Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame Don't Handle Success Together

There is really no arguing against it as its fact two weeks into year three

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman jogs the field during warm ups before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend. / Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame is falling into a truly concerning trend under head coach Marcus Freeman.

Three years into Freeman's tenure as head coach, Notre Dame has shown it does not handle success well under its head coach.

Saturday was the latest in this trend as Notre Dame followed up a huge win at Texas A&M last week with an awful loss at home to Northern Illinois.

For Notre Dame, it's more of the same in year three under Marcus Freeman.

To recap...

Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman in 2022:

Sep 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Charles Huff celebrates as he leaves the field after the Thundering Herd beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26-21 at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

After a brutal Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State that could be its own category here, Notre Dame headed to Marcus Freeman's debut season.

Notre Dame didn't get blown out at heavily favored Ohio State in Marcus Freeman's regular season debut as Fighting Irish head coach in 2022. The Irish received some national praise for the always important "impressive loss" but what followed was disaster as Marshall walked into Notre Dame Stadium and ruined Freeman's home debut.

To his credit, Freeman bounced back as Notre Dame responded with a win over California, a road victory at North Carolina, and in Las Vegas over BYU.

After that success came another epic loss as Notre Dame returned home and fell to a pathetic Stanford team under the lights.

2022 also saw Notre Dame upset No. 4 Clemson, only to nearly lose to a struggling Navy program a week later.

Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman in 2023:

Louisville s Jamari Thrash scores a touchdown against Notre Dame game at L & N Stadium. Oct. 7, 2023 / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame falls to Ohio State but overcomes the obvious hangover a week later and prevails at Duke in a last minute victory.

It follows up that success by promptly getting pounded at Louisville a week later.

Later in the year Notre Dame beats USC and heads to a bye week. After the bye the Irish dominate Pittsburgh 58-7, only to come back a week later and be down at Clemson 21-3 before most could blink.

Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman in 2024:

Sep 7, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Northern Illinois Huskies running back Antario Brown (1) celebrates after the Huskies defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 16-14 at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

The sample size is small for the year but the course remains the same. A week after Notre Dame's biggest road win in at least 12 years, Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish were not ready to play against Northern Illinois.

What resulted was the biggest upset (using the point spread) at Notre Dame Stadium since Notre Dame's season opening loss to Northwestern in 1995.

If one thing has been a consistent theme under Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame its that this is a program that at best right now is wildly inconsistent.

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Notre Dame one of just five college football teams yet to do this one thing in 2024