre Dame had a trap game experience and was disappointed after the Ohio State plus you still have a new Quarterback. But this is not what happened with Stanford, Stanford was a 3-9 team with their only other FBS win coming to the head coach less Arizona State Sun Devils. This was the worst point of the season for me personally because of it being a home game against a bad team and if you won this game and beat USC you finish in the top 10 with a New Year 6 bowl bid.
Though Notre Dame played down to their competition against a bad team like Stanford they did the same for two good teams in Syracuse and Clemson. Not to skip over the win over UNLV but there isn't to much to say about this game. First the Irish took care of the Orange and did it with ease. Between the injury to Garrett Shrader and the great plays by Audric Estime and Logan Diggs they played well. Then came the Irish big matchup against the number 4 ranked Clemson Tigers. And well to put it simply the Irish took them out back and beat them BAD. It was one of the best games I have ever seen Notre Dame play. Simply put it was an amazing performance between the Pick 6, the punt block, and 263 rushing yards the Irish dominated the Tigers almost erasing the 30-3 defeat from every Notre Dame fan's mouth. It was also a game in which the Irish showed that they had talent especially young talent like Benjamin Morrison (#20 in the picture).
After the Irish defeated the Tigers they went on to beat Navy and Boston College. Each victory had its own way of getting there, but Notre Dame beat them both. Then the Irish headed off to Southern California to take on the Trojans. Unfortunately the Trojans and the refs beat the Irish on that final week. And I mean it took both the Caleb Williams running abilities as well as refs that allowed the Trojans Oline to mug the Irish Dline like it was 1920s Chicago.
But lucky the Irish had one more game that season and it was a really fun game to watch as a Notre Dame fan but also as a College Football fan. Notre Dame got invited to play in the Gator Bowl against South Carolina in the Sponsored by the Whos Clemson's Daddy association, and well it turned out to be the Fighting Irish. Tyler Buncher was back for this game after Drew Pyne decision that he wanted to quit on the team and head to Arizona State. To put it mildly Buncher had a very up and down game. He had 7 total touchdown the problem was two of them were for the wrong team. Buncher had 3 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns, as well as 2 pick 6s. Before I finish my recap for this game I want to give mad respect to the best team in the state of South Carolina... NOTRE DAME!!
In conclusion Marcus Freeman's first year was solid he had some very high mountains as well as some very low valleys. I will give Marcus this at the very least he gave me the most entertaining season of Notre Dame football I have ever watched (keep in mind I'm only 18 years old). Finally Screw Tommy Rees and let go Sam Hartman, Irish football 2023 here we come!!
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