Notre Dame flipped the script on Marcus Freeman’s 1st full season as head coach Saturday, routing then-No. 5 Clemson 35-14 at Notre Dame Stadium. If stunning home losses to Marshall and Stanford cast doubt on the program’s decision to hire the charismatic 36-year-old, the dominant win demonstrated why so many believed the ceiling under Freeman touched the heights of the campus’ golden dome. Notre Dame dominated both lines of scrimmage, ran the ball with purpose, suffocated the Tigers with swarming defense and played game-changing special teams in the win, which was all but officially over when freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison darted 96 yards on his interception return to put the Fighting Irish ahead by 4 touchdowns during the fourth quarter.

What’s next for Notre Dame? Heavy favorites against Navy, Notre Dame should win this week and will be heavily favored again Nov. 19 against rival Boston College. If the Fighting Irish win both, they’ll be 8-3 ahead of a season-ending tilt with another rival in Southern California. Considering this program limped into the Syracuse game wondering if it would arrive at the Navy game 4-5, that’s quite a dramatic turnaround in just 2 weeks.

What’s next? We dipped back into the mailbag to answer a few of those questions.

 Maybe this is a cliche email to send, but did anyone really expect this type of season from Benjamin Morrison? He was a quality recruit, but was there a sense, at any time during fall camp, he was different? — Ryan, Chicago

Great question, Ryan, and it doesn’t have a real “right” answer. The staff clearly felt Morrison could play right away, and coaches said he would play in the opener against Ohio State game. That tells you they knew he was good enough to contribute during summer camp. At least 1 Notre Dame writer was told Morrison might be the best freshman corner at the school in a decade, so there certainly were some in Notre Dame’s inside circle who felt the kid had the ability to be great.

Whether they thought the former 4-star recruit out of Arizona was good enough to be a lock for the All-American Freshman team? That’s a different matter.

Morrison played well enough against Ohio State that we wrote about him at Saturday Road, mentioning he looked better than the starting corners when targeted by Buckeyes quarterback CJ Stroud. He gave up just 2 completions on 5 targets in that game, which in hindsight, should have been a tell. He didn’t become a permanent starter until the 5th game of the season against BYU, though, and so it took a little time to earn trust. His 23 tackles and 3 pass breakups don’t seem like gaudy numbers, but he has allowed less than 50% on targets against and Clemson only connected on 2 of its 7 targets Saturday against Morrison, which along with plays like the interception return for a score, helped Morrison win Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Saturday was different, though, mainly for what it said about Notre Dame’s evaluation of Morrison in recruiting. Other big-time programs missed on him, and as a result of that and good closing by Freeman and his staff, Morrison showed up ready to cover Clemson’s best wide receiver on national television Saturday night. That’s incredible stuff, and Notre Dame fans hope a sign of things to come from an evaluation standpoint.

Will the Clemson win help Notre Dame close on a strong 2023 recruiting class? — Debbie, Summit, NJ

In my other college football writer life, I cover the Florida Gators. What I learned covering Florida during the Dan Mullen era is that winning big games doesn’t necessarily correlate with recruiting success. The Gators went to 3 consecutive New Year’s Six bowls under Mullen; they never parlayed that into a recruiting class as good as what Freeman has coming to South Bend, Ind., next season. Recruiting is about sweat equity and relationships, and Freeman and his staff have established those.

That established, it certainly can’t hurt Notre Dame in recruiting to beat a team like Clemson. Notre Dame also did need to show it could beat an elite, perennial College Football Playoff contender again. It had been 2 years since the 2020 Clemson win, and the shine of that victory lasted only until Clemson buried the Fighting Irish in the ACC Championship game a month later. This win, as a result, was huge from an optics standpoint.

How much it matters directly to recruiting remains to be seen. Notre Dame likely has just 1 remaining open scholarship left for the 2023 class, so if anything, this win is a “let’s talk about winning” pitch to 2024 recruits. One such player, 4-star quarterback CJ Carr, was in the building Saturday night. Carr, of course, already is on board with the Fighting Irish, but perhaps the Clemson win will be helpful as he makes the decision whether to reclassify and join the ’23 class as the final chess piece.

With the offensive line humming along – finally – are we suddenly less worried about the ceiling of Notre Dame in the passing game? I’m thinking especially of the game against USC this month, when Notre Dame probably is going to need points. — Jason, Atlanta

Notre Dame’s offensive line has become the group Freeman thought it would be during September. Better late than never, right? The Fighting Irish now are 28th in the country in rushing offense and have entered the top 30 of my success rate metric (30th of 75 teams I rank). They have run for 509 yards during their past 2 games, both victories over top 20 opponents. It’s the physicality of the runs that impresses, too: whether it is Logan Diggs or the increasingly Jerome Bettis-like Audric Estime, Notre Dame ball carriers are punishing potential tacklers. Notre Dame broke 10 tackles against Clemson, and it wasn’t about the Tigers having poor technique.

That said, yes, the Fighting Irish will play an offense on a different level when they meet Lincoln Riley and Southern California at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. They’ll need points against a Trojans offense that ranks 7th in the nation in scoring offense, at 41 points per game.

Quarterback Drew Pyne hasn’t been asked to do much but manage things against Syracuse and Clemson. He has handled that task, though just barely, completing 50% of his passes during the 2 wins for an average of 100.5 yards passing per game. He has added 36 yards rushing and a touchdown, and his runs have been almost exclusively scrambles, suggesting he’s making smart choices with the football. Still, they’ll need more from him against the Trojans, even if they run the ball and control the clock.

Speaking of Drew Pyne, has he done enough to start in 2023? If no, who is the starter next season in South Bend? — Damien, Pasadena, Calif.

Pyne will have the opportunity to start in 2023, but I would be stunned if he’s labeled the incumbent starter during the spring. The transfer portal changes everything, and there are a host of potential big-time names who are current backup quarterbacks who might enter the portal. Hudson Card at Texas stands out among them, especially with a Manning set to arrive on campus in Austin. Max Johnson at Texas A&M could be a good fit if Jimbo Fisher is all-in on Conner Weigman, which he appears to be. Freeman also has ties to Ohio State, of course, and the Buckeyes seem to shed an elite quarterback every season. Would 1 of the 3 blue chips not named CJ Stroud on Ohio State’s roster want to play at Notre Dame? It’s easy to see why it would be enticing.

In other words, wait and see!

Have you shifted your views on Notre Dame’s bowl destination again after the Clemson win? If so, where? — Mike, New York

The Fighting Irish seem destined for 1 of 3 bowls, in my view.

Remember, Notre Dame gets to use ACC tie-ins for any bowl except the Orange Bowl. The Fighting Irish can take any ACC bowl slot as long as they are within 1 win of the team which typically would slot into the game.

That means Notre Dame is well positioned, even at 8-4, to go to the Cheez It Bowl in Orlando, Fla.,. or the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl.

The real wild card is the New Year’s Six. If Notre Dame finishes 9-3, with a win at Southern California, it is relatively easy to conceive of it being a top-12 team in the final College Football Playoff standings. That likely would result in a New Year’s Six bowl bid, in our view. The allure of Notre Dame selling tickets is tough to turn down.