Not only did the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defense fail to count to 11 twice in succession in their first loss of the season to the Ohio State Buckeyes, but this was not the first time Al Golden's defense was unable to achieve the most Spinal Tap number of all. Instead of rocking THE Ohio State University last Saturday, it was more Big Bottom in South Bend that you could've ever imagined. Poor Stonehenge...
Still, Notre Dame is 4-1 and firmly ranked inside of the AP Top 25. Marcus Freeman is proving to us all that he is a mighty fine head coach, but even in year two on the job, he and his Golden Domers are going through some growing pains. The Golden Dumbers apparently failed to count to 11 at least one other time before College GameDay even arrived in South Bend. Behold! The Tennessee State game.
Notre Dame may have only had 10 players on the field at one point in time during their matchup over Eddie George's HBCU squad out of Nashville. The Irish may have been a massive favorite in this one, but the Tigers nearly scored a touchdown on this play in particular. Clearly, the Irish have a favorite number up their sleeves. It is 10, as in the number of regular-season games they will win this season.
If this play wasn't foreshadowing what was to come vs. Ohio State, then I don't know what to tell you.
Notre Dame might be 4-1, but the Irish still have plenty of tough games left to play, including vs. USC...
Notre Dame foreshadowed how it lost to Ohio State vs. Tennessee State
Notre Dame has been a top-six program throughout pretty the entire College Football Playoff era. The Fighting Irish may not have the depth of say an Alabama, a Georgia or an Ohio State, but they are not paupers, dude. They have dudes, man! Against most teams they play, the Irish will be at a talent disadvantage. However, when you are not, you cannot lose the ability to count like y'all definitely did.
I am not saying that Notre Dame is poorly coached, but great teams do not have these type of repeated mental lapses. With Tommy Rees leaving for Alabama and Gerad Parker taking over his post as the offensive coordinator, much of the Irish's focus this offseason has been on graduate transfer quarterback Sam Hartman and the offense, most certainly not the defense. Y'all have to be better...
See, this is Freeman and Golden's side of the ball. Notre Dame may not have the depth or talent as Jim Knowles' squad does in Columbus, but this should be a well-coached unit. It is more of a work in progress offensively in South Bend than the Irish tend to lead on, but three 10 men on the field penalties are inexcusable for Power Five teams, definitely all that have real championship aspirations.
For such an academic power Notre Dame claims to be, no university is worse at counting to 11.
