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Notre Dame football Pod of Gold: 2023 season preview edition · Pod of Gold: Notre Dame Football

0:00
S1: This is insider's pot of gold. Now, with all things
0:05
S1: Notre Dame football, here's Tom Noy, Mike Borodino and Austin Huff.
0:12
S1: Welcome to another edition of Pot of Gold podcast. Guys.
0:14
S1: We are just 48 hours away from the start of
0:17
S1: fall camp. Of course, Notre Dame gets to start a
0:19
S1: week earlier than everybody else because of their Week zero
0:22
S1: game in Ireland. And there is a reminder that Insider
0:25
S1: has a week long rollout of position, previews, player and
0:28
S1: coach profiles, schedule analysis and everything you need to get
0:32
S1: ready for the start of training camp. Wednesday, July 26th, guys.
0:36
S1: Marcus Freeman entering his second full season in charge. Tom,
0:40
S1: you talked in your column about how Freeman has learned
0:42
S1: that a lot of losses aren't catastrophic, like the Marshall one.
0:45
S2: Well, not losses per se, but just anything. College football.
0:49
S2: If Justin Scott goes to Ohio State, commits to Ohio State,
0:52
S2: catastrophic on the outside, maybe not catastrophic on the inside.
0:56
S2: Logan Diggs decides after spring practice. Hey, I want to
0:58
S2: go go to LSU. Catastrophic from a running back position.
1:02
S2: Fans may think not so within the building. So Marcus
1:05
S2: Freeman has learned that that it may seem like a
1:09
S2: big deal on the outside of the program it can't
1:11
S2: be a big deal on the inside of the program
1:13
S2: if they want to get to where they need to
1:15
S2: get to this season. Back to the College Football Playoff
1:17
S2: and beyond.
1:18
S1: And Mike Marcus Freeman has spent some time talking to
1:20
S1: former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, now current
1:24
S1: Denver Broncos head coach. What was that conversation like?
1:26
S3: Well, it was pretty interesting when Tom and I sat
1:28
S3: with Marcus in his office this summer, one of the
1:31
S3: stories that I enjoyed the most was just his his
1:33
S3: time with with Sean Payton, who was supposed to be
1:35
S3: limited visit and turn out to be an hour and
1:37
S3: a half. And I got the sense that if he
1:39
S3: could have stayed there a couple of days, he would
1:40
S3: have because Sean Payton just downloaded so much information to him.
1:44
S3: This guy's been an NFL coach for 15 years. Super
1:48
S3: Bowl champion. One of the big takeaways from Marcus was
1:50
S3: just in terms of messaging. Sean Payton You know, after
1:53
S3: all these years, you'd think he'd kind of have it down.
1:55
S3: But he says sometimes he'll change his message to the
1:57
S3: team 20 minutes before he addresses him. One of the
2:00
S3: things that he talked about with Marcus was that he
2:02
S3: was trying to formulate his message on the gambling policy
2:04
S3: in the NFL. That could be an issue at any
2:06
S3: stage for anyone. And rather than tell his current team
2:10
S3: what they can't do, he just tells them very narrowly
2:13
S3: what they can do. And I got a sense that
2:15
S3: Marcus Freeman, who is always so intentional and thoughtful about
2:18
S3: the way he addresses us, the way he addresses the team,
2:21
S3: the way he coaches up the coaches is going to
2:23
S3: continue to refine that in his second full season.
2:26
S1: Well, one good thing for Marcus Freeman in his second
2:29
S1: full season, the quarterback position may be figured out. Shiny
2:32
S1: new transfer quarterback Sam Hartman coming in from Wake Forest. Guys,
2:36
S1: what are you expecting to see in this month leading
2:38
S1: up to the opener in Dublin?
2:40
S2: From Sam Hartman. Not a whole heck of a lot
2:43
S2: because we know it's Sam Hartman's job. He's not going
2:46
S2: into camp having to prove himself, having to win the job,
2:49
S2: having to make all kinds of throws and wow. Everybody
2:52
S2: get Sam Hartman through training camp because he's done this
2:55
S2: dance before, throwing for so many yards, throwing for 110 touchdowns.
2:59
S2: Been around the game now for this is his sixth season,
3:01
S2: so you don't need Sam Hartman to wow everybody in
3:05
S2: training camp kind of just refine what he does maybe
3:08
S2: pick out a receiver or two that he can get
3:10
S2: confident in once the season starts. But the real test
3:13
S2: for Sam Hartman and the real proof of Sam Hartman
3:16
S2: will be starting with the Navy game in Ireland.
3:18
S1: Mike, you talked to some all time greats throughout Notre
3:21
S1: Dame history. What are their thoughts on their new starting quarterback?
3:24
S3: Well, and specifically Matt, I asked him about what it
3:27
S3: would be like to go back in time and be
3:28
S3: 24 years old playing against college players who might be
3:31
S3: 18 and out there starting. And obviously they all kind
3:34
S3: of like that concept. That's what Sam Hartman is going
3:36
S3: to get to do this year because he's going to
3:38
S3: turn 24, three days into his first training camp, his
3:41
S3: only training camp with Notre Dame. What does that mean
3:44
S3: in the big picture? Well, it means that he's been
3:47
S3: there and done that. Pretty much everything has come at
3:49
S3: him in the college level. But obviously at Notre Dame,
3:52
S3: it's another shade, another level. And certainly the scrutiny will
3:55
S3: be there. He's got a lot on the table this
3:57
S3: year that in terms of potential running a Heisman Trophy,
4:01
S3: a potential run at a national championship and of course,
4:04
S3: the career passing yardage list, he's going to be climbing that.
4:06
S3: But really it's about winning on that national stage. And
4:09
S3: Steve Berlin said he came away, the former Notre Dame quarterback,
4:12
S3: he knows what it's like. He said one of the
4:14
S3: things that Hartman just offered up right out of the
4:17
S3: chute was, you know, people think I'm going on 30
4:19
S3: years old, you know, and even because he's 24 in
4:23
S3: this stage, he's not Stetson, Bennett Stetson. Bennett won back
4:26
S3: to back championships, you know, 24 and 25 chronological age.
4:31
S3: Not a bad thing in the modern game.
4:33
S1: Sam Hartman is also going to leave college with a degree, hopefully. Now,
4:36
S1: one of the partnerships that a lot of fans were
4:38
S1: hoping they would see, but not really expecting was Sam
4:41
S1: Hartman to Michael Mayer. Michael Mayer, the former tight end,
4:44
S1: obviously drafted by the Vegas Raiders. So, guys, who's your
4:46
S1: pick to now take over the reception in the tight
4:49
S1: end group?
4:50
S2: I'd say to be determined like there's not one tight
4:53
S2: end on this roster where you point to and say nobody,
4:56
S2: nobody on this roster is going to be Michael Mayer,
4:58
S2: whoever it is. Mitchell Evans, Kevin Bauman, Holden stays. Eli Reardon,
5:01
S2: who Mike wrote about earlier this week. They're not going
5:04
S2: to be Michael. Michael Myers Don't come along every 2
5:07
S2: or 3 years. He's a very unique individual. NFL draft
5:10
S2: pick will have a long enough fall career. So I'd
5:12
S2: say maybe Mitchell Evans because he's been around the longest.
5:16
S2: Kevin Bauman's been hurt. Holden stays played in 11 games
5:19
S2: last year, but he only made one catch. So it's
5:21
S2: not you can't look at a guy as training camp
5:24
S2: starts on Wednesday and say that's going to be the
5:27
S2: guy that replaces Michael Mayer. It has to be a
5:29
S2: collective effort. And then maybe as camp goes further and
5:33
S2: deeper and deeper and maybe as the season goes deeper,
5:35
S2: one of those guys emerges to where Sam Hartman feels
5:38
S2: comfortable with him. Jared Parker feels comfortable with him, and
5:42
S2: he's going to be the guy that maybe gets the
5:44
S2: ball in some of the tight situations that we saw
5:46
S2: Michael Mayer do.
5:47
S1: So, Mike, let's talk about the receivers then for a second,
5:49
S1: not just the tight ends, because there's a lot of
5:51
S1: new guys, a lot of guys that fans think are
5:54
S1: going to be really good, who's Chauncey Stuckey been saying
5:56
S1: has been really standing out so far. Who does he
5:58
S1: think could have the potential to stand out?
6:00
S3: Well, obviously, he's excited, mad about having more depth in
6:03
S3: that room. And it doesn't matter if it's young depth,
6:06
S3: older depth. It's a lot of guys pushing each other.
6:08
S3: But the two names that he mentioned to me when
6:10
S3: we spoke in recent days was Tobias Merriweather. Fans would
6:13
S3: be happy to hear about that. He thought Tobias, over
6:15
S3: the past, since we've last saw him in the spring game,
6:17
S3: has added even more strength in his off season workouts,
6:20
S3: and he's shown leadership in that group in just organizing
6:24
S3: the off season workouts among his group. So he's looking
6:27
S3: for something bigger from Tobias. And he said, You know,
6:30
S3: Jaden Thomas certainly shouldn't be overlooked. He's Mr. Reliable. And
6:34
S3: he said that Matt Bayless, who's been around a lot
6:38
S3: all these guys through the years, says Jaden Thomas, is
6:40
S3: one of the strongest receivers he's ever dealt with. So,
6:43
S3: you know, already a big bodied guy who is really
6:46
S3: tough to handle around in short area is even stronger.
6:50
S1: So the transfer portal sticking out its ugly head once
6:53
S1: again after the spring game, losing Logan Diggs to the
6:55
S1: transfer portal Notre Dame did, but they added a healthy
6:58
S1: to Jerian Price and Penn State transfer Devin Ford to
7:01
S1: the backfield mix and that includes Gibran Payne along with
7:04
S1: the leading rusher Drake Estimates. So guys, what do you
7:06
S1: expect out of the running game this season from Notre
7:09
S1: Dame when you.
7:09
S2: Have Sam Hartman at quarterback? Just all you need is
7:13
S2: a solid running game. You don't need Estimé And last year,
7:17
S2: Logan Diggs both challenged in a run for 1000 yards.
7:20
S2: I think Estimé will be the main back and then
7:22
S2: after that remains to be seen. Jerian Price Yeah, he's,
7:25
S2: he's quote healthy and quote 100%. But coming back from
7:29
S2: the Achilles injury, that's usually another year until he gets
7:32
S2: his burst and gets his wiggle and gets confident like
7:35
S2: he'll play. And he may, he may see a lot
7:37
S2: of time in training camp but we still don't know about.
7:40
S2: What what he's going to be able to do. Devin
7:42
S2: Ford That's a big ask when you're coming from Penn
7:44
S2: State and saying, All right, pick up this offense, let's go.
7:47
S2: You're going to get you're going to get a key
7:48
S2: carry on third down. I think the one guy that
7:50
S2: you're going to have to watch all that running back
7:52
S2: room early in preseason camp will be where Jeremiah Love
7:54
S2: fits in like Rick estimate will probably run for 1000
7:58
S2: yards but he's going to need somebody to spell him.
8:01
S2: That might be a true freshman this season.
8:03
S1: All right, Mike, I got a curveball right down the middle.
8:06
S1: An easy one for you. Is there no point in
8:08
S1: bringing Chris Tyree back from the receiver position into the
8:11
S1: running back room? Leave him there.
8:12
S3: As presently constituted. You know, good Lord willing, it would
8:18
S3: seem like Chris Tyree has made that full transition. But
8:20
S3: when we met with him in the spring, you know,
8:22
S3: he still has the little placard that says wide receiver
8:25
S3: slash running back or maybe the opposite. He's still listed
8:27
S3: that way on the roster, for what it's worth, but
8:29
S3: his reps almost certainly will come because he's got a
8:32
S3: lot of rust to scrape off in terms of those
8:35
S3: and just new skills that he's learning about how to
8:38
S3: show that wiggle that Tom that that was very football They're.
8:40
S2: Like they're not bad for a basketball guy no.
8:43
S3: He really coming in here with all the football stuff
8:45
S3: but certainly gaining separation will be no problem once he
8:49
S3: beats the press. But I do think they were so
8:52
S3: happy with what Chris Tyree was able to do and
8:54
S3: that'll carry over. So all those names that Tom listed
8:57
S3: in the running back room, some of them were really
9:00
S3: we don't we've never seen him before out on the
9:02
S3: practice field. Interesting to see how they look physically. But
9:05
S3: you know, some some guys that can take it to
9:07
S3: the house that were mentioned, especially Devin Ford, by the way,
9:10
S3: you know, puts it right there on his Twitter, his
9:13
S3: nickname tsunami. And I just think that that's I'll be
9:16
S3: interested to see what the tsunami can do.
9:19
S1: So let's talk about the other side of the ball now.
9:21
S1: The defense starting on that defensive line, Isaiah Fossey off
9:25
S1: to the New Orleans Saints being drafted, breaking Justin Tuck's
9:28
S1: career sack record here at Notre Dame last season. So, guys,
9:31
S1: where does the pass rush come from this season?
9:34
S2: That's probably the best question as they head into fall camp. Like,
9:38
S2: where are you going to get the production that Isaiah had?
9:42
S2: Like you said, Matt, all time leading sack leader. It
9:44
S2: has to be Jordan, It has to be Jordan Vitello.
9:47
S2: Like you have to get something from him and also
9:49
S2: maybe Junior to get behind Vitello in a depth chart.
9:53
S2: That Viper position, whoever it is, has to generate the
9:57
S2: pass rush and then you get a little of this
9:58
S2: and a little of that along the defensive line. But
10:01
S2: if there is one question mark for this football team
10:03
S2: heading into fall, it's got to be along that interior
10:06
S2: defensive line because they don't have that one guy that
10:09
S2: you can pencil in for double digit sacks or double
10:12
S2: digit quarterback hurries or tackles or this or that. A
10:16
S2: lot of guys, but a lot of them unproven guys early.
10:19
S1: All right. So I got another curveball whoever wants this one.
10:21
S1: One of the big incoming transfers, at least in the
10:24
S1: early off season, was from Ohio State Javonte John Baptist.
10:27
S1: What kind of role does he play in this defensive line?
10:29
S1: Who wants it?
10:30
S3: Well, I'll take it. I mean, it's interesting that already
10:33
S3: it seemed like he's added weight. He told us in
10:35
S3: the spring and you could see it, you know, he's
10:37
S3: he's versatile enough now to move more inside, maybe the
10:40
S3: big end defensive end. I don't know that you see
10:43
S3: him on the interior too much but not you know,
10:45
S3: he's not going to be that quick guy coming off
10:47
S3: the edge as a viper. But still, I would say
10:48
S3: that that leads me to think there's going to need
10:51
S3: to be interior pressure. Howard Cross, The third is a
10:53
S3: guy who's pretty slippery. In fact, the first big I
10:56
S3: believe the first sack of last year to have a
10:57
S3: state was Howard Cross. The third coming right up the gut.
11:00
S3: They're going to need to have pressure from without having
11:03
S3: to blitz, without having to send extra guys, which was
11:07
S3: a problem even last year with, you know, the metrics.
11:09
S3: Didn't think Notre Dame. It did not make it look
11:11
S3: like a team that you could not pass protect against,
11:14
S3: even with you doing what he did. So yeah, I
11:17
S3: think I think John Baptist is going to be a
11:19
S3: versatile piece, a chess piece that they can move around
11:21
S3: for Al Washington's group. But other guys, some some non-traditional
11:24
S3: guys may have to add the pressure. All right.
11:27
S1: So let's talk about farther back in the defense, the secondary,
11:30
S1: Ben Morrison, the freshman six interceptions last year. He's a
11:34
S1: chance to make a similar impact on that side of
11:36
S1: the ball with transfers and freshmen who has a better
11:39
S1: chance of making an impact on that side of.
11:41
S2: The ball again? TBD But if I had to pick
11:43
S2: one guy, let's go with Christian Gray. He looked the
11:46
S2: part early in spring. He never he never did participate
11:48
S2: in spring because of a knee injury that set him
11:51
S2: on the shelf for the entire workout session. But before spring,
11:56
S2: he talked like a guy who had already been around
11:58
S2: the college football block. You talk more like a junior
12:00
S2: or a fourth year senior than a true freshman. So
12:05
S2: we saw it from Ben. Ben Morrison came out of
12:07
S2: nowhere last year. Let's see if Christian Gray can do
12:09
S2: the same thing.
12:10
S1: So, Mike, another curveball for you. I'm going to keep
12:12
S1: throwing these two.
12:13
S2: Mike gets all the curveballs. I get the fastball.
12:15
S4: Waiting for this thing to buzz.
12:17
S3: It can be like Jose Altuve.
12:20
S2: Somebodys got to bang a garbage can over there. That's right.
12:23
S1: All right. Linebacker position. We feel confident about them. A
12:26
S1: lot of experience, guys, coming back for Notre Dame this year.
12:29
S3: Well, certainly J.D. Bertrand, if he can avoid targeting penalties,
12:33
S3: you know what? You're getting there. But those are, you know,
12:35
S3: quite randomly called it was we wrote about last year.
12:38
S3: But Jack Kaiser. Back healthy. You know what? You're getting there.
12:41
S3: But you also they used him. They pushed him inside
12:44
S3: a little bit. Marriage Leah foul. Those three guys I
12:47
S3: just named have a tremendous amount of experience, but we're
12:49
S3: most interested to see, I would think and the fan
12:52
S3: base for sure is where's Jalen Sneed fit in all
12:54
S3: of this? Because you got a little taste of it.
12:56
S3: He actually came in and and address the media after
12:59
S3: the spring game. He you know the one play the
13:01
S3: really stood out for me was when he chased down
13:03
S3: the aforementioned Chris Tyree nicknamed Jet. And when you can
13:07
S3: chase down the jet as a as a rover and
13:10
S3: Snead played all over the place when he was in
13:11
S3: high school down in Hilton Head. This is you talk
13:14
S3: about chess piece. This is something they're going to look
13:15
S3: to deploy. Nolan Ziegler, another guy, especially in special teams
13:20
S3: who I think is going to kind of inherit even
13:21
S3: Bob Bower himself suggested that was his guy to inherit
13:25
S3: that that that maniacal role of a linebacker just causing havoc.
13:30
S1: All right. So I'm going to ask for one player
13:32
S1: from each of you breakout performer on defense. And why Can.
13:36
S2: I just repeat everything that Mike just said? I'm going
13:38
S2: to go with Jalen Snead because you have those you
13:41
S2: have those veteran linebackers and JD Bertrand, Jack Kaiser Amerisleep foul.
13:46
S2: But they've been they were on the field way too
13:48
S2: many snaps last year. You need a they need some
13:51
S2: sort of change up guy some guy that's going to
13:54
S2: come in and still produce tackles hurries this that caused
13:58
S2: some havoc. I'm going to go with Jalen Snead for
14:00
S2: that as the breakout player on defense in 2023.
14:04
S5: Mike Well, I.
14:04
S3: Was going to use Ziegler and I already played the card,
14:07
S3: so I'm going to go back. I'm going to say
14:09
S3: Thomas Harper is a guy that we haven't seen Antonio
14:11
S3: Carter yet, the guy who came in from Rhode Island.
14:13
S3: But we and we haven't seen Thomas Harper, really from
14:16
S3: Oklahoma State. But here's a guy with a lot of
14:18
S3: meaningful snaps against big time passing offenses in the Big
14:21
S3: 12 and he's got the the versatility to play in
14:26
S3: the slot corner He could take over what Tariq Bracy
14:29
S3: held down awfully well for a couple of years several
14:31
S3: years and also can back up and be extra help
14:34
S3: in safety if anything should happen to Xavier watch from
14:37
S3: Owen Henderson. So I think that Thomas Harper, a healthy
14:40
S3: Thomas Harper coming off shoulder surgery goes back to last
14:43
S3: November is a guy that they're going to depend on.
14:47
S1: Let's talk about health because obviously Notre Dame had some
14:49
S1: issues with that last year, especially in the quarterback position.
14:53
S1: And we all know that you lose a quarterback and
14:55
S1: it can throw your whole season into a whirlwind. So
14:56
S1: we can all agree that Sam Hartman is one player
14:58
S1: that Notre Dame cannot afford to lose for any stretch
15:01
S1: on offense. Is there a player in that same position
15:04
S1: for defense for Notre Dame this year? There's always.
15:06
S2: A player. We can always. And if there's not, let's
15:08
S2: just manufacture one, right? I'm going to I'm going to
15:11
S2: probably make some of the people in a fan base
15:13
S2: unhappy and say the one guy defensively, they cannot afford
15:17
S2: to lose just because of everything that he knows, the
15:20
S2: experience that he brings. That's just the way he plays
15:23
S2: would be. JD Bertrand Where it's just it just seems like, okay,
15:27
S2: he doesn't do this, he doesn't do this or he
15:29
S2: doesn't do that. He's not fast. He doesn't he knows
15:32
S2: the defense probably better than anybody and is kind of
15:35
S2: like the glue that holds that whole unit together. So
15:38
S2: they've got a lot of talented linebackers, but as long
15:41
S2: as he can keep the targeting penalties down and stay
15:44
S2: in football games, I think JD Bertrand is a real
15:47
S2: good piece to this defense, the way it's constructed under
15:50
S2: Al Gold. So I'm going with JD Bertrand.
15:53
S1: Mike, you got any, buddy?
15:54
S3: Sure. Yeah, Tom's right. You could go down a list, right?
15:57
S3: I think there's a good time to talk about Cam Hart.
15:59
S3: We haven't mentioned him yet. Here's a guy we saw.
16:01
S3: We don't have to go back to far to see
16:03
S3: what the defense looks like without him. At the opposite
16:06
S3: corner from Ben Morrison, one reason Ben Morrison was able
16:09
S3: to make all those plays last year, people were throwing
16:11
S3: away from Cam Hart. I'd say the metrics would suggest
16:14
S3: that he did his job very well. He's got more
16:16
S3: than 1300 defensive snaps in the past two years, but
16:19
S3: when he was hurt most recently, guys had a lot
16:21
S3: of trouble with his shoulder over the years. He missed
16:24
S3: that USC game. He misses, well, both USC games, South
16:27
S3: Carolina and Southern Cal, you know, and a couple of
16:30
S3: pick six returns skew it a little bit in the
16:33
S3: bowl game but that's 238 point situation. So Cam Hart
16:37
S3: says he's a first rounder that the nation is sleeping on.
16:41
S3: He's going to show it this year. And this is
16:43
S3: a guy that he certainly has a lot on the line.
16:46
S3: But Notre Dame doesn't want to have to take such
16:48
S3: an experienced cornerback and fill in, even though Jaden Mickey
16:51
S3: has made a lot of progress. He also had a
16:54
S3: lot of growing pains in year one. And Christian Gray's
16:57
S3: got a lot of learning to do as well. I'd
16:59
S3: go with Cam Hart.
17:00
S1: Just like UT there is only one USC and it
17:03
S1: goes to Southern California. South Carolina. Sorry, I worked in Carolina.
17:08
S5: I worked in.
17:08
S3: Augusta long enough that I know that's you know, that's
17:10
S3: a point of contention for.
17:11
S1: South Carolina. Can't even claim Carolina that belongs to the
17:14
S1: Tar Heels. You are just South Carolina. We are joined
17:17
S1: now by Austin Huff, the newest member of the South
17:19
S1: Bend Tribune sports team. Welcome along. That's me. That is you.
17:23
S1: How are we doing, y'all? So you got a chance
17:25
S1: to break down the Notre Dame schedule for this fall
17:27
S1: for Insider Austin. We had some bad losses last year,
17:31
S1: so we have to ask the question, what are the
17:34
S1: biggest trap games on the schedule for Notre Dame? What
17:36
S1: opponents are going to give them issues some bad games,
17:38
S1: which is not a very good thing.
17:40
S6: That means there was more than one. There's two of them.
17:42
S6: I took the trap game this year, and I think
17:44
S6: it's a pretty obvious pick. It's Duke right after the
17:47
S6: Ohio State game, right? It's a true road game going
17:50
S6: to Durham. I know Duke Football doesn't have the best
17:53
S6: atmosphere compared to Duke basketball, but Duke's got everyone back, man.
17:57
S6: Riley Leonard at the quarterback last year, he threw for
17:59
S6: almost 3000 yards, rushed for like another thousand, like 35
18:02
S6: to 40 total touchdowns somewhere around that ballpark like Dynamic player.
18:07
S6: And he's coming back. They had a lot of built
18:09
S6: up momentum last year. Duke went nine and four, won
18:11
S6: the military bowl September 30th, right after you play Ohio
18:15
S6: State big high, especially if Notre Dame can somehow beat
18:18
S6: Ohio State like that could easily be a downfall. Emotional down,
18:22
S6: you know after that. So I think Duke's the trap
18:25
S6: game so to say this year.
18:26
S1: So last year Notre Dame did play against a Heisman
18:30
S1: winner and Caleb Williams, who are some of the best
18:32
S1: individuals that they're going to play this year?
18:33
S6: Well, guess what? They play Caleb Williams again this year.
18:36
S6: USC comes to USC, comes to town October 14th. Mark
18:40
S6: your calendars. But obviously when you look at the big
18:43
S6: three games that they play this year, right, they got
18:45
S6: Ohio State, USC, Clemson, all three of those teams have
18:47
S6: incredible players. Ohio State led by the two best arguably
18:52
S6: maybe the best wide receiver tandem in the country this
18:53
S6: year coming Marvin Harrison Jr and Emeka Abacha. I hope
18:57
S6: I said that right. Two two 100 yard plus receivers
19:01
S6: ten plus touchdowns last year and then we'll Shipley Clemson
19:04
S6: the running back former Notre Dame commit It's kind of
19:06
S6: a big deal when he didn't sign with Notre Dame
19:09
S6: and signed with Clemson instead but he had 1200 yards
19:12
S6: rushing last year and 15 touchdowns so I mean all
19:15
S6: four of those guys, Caleb Williams included, could easily be
19:19
S6: in the Heisman race. Obviously, Caleb Williams will be. He's
19:21
S6: the defending Heisman champion that yeah, he's a trophy winner.
19:25
S6: And so you could see the other guys if they
19:28
S6: have great seasons, they could sneak into that conversation as well.
19:30
S1: All right, Austin, since he was a new guy, kind
19:32
S1: of throw you a curveball as well.
19:33
S6: Oh, God.
19:34
S1: Two big primetime games at Notre Dame Stadium this year. USC. Yep.
19:38
S1: And Ohio State. Yep. Which one's the better game? Which
19:41
S1: one is the better atmosphere between the two?
19:43
S6: Um, well, the atmosphere could be interesting as no offense
19:47
S6: to Notre Dame Stadium, but in the last couple of years,
19:50
S6: teams have been able to kind of come in here
19:52
S6: and make some noise. Cincinnati a couple of years ago,
19:54
S6: Georgia obviously 2017, Ohio State, by beating a lot of people,
19:58
S6: y'all might be a 5050 split, maybe 6040 Notre Dame.
20:01
S6: That could be for a very interesting atmosphere, very electric atmosphere,
20:05
S6: a lot of charged up fans. I think that it's
20:09
S6: hard to pick against USC being a better game. It's
20:11
S6: a rivalry game. Caleb Williams is so electric and exciting.
20:15
S6: I don't want to be a cop out here and
20:16
S6: say they're both going to be really interesting and good atmosphere.
20:18
S6: That would be a cop out. That would be a
20:20
S6: cop out. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate it. But, um. I
20:24
S6: think the better game could be Ohio State just because
20:26
S6: it'll still be early enough. Notre Dame, hopefully for a
20:30
S6: lot of people will be four and zero. Ohio State
20:32
S6: should be unbeaten going into top ten and probably College
20:35
S6: GameDay will be there. Like feels like that's going to
20:37
S6: be a bigger one by mid-October. We might have a
20:40
S6: better idea of what this Notre Dame team is and
20:42
S6: maybe USC too. So I'm going to go Ohio State
20:44
S6: by by a hair just because of the schedule timing.
20:47
S1: All right, Mike, one more curveball for you.
20:50
S5: Yeah, there you go.
20:51
S1: We hear from the fan aspect of the games that
20:54
S1: they're most excited for. Obviously, the two primetime games high
20:56
S1: on the list for everybody from a sportswriter standpoint, storylines,
21:00
S1: match ups. What games are you looking forward to this year?
21:04
S3: All of them.
21:05
S5: Had.
21:06
S6: Good answer. All of.
21:07
S5: Them.
21:08
S6: I would like to be able.
21:09
S7: To cop out card that you just. Yeah, I was
21:11
S7: going to say the.
21:11
S6: Cop out thing it.
21:12
S7: Just got that was rude to call a.
21:14
S6: Cop out on me.
21:16
S5: Well get get used to it. So if if, if
21:20
S5: this is why.
21:20
S1: They stick me in the.
21:21
S5: Middle, if you're going to if you're going to.
21:22
S3: Agree that at one of the problems with Marshall, the
21:26
S3: loss to Marshall was that all games need to be
21:28
S3: treated equally and created equally, then I'm going to come
21:31
S3: at it the same way I'm going to bring it
21:32
S3: every time we Austin did a great job breaking down
21:36
S3: what's ahead this season and where the potential traps are.
21:39
S3: I'm a little surprised that we haven't talked about NC
21:41
S3: State at all. I'm a North Carolina guy, but playing
21:44
S3: at NC State, a couple of things that just the
21:47
S3: timing where that slots in because Notre Dame is going
21:51
S3: to be coming back from Dublin the previous week and
21:53
S3: go right into Tennessee State that's going to feel like
21:58
S3: a bye week. But they're still going to have to
22:00
S3: play this historically black college and university. Eddie George's team,
22:03
S3: they're going to be favored by 40. They should win
22:04
S3: by 50. But then no bye in that stretch until
22:08
S3: they get all the way past USC.
22:11
S5: Yeah, they.
22:11
S6: Play seven straight.
22:12
S3: Games, two byes on that schedule, but they're back loaded.
22:16
S3: So the NC State one jumps out at me because
22:18
S3: Brennan Armstrong is a guy who can do a lot
22:19
S3: of things and he's transferred in there and he's got
22:21
S3: his former offensive coordinator at Virginia, Robert and I, who
22:25
S3: had been at Syracuse, Notre Dame. People saw him last
22:28
S3: year with a gimpy, the big guy, Garrett Shrader. But
22:34
S3: now he's got he's back with a guy who put
22:36
S3: a big, big numbers when they were a tandem and
22:38
S3: at NC State is going to be loud and crazy
22:40
S3: they do this thing the wolfpack howl you're going to
22:42
S3: hear that a lot and Notre Dame just it's just
22:46
S3: hard to imagine that you could have that kind of
22:48
S3: quick turnaround coming back from Dublin without a clunker in
22:51
S3: there somewhere. The difference this year is going to have
22:53
S3: to be if you're going to make it all the
22:54
S3: way to Ohio State and make that mean what it should,
22:57
S3: you're going to have to avoid having that that that
22:59
S3: off game that that maybe you're trailing at halftime you're
23:02
S3: going to have to avoid letting that be the thing
23:04
S3: that trips up your season of their.
23:06
S6: First four games. That is definitely the trickiest one of
23:09
S6: the four because Navy should in theory be a win
23:12
S6: and obviously Tennessee State and then Central Michigan after the
23:15
S6: NC State game. Another sneaky game could be Louisville first
23:19
S6: weekend of October, right after the Duke game. So they're
23:21
S6: going to play two high level teams, Ohio State and Duke,
23:24
S6: back to back. Louisville. Jeff from new head coach Jack Plummer,
23:28
S6: the former Purdue quarterback. A lot of Purdue love going
23:30
S6: down there in Louisville right now. But you know, what
23:33
S6: are they going to look like? You know, Jeff Brown's
23:35
S6: teams can be you know, there tend to pull upsets
23:38
S6: from time to time. Everyone remembers that Ohio State game
23:40
S6: when they killed them by about 100 points a couple
23:42
S6: of years ago in Purdue or West Lafayette. The ACC schedule, like,
23:48
S6: you know, it's on and off sometimes for Notre Dame
23:50
S6: this year, it's kind of a kind of a tougher one.
23:52
S6: With Duke, it could be tricky at Louisville, could be tricky.
23:55
S6: Like Mike said, NC State could be tricky. Clemson is
23:59
S6: coming to you. Can you play Clemson again for the
24:01
S6: fifth time in six years now? There's some interesting ACC
24:05
S6: games in there that they could that could trip them
24:07
S6: up for sure.
24:08
S1: Well, that does it for another edition of Pot of
24:10
S1: Gold podcast for Tom Noy, Austin Huff and Mike Berahino.
24:14
S1: I'm Matt Locke. Thank you for watching. Reminder, check out
24:17
S1: South Bend Tribune's Notre Dame coverage all season at Insider. Com.
24:21
S1: We'll be right back here soon for more.
24:23
UU: Pot of gold.