As the Notre Dame football team prepares for its season opener against Miami, it's understandable for Fighting Irish fans to get more and more nervous as Sunday draws closer. After all, the last time the two teams locked horns, the Hurricanes blew the doors off the Blue and Gold. However, things are different this time around, and not just because Marcus Freeman is at the helm rather than Brian Kelly.
There's also the Notre Dame defense. One of the best in the country the last two years under Al Golden, it could be better under Chris Ash. Not because it has more talent overall or because Ash is a better DC, but simply because the Irish are stronger as a whole. They have talent spread out more. And more weapons to unleash against Miami and its quarterback, Carson Beck.
Notre Dame football has the recipe to make sure Carson Beck is cooked
Carson Beck himself is the biggest reason why the Notre Dame football team will overwhelm and destroy the quarterback and his mates. As much as Beck wants to pretend this is any other game, it may be the toughest of his career. And he's not ready for what's coming.
The key to a Golden Domer win will be turnovers. Indeed, they'll be looking to limit them on offense, with a freshman getting his first career college start. But turnovers from Beck will likely determine the victor. And he's someone who turns the ball over too much.
In his junior season, Beck was quite good at limiting interceptions. That wasn't the case in 2024. He doubled his INTs (from 6 to 12) while not seeing the same kind of increase in yards or touchdowns. More importantly, those 12 interceptions came in nearly the same number of pass attempts.
Ash's defense is also a little more ball hawkish in the secondary than Golden's units were. They've shown the ability to get between the receiver and the quarterback plenty. And then there's Notre Dame's revamped defensive line.
Earlier this week, Freeman talked glowingly about about six different defensive linemen who could all get significant playing time against Carson Beck and Miami, including Jordan Botelho, who is a surprise returnee for Sunday.
That unit could bring a ton of pressure on Beck, and that's something he's not particularly used to seeing. The former Georgia quarterback was pressured in just 21.3% of dropbacks. That number was the fourth lowest of any Power 4 quarterback.
Even when he's not picked off, he struggles to complete passes when he's pressured. Beck posted just a 32.4% completion percentage when pressured, which was in the bottom percentile in EPA per pressured dropback.
If the Notre Dame football defense stands up the way it should, Carson Beck is in for a very, very long Sunday night.