The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have always been a dominant team in D1 college football, but as of late, some might argue the Irish are coming to a halt as they are having one of the worst seasons in Irish history (7-3) according to ESPN.com. You may be wondering, 7-3 does not sound bad at all, but when you look at their schedule the three teams the Irish lost to would be the most difficult competition that the Irish would face this year. The Irish received their first loss to one of the best teams in college football “The Ohio State”.  Now the loss to Ohio State is not the Irish’s most pivotal game of the year; most would argue that Notre Dame’s loss to Louisville was their biggest loss this year. The loss to Louisville would knock the Irish out of the college football playoffs.

     This year, Notre Dame hired Marcus Freeman as their new head coach last year. Coach Freeman is under a lot of turmoil this year as the Irish are struggling to succeed this season. People would think well it is his first year he is just struggling to get control or used to his second year  team. That is not the case for Freeman as Irish fans are infuriated according to The Athletic.com with his coaching style and are wondering if he is able to continue with the position that he is in right now. One of the main reasons people are upset with his style of coaching is his offensive line. Marcus is switching out new offensive and defensive lines on almost every drive, and some are arguing that he is not allowing the players to get comfortable with their positions. Instead, he is switching them out almost every drive which is limiting them to what they can do, and as of right now, it is not working for the Irish.

     The Irish have a long history in their program with their first ever season starting in 1887. They have a total record of 945 wins, 337 losses, and 42 ties, with that kind of record and stats the Irish are falling behind with this year’s performance. The Irish are just under .500 when it comes to bowl games with their bowl record of 20 wins and 21 losses. The Irish are coming up on their appearance in the Pop Tart Bowl game with some thinking they will face off against Oklahoma State. Although the Irish are struggling with this year’s performance, a lot of sports analysts and college football fanatics are predicting Notre Dame to take home the Pop Tart bowl game and hopefully end the year off with a bowl game win added to their resume.