Notre Dame Takes on Marshall, Freeman Makes his Home Debut
Notre Dame takes on Marshall for the first time ever on Saturday in South Bend. The Fighting Irish look to bounce back after a week one loss to Ohio State. In his first home game, head coach Marcus Freeman is also looking for his first head coaching win. Marshall might not be a big-time matchup but there are still a lot of storylines going into Saturday’s game.
Last Saturday, we saw the Irish hang around with one of the best teams in the country. This Saturday, the Irish look to clean things up and get back on track for the 2022 season. Notre Dame is favored by about 20 points on Saturday. There is a big talent gap, but that doesn’t mean that Marshall won’t make it again. Time and time again we have seen past Notre Dame teams play down to other teams and we see a game that would be a blowout be a nail-biter (I see you, Ball State game in 2018). I expect Freeman to have his guys ready and for this to be a blowout.
Four players I am looking at to have monster games vs Marshall on Saturday:
- Tyler Buchner – The sophomore made his first college start at Ohio State last weekend and looked great; the moment never looked too big for him. I fully expect Buchner to keep things moving and have a great game at QB for the Irish on Saturday. He should have a big game in the air as well as on the ground.
- Michael Mayer – Notre Dame has an All-American tight end, Marshall doesn’t have anyone who can stop him. They will probably double team him, but I still expect him to have a great game. Ohio State tossed two guys on him Saturday but he still was able to make some plays. Look for Mayer to get his season going on Saturday.
- Marist Liufau – The linebacker from Hawaii saw the field for the first time in a long time Saturday and made his presence felt. He was flying around and blowing up plays all over the place on Saturday, and I expect him to do the same this Saturday. The defense was strong last weekend; look for them to get a defensive touchdown vs Marshall.
- Benjamin Morrison – Notre Dame needed its secondary to step up vs Ohio State, and they were up to the task. The big surprise out of the secondary was how well freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison played. There are a lot of good cornerbacks on this roster, but look for Morrison to get more playing time this Saturday.
If this team plays as hard as it did last Saturday, this won’t be much of a game. I fully expect the offense to take a step forward and for the defense to continue doing what it did last weekend. This has the looks of a trap game, but I think Freeman is a smart coach that won’t let that happen. If all goes as planned, this will be a blowout and we’ll get to see a lot of the younger guys get in the game, which will only help get the team ahead later on in the season. I will be in attendance on Saturday and it will make the 6th head coach I’ve seen lead Notre Dame out of the tunnel. I can tell you I have never been more excited to see what a head coach can do with a team than I am now. Freeman era has been off to a good start off the field but its now time to get a win on the field, and I fully expect that on Saturday.
GO IRISH!