Notre Dame's defense was heavily, and rightfully, scrutinized through the first three games of the season. Their passive play allowed Miami to mount multiple long scoring drives and gave Texas A&M and Purdue the opportunities to hit countless explosive plays in the passing game. Since then, this unit has turned things around and has not allowed an opposing offense to take over a game. Despite a rough start, this defense now ranks No. 45 in the country in points per game (21.3), No. 62 in total yards allowed per game (357.9) and ranks No. 21 in the country in rushing yards allowed per game (100.7). I've broken down some key areas where Notre Dame's defense is trending heading into their final bye week of the 2025 season. 

Trending Up 

1. Turnovers Forced - In their first four games, Notre Dame's defense forced five turnovers, four interceptions and one fumble. In their last three games, the defense has forced 10 turnovers, nine interceptions and one fumble. After leading the country in turnovers gained last season, their start to this season left many, myself included, concerned for the immediate future of this defense. Head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive coordinator Chris Ash and the rest of the defensive coaching staff have done a tremendous job honing in on taking the football away and giving their explosive offense the football. 

2. The Pass Rush - The first four games didn't look promising for the Notre Dame pass rush. As a team, they only generated over 20 pressures once in their first four games and that was against Texas A&M. In their last three games, they've combined for 85 pressures including a season high 37 total pressures against Boise State and 25 total pressures against USC last Saturday which is their second highest output of the season. Their defensive line has come alive and their linebackers have been unleashed. Defensive end Boubacar Traore currently leads the team in pressures and sacks while linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa leads the linebacking corps in total pressures with 14.  

3. Rush Efficiency Defense - One of the biggest issues for Notre Dame's defense in 2024 was their inability to consistently stop the run. This season, that's been a heavy emphasis by Freeman, and the run defense has stepped up in a big way this season. This season, the Irish have only allowed two opponents to average 4.0 yards per carry or more and that was Texas A&M (4.0) and Arkansas (5.3). Since their matchup with Arkansas, the Notre Dame defense hasn't allowed an opponent to average over 3.0 yards per carry; Boise State averaged 2.9 yards per carry, NC State averaged 1.8 yards per carry and USC averaged 2.3 yards per carry. If this team wishes to make a run in the playoffs, stopping the run will be imperative. 

Trending Down

1. Tackling - Missed tackles have reared it's ugly head once again in South Bend. They started off the season allowed 21 combined missed tackles against Miami and Texas A&M. The defense cleaned things up against Purdue, Arkansas and Boise State and kept the missed tackle numbers to single digits; they only allowed 18 missed tackles across those three games. Their matchups with NC State and USC are a different story. Notre Dame missed 12 tackles against the Wolfpack and 11 tackles against the Trojans. Unfortunately, this is trending in the wrong direction as the Irish head into their final bye week of the regular season. This team desperately needs this week off; I'm confident the tackling will return to form on November 1. 

2. Secondary Depth And Rotation - There's a lot of talent on the back end of Notre Dame's defense, which should be little to no surprise to anyone who has been following Mike Micken's career in South Bend. Unfortunately, due to some injuries and some shuffling, the Fighting Irish secondary has some questions around their depth and their cornerback and safety rotation. Nickel back and Alabama transfer DeVonta Smith has missed the Texas A&M game, Purdue game, Boise State game and USC game with a calf injury. His replacement, Karson Hobbs, wasn't up for the task at nickel and has since been buried on the depth chart.

At safety, they found Adon Shuler's running mate in redshirt freshman Tae Johnson, but the rotation as a whole is still questionable. True freshman JaDon Blair has yet to see the field and Luke Talich, despite his efficiency in pass coverage, has played less snaps this season than true freshman corner Mark Zackery who didn't play at all against USC and only logged eight snaps against NC State and nine snaps against Boise State. This has the potential to be another long season; Mickens, Ash and Freeman will have to be intentional around getting younger and fresher players involved in the secondary in these final five games. 

-------

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook