Lack Of Talent Excuses For Notre Dame Don't Work For Me

One of the responses I've gotten a lot this week was that clearly I missed on the evaluation of the Notre Dame talent level. That's an easy excuse to jump to, but I think it's a bit too easy, lazy even. Sure, that could be a problem, but I think that takes a leap in logic that I just can't go with.

Did players like Foskey, Ademilola, Hart, etc. all of a sudden become less talented than they did a season ago? Did Lorenzo Styles, Braden Lenzy and Chris Tyree somehow get slower? Did Joe Alt, Blake Fisher, Jarrett Patterson and Michael Mayer never really have blocking talent, and it's just now being exposed, and last year's success was a fluke?

Does anyone really think the talent level between Notre Dame and Marshall is actually close? Come on now, let's get real here.

Is the talent level where it needs to be? No, of course not, that will take some time. But the talent level is certainly better than it has shown this season. There aren't four players on this team getting first round NFL Draft projections based on their good looks, we can all agree on that, right?

Notre Dame isn't play to its talent level, that is without a doubt, but what we've seen so far through two games isn't about talent, it's about the talent playing good football.

We've seen this before.

Was Ohio State not talented in 2014 when they struggled to beat Navy in week one (giving up 370 rushing yards) and got beat by two touchdowns - at home - by a Virginia Tech team that finished 7-6 and lost to East Carolina the next week? Or was that a team going through changes, a team that had talent but wasn't playing up to its talent level?

Well, that Ohio State team went on to win a national championship that season, and in its final three games beat Wisconsin 59-0, Alabama 42-35, and Oregon 42-20. That was not the same team that lost to Virginia Tech in September, but it was the same players.

USC began the 2016 season with three losses in four games, including a season-opening loss to Alabama by a 52-6 score. It also lost by 17 to Stanford and dropped a game to a Utah team that lost to California a week later. By season's end that USC team was outstanding, beating Washington on the road by a 26-13 score. That was a Washington team that made the College Football Playoff that season. USC also beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

Clearly they were a far different team down the stretch, but it was the same players. They didn't make trades before the trade deadline, and they didn't sign any free agents. The coaches made some personnel moves and that team responded, and they started playing great football.

In 2016, Oklahoma was coming off a playoff season but began the year 1-2, losing by double digits to Houston (33-23) and Ohio State (45-24). They were dominated in both games, and they also lost three of the next four games, beating TCU by just six (52-46), Texas by only five (45-40) and Texas Tech by just a touchdown (66-59).

A 56-3 pasting of Kansas sparked a run for Oklahoma that ended with six straight wins, and all were by double digits. That included a 56-28 win at #14 West Virginia, a 38-20 win over #13 Oklahoma State and a 35-19 bowl win over #17 Auburn.

They were clearly a different - and better - team down the stretch. Same players, better team. Did the talent change? No. Their performance changed.

That's the focus, that's the problem. Execution, attitude, performance. That needs to be the fix. The talent can and will continue to be improved, and it needs to be improved, but what we've seen this season is about how the team is playing.

That's what Marcus Freeman and his staff need to correct in 2022. Talent isn't why Notre Dame is 0-2, talent won't be the reason it fails to win its next 10 games.

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