Booger McFarland reacts to Notre Dame upset, problem with Riley Leonard

It was an ugly afternoon for Notre Dame in South Bend, as the Irish fell, 16-14, to Northern Illinois. And transfer quarterback Riley Leonard didn’t look sharp.

On the day, Leonard went 20-of-32 for 163 yards and a pair of interceptions through the air, while adding a touchdown rushing on 11 carries for 16 net yards. It continued the trend of Leonard and Co. generally struggling through the air that cropped up in Week 1.

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And ESPN analyst Booger McFarland thinks there’s a disconnect between Leonard and his offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, that needs to be resolved.

“There seems to be a disconnection between new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, who came over from LSU, and Riley Leonard,” McFarland said. “He’s trying to figure out what Riley does well. He knew what Jayden [Daniels] did well at LSU and he won the Heisman. But right now, there’s a disconnect. And any time Riley throws the football down the field it’s being picked off. The underneath passing game is not there. Denbrock has to get Riley Leonard on the move. He seems more comfortable on the move but they’re going to have to figure out a way to back the defenses up and hit some more explosive plays.”

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Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman aren’t running from the result

Marcus Freeman is not making any excuses for himself or his team following a 16-14 upset loss to Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Notre Dame coach took the blame in his postgame press conference, saying the coaching staff didn’t do enough to have the players ready.

The Fighting Irish simply couldn’t get anything going on offense after scoring a touchdown on the opening drive to go up 7-0. They later allowed the Huskies to go up 13-7 before scoring another TD to take a 14-13 lead early in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, that would be the last time all game that Notre Dame would score. It appeared the Fighting Irish might still hold on for victory before they allowed North Illinois to drive down and kick a go-ahead field goal with 35 seconds remaining.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” Freeman said. “It’s our job as coaches to make sure these guys are ready to go. We got to go back and evaluate the way we prepare and figure out exactly the mishaps that occurred in the preparation. I’ve always said performance is a reflection of preparation. So we’ve got to figure out where we failed in preparation.

“It’s disappointing. You guy from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the tale of two weeks. We’ve got to own this thing as coaches and players. We got to own it. We got to fix it. We’ve been here before. Now it’s time to get it fixed and get back to playing football the way we know how to play. We can and we will.”