What Is Notre Dame's Offensive Identity Now?

What are the Irish trying to accomplish when they have the ball? It's all in question after the first two games.

Northern Illinois safety Santana Banner tackles Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard during 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

Through two weeks of football, who are the Irish trying to be offensively?

Mike Denbrock was brought to Notre Dame as the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the country to stabilize the Irish's offensive attack and build it an identity it could rely on. Through two weeks of games, things are not going well.

Is Notre Dame a power-running team? If so, it seems inexplicable to only muster 123 yards on the ground vs Northern Illinois.

Jeremiyah Love and JD Price had a total 15 carries between them in this game. They are Notre Dame's two most reliable playmakers, this amount of touches is nowhere near enough.

Riley Leonard had success carrying the ball on the first drive but only ended up with 16 yards total on 11 carries on the day when accounting for lost yardage behind the LOS.

Riley Leonard said "bad eyes, bad feet, bad ball" in regard to his second interception of the day, which led to NIU's game-winning field goal in a 16-14 stunning upset of Notre Dame.

Bad loss for the Fighting Irish. Period.https://t.co/EieyNJTyuF pic.twitter.com/ritk9fOSt8

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) September 8, 2024

The Notre Dame passing game has still not evolved

For all of the fall camp talk about what an upgrade the wide receiver room would be this year, outside of Beaux Collins, this group has failed to make a positive difference through two games.

Are these players not creating separation and getting open?

Sometimes. Is Riley Leonard not seeing open players and or isn't making good enough throws when he does have a window? Sometimes. This operation is not reliable, yet again. An ongoing Notre Dame narrative.

Riley Leonard was brought in from Duke as a final Year 1 and done rental with experience. He cannot be a part of the reason Notre Dame is falling short. If sub-par play and brutal mistakes are going to be made like his second interception Saturday, play Steve Angeli, CJ Carr, or Kenny Minchey.

There will still be some mistakes, but they will be a part of the growth process, unlike Leonard who is gone after this year. Notre Dame's offense must find an identity and do so quickly.

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