What’s next for Notre Dame after CFP national championship loss? The Irish must be better in the air

ATLANTA — Notre Dame may have failed to win the College Football Playoff national championship, losing to Ohio State 34-23, but the fact that they’re even here in the first place is quite an accomplishment in itself.

After suffering the worst defeat of the entire season losing a home game to Northern Illinois, the Irish CFP hopes looked dead on arrival. But they used a complementary football approach with excellent defense and special teams to quietly beat the rest of their regular season opponents and advance to the playoffs as the hottest team in college football. Notre Dame quickly fell behind the eight on Monday night, but fought back valiantly.

Now that their season is over, what are the three big questions Notre Dame needs to answer heading into next season.

Who will start at quarterback?

Marcus Freeman said in December that Notre Dame would not go looking for a new signal-caller, so they will follow those already on the roster if Freeman’s word is good. That means Steve Angeli could be the guy moving forward, but a QB competition in the spring could prove otherwise.

Angeli served as QB2 this season and replaced Leonard in the CFP semifinal against Penn State and went 6 of 7, leading the team’s first field goal before halftime. His teammates expressed total confidence in him after the match. But Angeli will have to face highly touted 2024 rookie CJ Carr this spring.

Carr suffered a season-ending elbow injury in September. How he recovers and whether he can live up to his recruiting potential and pedigree — yes, his grandfather is former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr — will determine the future of the Irish offense.

Can the Irish wideouts take the next step?

Notre Dame has only had one 1,000-yard receiver since 2016, when Chase Claypool barely eclipsed that number in 2019. No matter who the guy is at QB, it will be up to Notre Dame’s young pass catchers to proceed to the next step.

Future juniors Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse will be called upon to deliver explosive plays. The national title game showed they were capable, but it’s telling that the passing game didn’t take off until desperation. The game script for Notre Dame, which was QB heavy, is not what worked so well for the Irish as they tried to stage a comeback. Greathouse has three touchdowns in the last two games. He entered the playoff semifinals with one. He’s clearly good enough to do much more.

There’s no doubt that a running game will once again feature Jeremiah Love, Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams, along with a strong offensive line, but what can they get out of the passing game?

Will the calendar go down favorably again?

The Irish schedule, as usual, tests them early and often with the first two games against Miami on the road and a home date with Texas A&M. There is also an early October date with Boise State that looks very intriguing if the Broncos can bounce back after losing All-American running back Ashton Jeanty.

The fact of this year’s Notre Dame roster is that they were able to bounce back from the Northern Illinois loss in part because their roster hasn’t been very difficult since Florida State and USC fell well below expectations. Part of getting to the playoffs is the journey, and ND could be tough next year as they hope to reach the top of the mountain again.