Notre Dame Football Aims for Continued Success After Bye Week Under Freeman

Notre Dame takes on Stanford this week as it looks to make a push for the College Football Playoff

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman greets his players before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Louisville at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame continues to try and build its College Football Playoff resume as it welcomes Stanford to South Bend following last week's off weekend.

Notre Dame is a significant favorite, 20.5 points at last check of FanDuel to be specific. Does that seem a bit high?

Perhaps, but under Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has done extremely well in the game following an off week, going 3-0 to date. It's a small sample, but Freeman's Notre Dame teams have mostly kicked opposing rear in a big way in such games.

Notre Dame Football After Bye Week Under Marcus Freeman

Oct 8, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his team after defeating the Brigham Young Cougars at Allegiant Stadium. / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Notre Dame is 3-0 in two seasons under Marcus Freeman following a bye. Two of those games have been complete blowouts.

2022: Beat No. 16 BYU 28-20 in Shamrock Series game in Las Vegas
2023: 58-7 home victory against Pittsburgh
2023: 45-7 home victory against Wake Forest

Marcus Freeman This Week on Recapping the Off Week

“There is no magic formula, but I think every bye week is different, right?” Freeman said. “Where it occurs in your season, what injuries you have going on, your upcoming opponent? There’s a lot of different things that you have to focus on during that specific bye week. We have another bye week after three weeks coming up, and what we do during that bye week, although probably the overall focus will be similar, the details of what we do during that week will change, just being where it’s at in the season and the upcoming opponent after that.

“So, I think, most importantly, it’s to evaluate your team at this certain period that you get the bye week,” Freeman continued. “You can’t just say, ‘Hey, this what we did last year. Let’s just throw it right here in this window and do it this year.’”

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Take

I always find it funny when big stats are thrown around regarding coaches doing well following a bye week whether its in the NFL or in college. Like, isn't that supposed to be the case?

The sample size is small here but a couple of things are in play. Notre Dame is at home taking on an average at best Stanford team, just like Wake Forest and Pitt were last year off byes for the Fighting Irish.

I tend to think this game is going to be rather uninteresting for non-Notre Dame fans fairly early.

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