Notre Dame vs Stanford: Spotlight on Marcus Freeman to Get His Team Rolling

Will Notre Dame finish strong in key year 3?

Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman prepares to lead his players onto the field for the game against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Marcus Freeman and the Irish backed themselves into a corner

After an extremely hard-fought win against Texas A&M to open up the year, Notre Dame was flying high. It had the best win of the young college football season and was in prime playoff position ranked 5th after the victory.

Inexplicably, Notre Dame dropped the home opener to Northern Illinois in Week 2 and has been largely out of view nationally since then.

To their credit, the Irish have not lost since and due to a string of upsets in Week Six find themselves squarely back in the CFP hunt.

The pressure is on Marcus Freeman and his team to deliver the rest of the way.

Wrap your mind around this...@AggieFootball has a good shot at the CFP...in fact I would put money on it right now

— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) October 7, 2024

What's on the line for Marcus Freeman the rest of the season

Entering this season, the goal for Notre Dame was at a minimum to make the CFP field.

Notre Dame is now in a position to do so. If Freeman and his team can win out and claim a spot in the field it'll be a masterful recovery job after the nightmare early loss. There will be talk of an extension for Coach Freeman and recruiting would likely benefit from this winning streak as well.

What happens if things fall apart though and Notre Dame loses another game or two?

What happens to a recruiting class that has already lost its highest-rated commit on both sides of the ball? Where does this leave Freeman and his tenure?

Right or wrong, questions about his longevity for this job will begin to surface. There's a lot riding on these remaining seven ballgames both practically and perceptually for the Irish. This is a big moment for the trajectory of the Notre Dame program.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.

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