Irish 365 20250928 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Arkansas Football Game Review

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Arkansas Football game review. The offense keeps rolling and the defense looked better.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
It's the moment you didn't know you're waiting for.
He is Carter, he's Chad, and this is the.
Irish 365 podcast What's up Irish 365 Nation?
We're back with the Arkansas Post Game Show.
Yeah, it's deserved, right? Yeah.
I mean, we're in playoff football mode.
If you're a Notre Dame fan, yeah, every game counts.

(00:24):
Every game got to win. Every game you're like, this
could be a great day, could be now they're sweating 1 out,
right? Yeah, I I was nervous a little
bit going in. I'm I'm still like not
completely sold on the defense is going to get it together.
So I'm a little a little timid. Yeah, I had some people ask me

(00:45):
this week, do you think Nerd could lose this game?
I said absolutely. Yeah, we're playing Big 12
football and I don't. I don't.
I love the offense. I just wish the defense was a
little more consistent. And I say that going into the
game knowing that Arkansas was top five offense.
Yeah, they did not look like a top five offense in this
particular game, no. Yeah, we'll kind of get into it
a little bit, but yeah, a lot ofa lot of drop passes early,

(01:07):
which I feel like set the tone. I I want to give defense credit
because they don't like, like you said, top five offense only
went up 13 points. Like you can't be upset about
that. But yeah, it's definitely one of
those things where a few playersdrop some passes early, a first
down gets overturned on review, a couple guys get hit in the
hands on in the first quarter, They're like, oh, that game,

(01:28):
they score touchdowns to the field goals earlier.
It it could be different, but itdidn't happen so.
Yeah, no, I mean, the the game was the what the game was.
But it was just like there was even a play where CJ took a
shot, kind of pushed to the chest and they called they
called a roughing the passer andit's like, OK, well, take it.

(01:49):
Yeah. OK.
So I mean, the game, the game score did not I guess did not
give me the score. I I was expecting it was we
scored much better and they scored much less.
I was thinking shootout in. Game 4540 yeah.
And I because if if they score more, they take more time off
the clock. We don't get as many
possessions. We probably don't score 56,
right? And I hardly ever ever put

(02:12):
anything on the Irish when it comes to the gambling.
And I was just had a gut feel Saturday morning and I think
Friday night I was joking aroundwith you and Jordan.
I did it Saturday. I'm like, OK, CJ Carr 370 plus.
And I and I felt like, you know,Washington was going to like
want to get his old team back transfer.
So I put him in for 2/2 touchdowns.
Now $2.00 would have won me like200.

(02:34):
I knew I wasn't going to win it,but I just I wanted to feel good
about putting 2 bucks in on it. So but.
CJ is pretty close to that 370 mark, yeah.
HE35250. Yeah, he finished 354.
Yeah. So I mean.
His first over 300, third passing game, I believe.
Like yeah, I took him over 300 this weekend and he was.
Tied the freshman record for four touchdown passes in a game.

(02:56):
Yeah, all in the first half. Yeah, all in the first half.
CJCJ is just getting better weekby week now.
There was one play. Yeah, I think, yeah, I think
this is the thing that's going to annoy us, which it really
didn't matter because it's a fourth down.
Why he threw that ball and just just started just tucking it and
like lost it down. I was like, yeah, still still

(03:16):
some freshman red shirt freshmanthings there, but I will.
He's much farther ahead than I Ianticipated coming into it.
So let's kind of. Yeah.
I was going to go back to this because when you're talking
about it all offseason, like you're convinced both these guys
are going to be good, but then you're also like you always if
you got 2 quarterbacks, you got no quarterbacks.
I know that's back in my head. You're like, oh shoot.

(03:37):
Oh, shoot, yeah. And yeah, it's just been yeah, C
JS look great. I think Kenny, when he's played,
look pretty good. He threw a beautiful ball in the
fourth quarter, yeah, for a touchdown, yeah.
So it's fun, but yeah, we can get into this game.
Yeah, and like you go back to that and I think it comes back
to one of the things notary social media and every, every
summer there's some sort of theme and there's some sort of

(03:58):
story they're wanting to, you know, tell you.
It's media. It's media, right?
And there's some sort of hype. And I just keep going back and
thinking, well, I kept hearing, well, I kept hearing what I kept
hearing was quarterbacks are good and I wasn't sure if I
trusted that or not and that there was no place to throw a
ball on the secondary. And what I've seen is there's

(04:19):
been places to throw a ball in the secondary.
So I was trusting the wrong thing and not trusting the right
thing, I guess is, is my take away from the summer sports
enhancement of media. So all right, let's go back.
Let's run it back on this game. Let's go with a quick summary of
kind of. Yeah.
So we can get into the first quarter.
Arkansas gets a field goal, which is I think it's the first
time Nerdy's been scored on on the opening drive this season.

(04:41):
Yep. As a field goal, yeah.
I was like, OK, let's we got to stop and don't break, right?
Yeah. And then obviously we respond.
10 plays, 75 yards in 4 1/2 minutes.
Not a bad not a bad response there.
And it felt like, OK, you survived a onslaught of the a
really good offense against yourD, You didn't break.

(05:03):
And then you went back and, you know, responded with a good
drive and a score. And it was interesting because
Price got the big run, I think a1516 yard run down to the one.
And then Love came in, which usually whoever gets him down
there, yeah, 'cause especially if it's like that first, second
play, like if it goes to 1/3 play and they need a sub, OK.
But yeah, just usually they, they feed whoever's in there and
work, I won't say work for it, but usually that's how it goes.

(05:26):
Yeah, you've earned it. Go ahead and run that one.
Yeah, 1 yard yard and get it. Yeah.
'Cause I think they called it a touchdown on the field and then
they. Took it back, they ruled him
down on the field and then reviewed it to see if he was.
In OK, Yeah, Either way, it was just like, I was surprised that
Love came in. Usually whoever's gets down
'cause it was like, OK, whatever, you marked it, the one
we're going to score, the next we're going to score.
I'm not worried about it, but yeah, so Love gets in for his

(05:47):
first of the first half. Yeah, Say first of the day,
right? Yeah.
So first his first of the day and first of the first half.
Yeah, and then it was great because then Arkansas went right
back out three and out in punt. Yeah.
And again, there were some drop balls and just they didn't look
like that number five offense inthe country that we expected to
see. Yeah, their quarterback's good
though. Yeah, I mean.

(06:08):
Taylor Green looked pretty solid.
A little pressure, which we actually got at times, yeah,
forced him to do some things. And I thought he tried to throw
more and run less than I expected, yeah, Which surprised
me, but yeah. I think our container's pretty
good. Looks like Drake Bone is playing
a spy for a lot of the game, which I liked a lot.
And yeah, Drake Bone, freak athlete.
Yeah, and he's probably the least athletic of a lot of those
linebackers, too. He's by far the least athletic

(06:29):
of our linebacker group, and yethe's a good athlete.
It's it's yeah, it's embarrassing how good the
linebackers athleticism. Are Yeah.
So then it's fun. Notre Dame's offense comes right
back out. 6th place, 73 yards and we see some Will Paul in
action here on this drive. He gets a 22 yard reception,
Price goes for 20 yards and thenLove ends up with a 7 yard

(06:50):
touchdown. Got a pass he caught.
And we just at this point, I'm feeling pretty good 'cause we're
up 14 three and I'm like, OK, I'm, I'm not comfortable, but
I'm feeling pretty good. And it's like, OK, we're showing
against an SCC defense and you know.
And offense are offensive line look incredible.
I think we said that yet. Yeah.
Like that CJ had so much time. I forget which one it was, but

(07:13):
you're like, oh, like, oh, I'm getting antsy.
Like he's holding the ball so long.
It's like he's got so much time.I don't remember who he hit
right in the middle of the field, but yeah, I was like, it
might have been, we'll pull in there, but I can't remember.
But one in the first quarter waslike, he's got so much time and
he just waited, waited, waited. There it was.
There was a pocket and he just. Yeah, your corners can't cover
all day. Yeah.
So he just stayed comfortable inthat pocket.

(07:34):
So, yeah, I mean, felt like the offense was starting to roll
early and, you know, you're like, OK, now I think that kind
of played into it because once you get up on Arkansas, they had
to get away from the run game, but they had any intentions
whatsoever. They had to try and pick up some
big, big chunk plays, big runs. Yeah.
So yeah. So then, yeah, they get the ball
back and they went. So they got a first down on that

(07:57):
next drive, but then they went. They scored.
They scored OK, That's the drivethey scored.
On Yep. So they score.
On this next drive they went 14 plays, 75 yards in 8 minutes.
Now obviously that it's a prettygreat drive for an offense you
don't feel great about third in.But there is one thing that gave
me hope down here. I mean they got down to the one
yard line and we took them to 3rd in goal and they end up
going with was it a tackle? Oh yeah, that's they brought the

(08:20):
defensive tackle in, right? Yeah, to get the 1 yard, but I
mean our defense, they have 3 plays inside the 2 yard line and
it the third try they barely getin with the tackle.
So yeah, it was definitely like,OK, our defense like line was
getting a push. They're getting pressure up
them. And Gabe Rubio looked really
good in this game. Yeah, best he's looked all year.
Far so that I mean, it would suck to get scored on and don't

(08:42):
get me wrong, but it was like atthe end of that drive you're
like all right, like. There's awesome things.
Yeah, you, you saw some stuff and you're like, OK, here we go.
Like obviously once you get downthere, it's kind of little,
little too late, but all right. And then and then.
But we saw more of that throughout the game.
But again, this was the number 5scoring or offense in the
country. Coming to that point.
They they moving the ball was not their issue.

(09:04):
Yeah, so then Notre Dame luckilyresponds very quickly.
The offense doesn't take a series off and just goes right
back down the field, marches in six plays, 75 yards and under 3
minutes, and CJ Carr finds Will Pauling for his first touchdown
catch of the year. Yeah.
And again, CJ is just, I think Denbrock has figured out what CJ

(09:26):
is good and likes and and they're just in a groove.
I think I saw a stat on X this morning that since Mike Denbrock
has come back to Notre Dame, theoffense is now averaging 40
points per game. And before he was there, they
were averaging 32. And LSU, his last two years

(09:50):
there was averaging 39 point something and now they're
averaging like 31 something. So like it's just eight point
swing for both schools. It bets up some.
Points. So it's like, OK, den Brock's
doing something right. And I know there were some
people complained about him early in A&M or Miami, but it's
like, no den Brock's not your problem.
Yeah, we got to remember it was raining negative too.

(10:10):
Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was.
You're going to have some. Hiccups.
Hiccups and again, I think CJ was trying to throw the ball
more and handle off less cause the quarterback wants to throw
the ball not hand off. So they've they've got past
that. Yep.
And their name's defense forces a three and out only let up 1
yard on that next drive under a minute and the offense just
comes right back out and doesn'ttake anything off.

(10:32):
Just 5 plays, 70 yards in a minute, 25 and a sweet.
That's when CJ Carr goes right and it's the screen over to the
left, Jeremiah Love. And that's all that's.
True. I mean untouched for like 4034.
Yards, 34 yards. Yeah, it felt like forever, but
yeah, it CJ ran back so far thatit seemed like a longer play.

(10:54):
But yeah, we're at the 34 yard line now.
So real efficient offense in that first quarter and now I'm
starting to feel pretty good like, OK, wait a minute, this
this is starting to be a lead that Arkansas.
Yeah, 2810 already doesn't look like Arkansas is going to stop
absolutely anything. Yeah, yeah, but Arkansas comes
back and does get a field goal. A 54 yard run by Taylor Green

(11:16):
when he was mobile did set them up in field goal position,
didn't get a sack and in completion of 0 yards run.
They literally have one play that drive that goes for 50
yards and almost resulted in a fumble.
I visit who was it that he's already out of balance?
But Green already ran out of balance.
But I was like, oh, we saw that last year against Louisville.

(11:37):
So yeah, they end up getting a field goal on that drive.
But the Irish, we're not done inthe half.
I mean, come back after that field goal and go 12th, play 75
yards in 3 minutes and score again.
And Jeremiah Love, I believe, with his third of the half.
Yeah, he's he is. I'm going to miss him and Price

(12:01):
so much. Yeah.
I mean, I want those boys to go to the NFL and make make some, I
mean, they need to make some money in the NFL because they
deserve it. But hopefully that NIL money is
not too bad. I don't know, but I'm I'm going
to miss both those guys next. Year and yeah, this is with
under a minute left and a half, the Irish score, defense goes
out, kick the ball off, one play, 20 yards, but a fumble and

(12:24):
the Irish get the ball back withwhat, 25 seconds, 24 seconds,
something like that And like 3 timeouts, 2 timeouts.
Yeah. Are we going to take a knee or
are we going to just? You're in plus territory.
We're not taking a knee. I don't.
Think, I mean, that's your firstthought.
We're going to take a knee and it's like, Nope, Yeah.
Nope. And then yeah, what do you do?
2 plays, 45 yards, get the ball into Jarian Price's hand on a

(12:47):
screen. Oh, that?
So that last one was Love's 4th touchdown of the half.
And then yeah, Price takes it 35yards for 4213 at the.
Yeah, I think he was untouched on that screen as well.
Like it was just like, oh, thesewere these screens that well
designed and blocked or did Arkansas just give?
Up. Yeah, I think it was a little

(13:07):
bit. A little bit of both maybe?
Yeah, the Arkansas fan base had definitely given up by that
point. You saw a lot of pictures at
halftime, but it was clearing out before half.
And yeah, you saw some Ty Washington quotes before the
game of yeah, it'll be loud pregame.
If you can make him quiet quick,that place will be empty.
And boy was he right. He played there.

(13:28):
Yeah, he'd experience. He's like, it's hot.
They'll be done. People won't stay around if
they're getting their butts kicked in.
And they did not. Yeah, that stadium was 20% full
at halftime. Look alike from the T VS like
angles. It did not.
It's hard to say, but yeah, it did not look.
It did not like you could. If they're showing end zone
shots, you're like there's eightpeople there.
Like crowd shots were not favorable to the Arkansas fan

(13:48):
base at that. Point no and yeah, that game on
ESPNA, lot of people were watching because it's Notre
Dame. It was right out, yeah.
Or ABC, Like, yeah, Arkansas wasgetting trashed on social media
there. Yeah, they they took a brunt of
a beating on social media and, you know, and everybody was
already talking at halftime. Fire the coach.

(14:09):
Fire the coach, which today, theday we're recording the podcast
on Sunday, they did. Dan Pittman was definitely, I
had people asking me, is he going to get when's he going to
get fired? And I was like, right now at
halftime, he's not going to makeit back.
But he he makes it into that, makes it through the half, but
not much farther. Yeah.
So, yeah, gets us into the thirdquarter, which I'll give

(14:31):
Arkansas credit. They came out and their defense
played a lot better in that. I mean, their whole team played
a lot better than that third quarter and even fourth quarter.
But yeah, 56 or by about 4213 1/2, Notre Dame comes out, goes
3 and out. We're like, oh, we're going to
see first punt of the week, first punt in the last couple
weeks and fake punt. Yeah, we thought Randall was

(14:53):
going to earn some NIL money. Yeah, he didn't. 40 yard pass
from Faison to Mike Malkai Fields.
It was a awesome play. I think Faison had enough room
to run it for 40 yards but obviously makes the smart choice
and throws it to Malkai. Picks up the easy one and Faison
put a pretty good ball out there.
I, I that was the my take away is face on can throw the ball.
Yeah, he's he's an athlete. He can throw the ball.

(15:15):
He didn't have to have a lacrosse stick in his hand to
pitch it. Now I joked with you and Jordan
in the text that he's a, he's a passing yardage vulture.
So he took away CJ Cars. For 40 yards, 40 yards of
passing for CJ right there wouldhave got you to that 370.
You got that 370 in Harker. Washington didn't get his two
touchdowns. Yeah, he was on the field for a
few, but yeah, didn't come closeto scoring.

(15:37):
Him but yeah, Irish go for it on4th down later in the drive in
turn it over on downs. But then yeah, Arkansas goes 10
plays 47 yards show some fight. Obviously they get they get down
to like the 13 yard line and it's you're not going to kick a
field goal to make it 404216 No,like what what are we doing?
So they go for it. Turnover on downs that happens.

(15:58):
Then the Irish offense does respond with 11 plays, 87 yards
and 5 1/2 minutes to And who is this one to?
Is this This is Price for his second of the day with a 16 yard
run. And yeah, he was.
He didn't have much competition here to slow him down.
At that point, it's game over. I mean, it it everything else is
just academic at that point. Yeah, it's game over.

(16:20):
But it's just so good to see howefficient the Snowdream offense
has become it. It's just crazy because you're
we're talking about these 4 plays, 8 plays, 2 minutes like a
game time. It's just like holy smoke there
and you. And you think about it, I mean,
we've got a red shirt freshman quarterback who's going to be a
starter again next year and maybe the year after that.

(16:42):
And you're like, this is awesome.
Like. You haven't had this feeling in
a while. When's the last time we were
playing this well with a quarterback first year?
And we're like, oh, this guy's going.
To begin next year, like, I meanyou got to go like 2019 Ian book
like, oh, he can come back next year, right like.
You feel good about book coming back but.
Not this good. Not this good.
And I'm just like, if we had thedefense playing anywhere close

(17:06):
to the level it was last year, we're national champions.
I mean, that's the way I feel right now.
Like our defense is so struggling.
And I say that coming off of giving up 13 points to to the
number five offense like. It's going to take more than one
week to show us that. Yeah.
And here's my struggle. So as I project out, we can kind
of wrap up Arkansas 'cause I mean we didn't get we'll go,

(17:29):
we'll go the end of the fourth quarter.
And what was that I? Believe we can just knock that
out real quick. Kenny Mengee comes in and he
throws a nice ball and gets MattJeffrey for 37 yards and then a
17 yard touchdown run by Neis Williams.
Irish defense ends up with an interception.
Taylor Green pass intercepted. Luke Talik with an interception,

(17:52):
which is good after he had a rough week a couple weeks ago.
And then, yeah, we 8 plays 27 yards a week, end the game.
Kenny looked great, yeah, like he threw great balls.
The guy we didn't talk about much, we didn't highlight much,
but. Hey, John.
Hey Johnson, that dude, that dude starting to flash and again
another red shirt freshman. You're going OK, we get this

(18:13):
scheme communication, whatever issue we got defence figured
out. I I mean, the talent defensively
is there and we played that wellwithout our best, without our
best defensive back and Leonard Moore being, you know, game time
decision not playing. So, but here's here's where I
struggle, right? The Notre Dame defense hasn't
sold me yet and Arkansas should have sold me.

(18:37):
But I saw some things from Arkansas that was self-inflicted
wounds. Now I take a step forward from
that and I'm like, OK, we got Boise State coming in next week.
Is Boise State the powerhouse they were last year?
I know, but I think they're better than what people think
right now. But I mean, when you look at the
schedule coming up, I mean we may not have another.

(19:00):
UFC loss, Illinois. We may not have another ranked
opponent at the time we play them.
So how? And I think this is going to be
the struggle. Like I expect Notre Dame is
going to keep the foot on the freaking pedal because we've got
two quality losses. We need some help to get moved
into the top 10. I mean, we got to be 11 or

(19:23):
better if we're going to make the play offs.
And I, I think the only way theycan do that is is hammer down.
I mean, it's going to have to behammered down and run up the
scores and the defense is going to have to get back.
Now, the good thing is the defense is going to have time
with lesser athletic opponents or maybe depth than what they
had against Miami and against A&M to get these things figured

(19:44):
out. But yeah, it's like, where's
your conference level going withthis Notre Dame defense?
Like how is there anything they can do to get you feeling good
about them or you're always going to have that in the back
of your head like. Oh, you're going to have to show
me for a few weeks. It's just not like one thing's
not going to change it. You know, it's one of those
things where if they play bad for one week, it affects you

(20:05):
more than if they play good for one week, right?
Like but. Let's just say you you forecast
it between here and the end of the season.
They don't give up more than 14 points a game for the rest of
the season. I are you going to buy in to
this defense looking at the. Absolutely, because I think a
team with confidence plays better because if I think if we
play A&M or Miami, again, just not having the confidence

(20:28):
effects you there. I I think we score more
offensively. I don't know if we play better
defensively. Yeah, I and that's, that's where
my head's at, right. Well, if you.
Like a bunch of these teams, Like, is your defense better
than their names? No, but you might have had three
or four cupcakes coming in whereyour defense is like, all right,
we're playing, we know what we're doing, we know what we're

(20:49):
doing. We're confident, right?
Confidence is bigger than anything.
I think on a defensive side and just in sports in general, if
you're confident what you're doing, I mean, sometimes it's
going to backfire, right? Like IU last year, as confident
as all get out, they were going to win.
Now, confidence can't win you everything, but you can compete
in some games and win some games.
You might not. You wouldn't have won without
the confidence, right? So yeah, I just think it's one

(21:10):
of those things where if this Notre Dame defense gets
confidence, they start playing faster.
They're not second guessing themselves because what they're
doing in the second A&M game wassecond guessing themselves and
that was making them play slower.
Yeah, Was it was it second guessing or was it unclear on
the play call poor communication.
I didn't, I saw some things. I'm like we got bailed out a
couple plays. So yeah, I'm not sold after

(21:32):
Arkansas because I felt like we got bailed out a couple plays.
But at the same time, I need this like I need like two or
three shutouts from this defenseover the next seven games and I
need a lot of low scoring games.And I'm not worried about the
offense. I think the offense is going to
just continue to get better. In fact, I think there's going
to be some games where the offense is going to get probably
pretty generic. I'm hoping to see a lot more

(21:54):
Kenny Minchi time. Like I I love Kenny Minchi in
the fourth quarter. So I'm hoping to see a lot of
that as we go forward. So yeah, I think that's kind of
the dynamic. It was like nervous game, big
Golfense coming in, how we goingto play, and then we played
really well. I mean, there's not a whole lot
you can complain. About, I mean, you're off.
And a win. There's things you can improve
on, but not a lot you can complain about.

(22:15):
I mean, you have 431 passing yards, 212 rushing yards, 8
different receivers, catch passes.
Yeah, it was just an all around offensive great performance and
the defense didn't look as bad as they have, right?
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I, I again, that's
where I'm, I love the offense. I love what we're doing on the
offense. I'm just.

(22:36):
Oh yeah, Guy we didn't shout outthough.
Payne, get some carries yesterday now.
I mean, he was running. He was running hard.
And yeah, you always remind me he was supposed to start over
love last year. Yeah, well, he was supposed to
be the guy who started over Estimate two years ago and then
he got injured and Estimate got the start and then you, you
thought he was going to be the guy last year and got injured
again and it's like, and he's just a yeah, he's a squat,

(22:59):
short, stout, hard runner. So it was good to see him
getting some carries as well. And he just Williams his run.
I think there was one run he hadwhere it's like he's just
looking for contact. He just wants to run into
somebody. It was like.
Oh, I love it. Nolan James Junior looked good.
Yeah, Nius looked good. So yeah, as much as I'm going to
miss Love and Price next year, Ithink we're going to be in good

(23:22):
hands. That's that's.
I know you're more convinced Price is leaving than I am, but
I'm I, I hold out a little tiny help that he'll come back.
You know, it'll come down to that, that evaluation grade for
him. I think Jeremiah Love has got
such off the charts talent. There's no Yeah.
Love, love. This is his last year.
I I. I can't see a scenario where

(23:43):
Love would decide to come back unless he just thinks the
defense is going to make anotherstep forward and he wants to
come back and win a national championship.
Because you get a 4-5 year window to win a college national
championship. And then you got to, you know,
if you're good, you've got to, you know, a 10 to 12 year window
to try. Probably has a running back.
Probably 7 years, yeah. Yeah.
I mean, that's like the long side of it is to try and win a

(24:06):
Super Bowl and you're going to look at what the records are,
who's going where, what your draft projection is.
I mean, if you're a top five pick, you're not normally going
to a Super Bowl contender. I mean, you know, unless you've
got somebody like. Especially not ones with good
offensive lines either. And as Arch Manning continues to
lower his draft stock, he'll probably come back to Texas next

(24:28):
year, which you'll only help Love go higher in the draft.
So it'll be interesting to see what he does.
But Love, I can't imagine a world where Love doesn't go.
Price, I'm with you. I could see Price coming back.
I think he should go. And I think he'll get drafted
somewhat high. But I mean, he's not, he's not
top. 5 running backs just aren'tas valued as they used to be.
If this is 10 years ago, Price could be a second third round

(24:51):
pick but just being a backup running back which is going to
be a huge advantage for him in the NFL because he has had that
many less hits on his body and same with Love.
I think it's just a huge advantage for both of them.
It's not an Ashton Gentry situation where like that dude
took 40 hits a game like. Well, but that's the other side.
Now you start getting into that guaranteed money in the rookie
contract stuff. And if your price, it might make

(25:14):
sense from an health perspectivefor him to stick around another
he might he might get more moneyto be the guy at Notre Dame next
year and get get the endorsements, get the, you know,
the shirts and the, you know what I mean, the shoes and
whatever else. Endorsement back that takes over
a big place. Yeah, I mean, he's going to get
some of that. And I, I mean, so yeah, I can
see I'm less convinced price goes than I am love.

(25:40):
But I'm not, I'm not counting onprice being back, I'll put it
that way. Yeah.
All right. So you got anything else to wrap
up here with Arkansas? I mean, I think that's that puts
a bull in Arkansas. The offense was efficient, the
defense was good enough. And that's all this podcast
needs to be as efficient and good enough.
And I think, you know, we can wecan start speculating and we're

(26:00):
into that playoff mode where we're going to go forward.
We got to we got to win every week.
And now I'm like, OK, are we going to just be bullies and be
villains? I think I saw Malik Zaire tweet
this. Notre Dame just needs to go into
villain mode and just put up 100every week.
And maybe we do because now we've got to we've got to
impress the committee and say, whoa, we can't keep Notre Dame

(26:22):
out of the out of the College Football Playoff.
This is a year where, boy, if itwas 16 teams, I'd feel a lot
better. But those.
But again, there's. Going to be people on promise to
lose. If Miami continues to do what
Miami should do and win, if A&M can find their way into the SEC
championships, like, I'll feel pretty good about it.
If A&M is less than two loss, I'll feel pretty solid.
Like they they have some tough opponents and it's hard to.

(26:46):
They didn't look great against Auburn, but they got it done.
They won. So yeah, they're I I just need
one of them. It'll be really good.
And I think Miami's probably that better chance to be that
undefeated. Well, I think Miami's got the
softer schedule. Yeah, they got Florida State
coming up this weekend. And that could be that could be
a good game. Which Florida State lost to
Virginia on the road, but it's aFriday night kick.

(27:06):
But they're probably looking forward to that Miami game a
little bit. Little boot trap game.
Yeah, so I mean, incredibly, Virginia getting the win, but
yeah, that's kind of. It'll be interesting how Florida
State responds this week. Interstate rivalry.
But yeah, I mean, all you can dois let things happen.
And no constable playoff rating itself.
But the committee, I'll always remind people of this, always a
lot more generous people who lose earlier than lose late.
Yeah, a little bit of that recency bias.

(27:27):
And again, and they don't talk about quality wins nearly as
much. They talked about quality
losses. Nobody's going to have two
better losses if we go undefeated.
No one has two better losses. Than us, yeah.
Lovely, yeah. I mean, and I don't think most
teams are going to have one lossthat's as good as our two loss.
I mean, like our any one of our losses will probably stack up
with most schools. So I there's an argument, but we

(27:49):
just got to win. But now I'm thinking not only do
we have to win, but we have to win convincingly from here on
out. And I think that's going to be
interesting for Notre Dame fans.We're not used to just bullying
people, you know? Not just running the ball on
them. But I, I think we're going to
try and get to 4050 points by half every game.
I mean, we're. Just it'll be fun to watch,
that's for sure. Get your popcorn ready right?

(28:09):
Yeah, I'm, I'm excited to see it.
I mean, even if we don't make the college football playoffs,
if we can average 40 plus pointsa game, I'm here for it.
All right, well, that kind of wraps that up.
I know what's Sunday, so we needto get on to some things and get
moving on with life. And we're not going to have time
for guests tonight, so we're going to just do a short
podcast. So sorry, Coach Freeman, maybe

(28:31):
next time we'll try and get you on next time.
Sounds good. Oh, hey, wait a minute.
What's that? We didn't cover the winter.
Oh, we did not. That's on me.
I let me pull that up real quick.
All right, congratulations to oh, what's it the name on it at
Mun City, Smitty. Mun City, Smitty.

(28:51):
Man City Smitty, congratulationson winning the Actually 5
contest. We reached out to you.
Make sure you send us your shirtsize and a good address.
Send you that shirt and you'll get entered to win those two to
get to that note inverse Syracuse game on your day.