Winning is the best cologne, and sometimes an offense's problems don't reveal themselves until they play an opponent with equal to, or similar, levels of talent and coaching. Notre Dame is coming off of their first loss in 16 games after losing to BYU on the road this past weekend 28-24. The Irish played arguably their 'C-' game and still had the opportunity to win it. But we said earlier in the week, there are no moral victories in this one for the Irish.

When you're striving to be a championship-caliber team, there's no room for moral victories, just victories that get added to the win column on a weekly basis. Hindsight is always 20/20 and after going back and looking at Notre Dame's first six games of the season, the issues they had situationally were there against Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina and Stanford, but those teams weren't on the level of BYU to expose some of those warts. 

As things stand, Notre Dame currently ranks No. 39 in the country in 3rd down conversion percentage. We've talked before about their philosophy on 3rd down and how they'll use certain looks and situations to get them into favorable 4th down matchups. The Irish went four for four on 4th down against the Cougars this past weekend, but that didn't result in a win. This offense needs to get better on 3rd down moving forward.

Previous title winners like Indiana in 2025 ranked No. 2 in the country on 3rd down. In 2022, Georgia ranked No. 7 in the country on 3rd down. Ohio State in 2024 ranked No. 50 in the country on 3rd down over the course of the season, but in the post season, they converted 44% of their 3rd down attempts against Tennessee and converted 75% of their 3rd down conversions on the biggest stage against Notre Dame in the national championship. 

In Notre Dame's biggest games since the start of 2025, their ability to sustain drives by converting 3rd downs has left a lot to be desired. Last season, they went 4 of 9 on third down against Miami in a loss, 7 of 15 against Texas A&M on 3rd down in a loss, 3 of 11 on 3rd down against USC in a 34-24 victory at home and 8 of 19 against BYU on the road in a loss. 

This season, against P4 opponents, the same narrative remained. Notre Dame converted under 38% of their 3rd down attempts against Wisconsin (33.3%), Michigan State (33.3%), on the road against Purdue (37.5%) and on the road against North Carolina (36.4%). Unfortunately, those issues were masked by the vast talent and coaching differential on Notre Dame's sideline. That wasn't the case against BYU and the Cougars made them pay for it. 

Being good situationally as an offense goes much further than 3rd and 4th down conversion rates. Situational football can also mean how a team starts halves or takes advantages of turnovers. For the Irish, their first six games showed signs of those struggles, but BYU had the team that was able to take advantage. 

The Irish went 3 and out on their first offensive possession against Wisconsin, leading to some of their struggles in the first half offensively. They had missed opportunities to start both halves against Michigan State. On their first possession of the game, they made it down to the Michigan State 7-yard line and settled for a field goal. On the first drive of the second half, they went on a 17-play, 77-yard drive and settled for a field goal on the Spartan 17-yard line. 

They punted on their first possession of the game against Purdue and threw and interception on their first drive of the second half. Against North Carolina, they punted on their first possession of the game. Now, their first drive of the second half was one of the most dominant opening half drives they've had this season, but it remains to be an outlier. The Irish came out hot against Stanford and scored on their first offensive possession, but were given an 18-yard field thanks to a strip sack by Boubacar Traore. At the start of the second half, they punted on their first possession of the 3rd quarter. 

All of these issues came to a head against BYU on the road. The Irish settled for a field goal on their first drive of the game due to a missed touchdown to Jordan Faison that CJ Carr overshot. On their final two drives of the 1st half, they punted and had the botched spiked ball play to end the 2nd quarter. Notre Dame punted on back to back drives to start the 2nd half and wasn't able to take advantage of two short field opportunities thanks to the special teams and the defense. 

In the second half, the Irish had the opportunity to put to touchdowns on the board with short fields on the plus side of the 50-yard line. It took them 10 plays to go 28 yards and settle for a field goal on their first opportunity and then went on a 4-play, 3 yard drive and settled for a field goal on the other. 

So what does all of this mean? Does their offense stink and all hope is lost for November 7th and the College Football Playoffs? No, not by a long shot, but improvements will have to be made regardless of the opponent. Take advantage of the opportunities you have to sustain drives and start off the 1st and 3rd quarter strong against Navy, Miami, Boston College, SMU and Syracuse. These issues can be fixed, but now is the time. 

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