Gridiron Heroics
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Trending
    • “There Are No Records Of This” Aaron Rodgers Caught In Huge Lie Days After Signing With Steelers
    • Baltimore Ravens: Leading Sacker Reveals Plans for Minicamp
    • “He’s Progressed Since He’s Been Here”: New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll Praises Rookie Quarterback Jaxson Dart
    • Texas Longhorns Arch Manning Ranked Number One Prospect In 2026 NFL Mock Draft By CBS Sports (Report)
    • “It’s Hard To Pass On Travis Hunter”: AFC Executive Defends Cleveland Browns Trading Down With Jacksonville Jaguars In the 2025 NFL Draft (Report)
    • He’ll Be A Big Piece There”: NFL Executive Believes Dallas Cowboys Trading For George Pickens Will Be Worth It For Them (Report)
    • Former Penn State WR Julian Fleming Involved in Tragic ATV Accident
    • Kansas City Chiefs: $23.4 Million Star Reveals Plans for Minicamp
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Our Writers
    • Write for Gridiron Heroics
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Gridiron Heroics
    SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES
    • NFL
      • AFC East
        • AFC East
        • Buffalo Bills
        • Miami Dolphins
        • New England Patriots
        • New York Jets
      • AFC North
        • Baltimore Ravens
        • Cincinnati Bengals
        • Cleveland Browns
        • Pittsburgh Steelers
      • AFC South
        • Houston Texans
        • Indianapolis Colts
        • Jacksonville Jaguars
        • Tennessee Titans
      • AFC West
        • Denver Broncos
        • Kansas City Chiefs
        • Las Vegas Raiders
        • Los Angeles Chargers
      • NFC East
        • Dallas Cowboys
        • New York Giants
        • Philadelphia Eagles
        • Washington Commanders
      • NFC North
        • Chicago Bears
        • Detroit Lions
        • Green Bay Packers
        • Minnesota Vikings
      • NFC South
        • Atlanta Falcons
        • Carolina Panthers
        • New Orleans Saints
        • Tampa Bay Buccaneers
      • NFC West
        • Arizona Cardinals
        • Los Angeles Rams
        • San Francisco 49ers
        • Seattle Seahawks
    • Fantasy Football
    • College Football
    • NFL Draft
    • PODCAST
    Gridiron Heroics
    Home»College Football»Week Three Takeaways as Notre Dame Gets First Win
    College Football

    Week Three Takeaways as Notre Dame Gets First Win

    Playing for Pride Results in Marcus Freeman's First Win
    Sam Jordan DudeckBy Sam Jordan DudeckSeptember 19, 2022Updated:February 19, 2024No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Notre Dame RBs - Audric Estime
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    First things first, let’s take a moment to acknowledge a hard-earned win. Let me be clear, I am not trying to take away from success. Although we’re finally relieved with a win – it wasn’t pretty. Even the win showed many of our flaws. Our O-line’s struggles. Our Defensive lack of attention to detail. The Notre Dame Quartberack situation. It also showed a lot of positives. We scored when it mattered. Tommy Rees called a decent game. The heart, and competitiveness was there. That’s what counted most. But, in the spirit of chasing “Playing Like a Champion” perfection, here’s just some of what can be improved as the Fighting Irish move forward.

    Notre Dame Quarterback Conundrum

    Notre Dame

    Drew Pyne is not the solution. To be fair, there’s a reason he started the year as the backup. However, Buchner’s struggles looked like a switch-up was inevitable. Due to an injury, we had the chance to see what Drew Pyne could do. And it wasn’t pretty, either. When you can’t even execute the simplest part of the game, the center-QB exchange… you have a problem. Ironically, he led us to our first win, but he certainly wasn’t the reason why the Fighting Irish won. The clamors for Steve Angeli were already there, and those clamors will only get louder now. And, I’m all for it…

    The Notre Dame Defense

    Fun in the Sun Belt

    To put it bluntly, the Defense needs work. A lot of work. The most confusing part to me, was how we could stop all-world talent C.J. Stroud, and yet – we made Cal QB Jack Plummer look like Patrick Mahomes. The amount of missed tackles was out of this world. Our linebackers didn’t fill the gaps. Our D-line didn’t get push back. Plummer had all day to throw in the pocket. We let the Cal Offense walk all over us. Sturdviant was open on a consistent basis. So if the first 2 weeks of the season weren’t a cause for Defensive concern- this should be too. The strength, grit, and intensity need to be improved – the Defense needs to play with heart. 

    Thunder & Lightning

    Notre Dame RBs - Chris Tyree

    The 1-2 punch of Tyree/Estimae is effective. My article last week was an outcry for more usage of Chris Tyree. And you know what? We got it. Sure enough, Tyree caught a beautiful touchdown pass. On the other hand, Audric Estimate ran the ball well, too! Thus, I propose Notre Dame navigates through the rest of the season using an equal balance of the two. Utilize Estimae’s power and toughness with which he carries the ball. And also, get our home-run hitter the ball in any way possible. If we can do that, good things will happen.

    Moving Forward

    Nonetheless, the Fighting Irish finally got their first win in the Freeman era. Sure, things like the QB situation won’t immediately change overnight. But things like Defensive intensity sure can. The running game philosophy certainly can be adjusted. Clearly, there’s a lot we need to work on, so I say we use the rest of the year to do such. Find an identity, create a culture, and play with some pride. And, although we’ve been playing soft – we still showed some heart out there on Saturday. Some NCAAF fans think we’re soft and overrated – and while we certainly won’t be in the CFP discussion, we can still make a statement through our perseverance. That’s what I hope to see as we move forward, and it even almost gets me excited. As always. GO IRISH. 

    Get the latest Pro and College Football news, analysis, and breaking stories on the NFL, NCAA, Fantasy Football, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, so you never miss a story from the football field.

    Audric Estimae California Golden Bears Team CFP Chris Tyree Drew Pyne Marcus Freeman NCAAF Notre Dame Notre Dame vs California Tommy Rees Tyler Buchner
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Avatar photo
    Sam Jordan Dudeck
    • Instagram

    Sam Jordan Dudeck is a 28 year old screenwriter based in Los Angeles, CA - and also, a former college athlete who still lives, breathes, and bleeds sports. His favorite teams are the Los Angeles Chargers, San Diego Padres, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Los Angeles Clippers - in other words, he's used to heartbreak and frequently says "next year will be our year".

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    AFC North

    “There Are No Records Of This” Aaron Rodgers Caught In Huge Lie Days After Signing With Steelers

    By McQuade ArnoldJune 17, 20250
    Baltimore Ravens

    Baltimore Ravens: Leading Sacker Reveals Plans for Minicamp

    By Jackson LoschkoJune 17, 20250
    New York Giants

    “He’s Progressed Since He’s Been Here”: New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll Praises Rookie Quarterback Jaxson Dart

    By Glenn KaplanJune 17, 20250
    College Football

    Texas Longhorns Arch Manning Ranked Number One Prospect In 2026 NFL Mock Draft By CBS Sports (Report)

    By Glenn KaplanJune 17, 20250
    Gridiron Heroics Writers
    Follow Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    READ MORE
    2024 NFL Draft Aaron Rodgers Baltimore Ravens Bill Belichick Buffalo Bills Caleb Williams Chicago Bears Chiefs Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns College Football Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Deshaun Watson Detroit Lions Donald Trump Football Green Bay Packers Joe Burrow Josh Allen Justin Fields Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets NFL NFL Draft nfl news NFL Rumors Patrick Mahomes Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers Russell Wilson San Francisco 49ers shedeur sanders Tampa Bay Buccaneers Taylor Swift Tom Brady Travis Kelce Washington Commanders
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Editorial Process
    • Contact Us
    • Corporate
    © 2025 Gridiron Heroics.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.