Notre Dame Didn't Take The Step I Wanted, But They Took A Step Forward

Notre Dame just had one of the strangest games I've seen, where the team dominated for 30 minutes of its 35-32 win over Navy, only to get thoroughly out-played for the final 30 minutes.

There is so much to pick apart from the win, and the hope is that the Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, his staff and the players walk away knowing it can and must play better. It wasn't the "turn the corner" game I hoped for, but it was progress.

Why? Well, they won.

I'm not one of those "a win is a win" people, and that's why I'm personally very frustrated from the win. I know this team can and should be so much better. But I'm also someone who believes in process being more important than just the final score. Notre Dame didn't take the step forward I wanted, which would have been a convincing blowout of a not very good Navy team, but it won.

It was less than a month ago that Notre Dame dropped a 16-14 home game to a Stanford team that is every bit as bad as Navy, if not worse. It was just over two months ago that Notre Dame lost at home to a Marshall team that is better than Stanford and Navy, but not a team that should ever beat Notre Dame.

Notre Dame failed to make the plays it needed to win those games. Against Navy, however, the Irish had many of the same issues that have plagued it all season, but this time the Irish led the entire game and came away with the win.

We saw players step up and make winning plays in this game that we didn't see against Stanford, Marshall and Ohio State. That's progress.

As frustrating as the second half was, it ultimately wasn't as bad as the first half was good, something we didn't see against Stanford and Marshall. That's progress.

The wide receiver corps was finally given a chance to shine and they stepped up. That's progress. Notre Dame's talented freshman and sophomore classes showed out in several instances. That's progress.

Notre Dame clearly had a bit of a mental and emotional let down at halftime, and that's not acceptable. There is no excusing that, and it's something the coaches and players should be frustrated about the way they coached and played in the second half. Some of that can be attributed to playing the triple option, which the Irish won't have to see again until the opener of the 2023 season.

I have plenty to critique from this game, which we did in our post-game show and I'll do in articles coming out tomorrow. But this program is building, it's in the process of taking a step forward as a program. Not all steps are big, not all steps make you feel warm and fuzzy, and that was this game. But it was still a step forward because Notre Dame won.

Notre Dame gets two more regular season chances to take even bigger steps. It has two more regular season games to improve its pass game, enhance its offense, make adjustments on defense and figure out its place kicking situation. But it will do so coming off a win, and winners of four straight games. This game doesn't erase the brilliant win over Clemson the Irish had a week ago.

It was ugly at times, but it was a step forward, and this program needs to keep taking steps forward. That's ultimately the biggest takeaway from the win.

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