UFGmagazine_2022

notre dame
The Marcus Freeman era in South Bend began with
great reception, only to be followed up with a very
disappointing loss to Oklahoma St. in the Fiesta
Bowl. Freeman will obviously get some leeway,
however, it will be a very tough act to follow in the
shadow of Brian Kelly, who left for the riches of LSU,
after cementing his place in Notre Dame lore as the
winningest head coach in program history, passing
Knute Rockne last year. Needless to say, Freeman
will be under a microscope from day one; yet the
Notre Dame faithful seem to have been ready for
a change from Kelly, who never delivered in the
big games, especially in bowl games.
The Irish need to be ready from the start, as their
first game is a primetime visit to Columbus to take
on the Ohio St. Buckeyes. Even though the Irish are
ranked #7 in the pre-season, Ohio St. is #2 and
is already a two-touchdown favorite in this game.
The rest of the 12-game schedule looks as tough
as always with highlight games at N. Carolina, v.
BYU in Las Vegas for the Shamrock Series, Stanford,
and Clemson at home with a regular season finale
trip to visit USC.
The Irish get a new defensive coordinator after the
Freeman promotion. Al Golden has experience as
the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes as well as
NFL experience as an assistant with the Cincinnati
Bengals. Defensive End Isaiah Foskey is an NFL 1st
round projection that can put pressure on any opposing
QB and Defensive Tackle Jayson Ademilola
can help his defense by commanding double teams
in the interior. Linebacker Marist Liufau was out
all of last year with a broken leg and is expected
alex dupont
to be the anchor of a very talented front seven.
The secondary took a hit with the departure of
All-American and 1st round pick Kyle Hamilton.
The good news is that he will be replaced by
Northwestern transfer and All-Big Ten performer
Brandon Joseph. Another secondary player to
watch will be Ramon Henderson, as he brings
speed and size to this unit.
QB Tyler Buchner is expected to be the starter after
the departure of Jack Coan to the NFL. Buchner
saw some playing time last year and provides a
good run-pass option in the position. The strength
of the offense will be the line with Jarrett Patterson
at center and Blake Fisher already looking like
a 1st round pick. Chris Tyree will be the starting
RB with a great backup in Logan Diggs. The best
player on the roster, by far, will be All-American
TE Michael Mayer. Mayer is projected to be a
top 10 draft pick and has been compared to Rob
Gronkowski for his uncanny playmaking ability
and highlight reel catches.
The Outlook
Notre Dame remains true to their strength with
both the offensive and defensive lines leading the
way. How the players react under pressure to the
new head coaching style will be decisive on how
good or bad the season goes for the Irish. There
will be some speedbumps along the way, but on
paper, this is still a top 10 team no matter who
the coach is. An 11-1 season is very possible,
but not likely. Irish fans will be happy with 9 or
10 wins plus a trip to a prestigious bowl game in
this transition year.
SEP. 3 /
AT OHIO STATE
SEP. 10 /
VS MARSHALL
SEP. 17 /
VS UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA
SEP. 24 /
AT NORTH CAROLINA
OCT. 8 /
VS BYU
OCT. 15 /
AT STANFORD
OCT. 22 /
VS UNLV
OCT. 29 /
AT SYRACUSE
NOV. 5 /
VS CLEMSON
NOV . 12 /
AT NAVY
NOV. 19 /
VS BOSTON COLLEGE
NOV . 26 /
AT USC
notre
dam e
2022 SCHEDULE
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