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“This year is over. We have to make sure it’s about developing this team for next year. Everything we do from now moving forward is going to be development and making sure that we’re prepared to have success.

“We’re going to use this game as motivation. We’re going to use this game to look back and say, ‘Remember that first one? Look where we’ve come from there.’

“We’ve got to work a little bit harder. We’ve got to make sure we evaluate everything a little bit more so the next time we step on the field, we’re prepared. As far as taking a deep breath, I’m more motivated now to go, go, go. Everything from staff to personnel to recruiting to whatever it is this organization needs to improve, that’s all my mindset is.” -- Marcus Freeman

• Since 2004, Notre Dame had won 79 straight games when leading by 21 points. That streak ended in, of all unlikely circumstances, Marcus Freeman’s first game as head coach of the Fighting Irish.

Leading 28-7 with 31:16 left, Notre Dame was outscored 30-7 – including 30 straight points by Oklahoma State – to fall to the Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl, 37-35.

It was a combination of things that led to the epic collapse. It started on the defensive side of the football as the Irish allowed 609 yards total offense due largely to the inability to prevent the Cowboys from moving the chains (37 first downs) through the air, which then created a running game for Jaylen Warren and quarterback Spencer Sanders.

Offensively, Notre Dame’s inability to make plays to stem the tide led to Oklahoma State’s 95 snaps of the football, 57 of which came in the second half when the Cowboys accumulated a stunning 377 yards.

Without a rushing attack, the Irish were forced to throw the football 68 times while accumulating just 42 yards on the ground (21 attempts). Oklahoma State’s secondary limited Jack Coan to just 14-of-35 (40 percent) for 167 yards with an interception over the final 30 minutes.

Special teams contributed to it as well. Jonathan Doerer’s last field-goal attempt in an otherwise quality career with the Irish was pushed right on a 41-yard kick midway through the second quarter that would have given the Irish a 24-7 lead and, theoretically, a 31-14 halftime lead as opposed to 28-14. Jay Bramblett punted well early and then gave away some yards as the game progressed.

• Did Mike Gundy’s 17 years of head-coaching experience (218 games) compared to Marcus Freeman’s head-coaching debut contribute to the mammoth come-from-behind victory by Oklahoma State? While there’s no definitive, proof-perfect way to make that determination, certainly Gundy’s patience and guile – even without defensive coordinator Jim Knowles on hand – explained the Cowboys’ ability to quickly work its way from a 21-point deficit to an 11-point lead in a 29-minute span.

Oklahoma State’s tempo offense clearly compromised the Irish. Starters were gassed at times during the Cowboys’ 57 second-half snaps. To the Notre Dame defense’s credit, it gave the offense a chance to make its own comeback with a fumble caused by Drew White at the goal line, a fumble caused by Isaiah Foskey trailing by six, and an incredible five non-touchdown drives on nine Cowboy red-zone penetrations.

For all of Notre Dame’s defensive troubles, the Freeman/Mike Elston-led defense never stopped battling until the final onside kick landed in the hands of Oklahoma State safety Jason Taylor II. But what happened in between was a clinic by the veteran-coached Cowboys.

• The drive that got it rolling for Oklahoma State was one of Notre Dame’s worst defensively of the season. After Michael Mayer’s second touchdown of the first half and Jack Coan’s fourth touchdown pass made it a 28-7 game with 1:16 before the break, the defense surrendered a four-play, 75-yard drive in 39 seconds.

It started with a missed tackle by Jack Kiser on wideout Brennan Presley that gained 13 yards. Kiser was then put in a difficult matchup downfield against Presley and Spencer Sanders hit him for a 41-yard gain.

The third play was a 12-yard run by Sanders as safety DJ Brown pursued and was juked out of the tackle. The drive culminated with the first of three touchdown receptions by Tay Martin, this one from nine yards out as cornerback Clarence Lewis trailed the play. Kiser was occupied nearby in the end zone and couldn’t help Lewis.

So much happened in the second half that it’s difficult to point back to the first half to call that series the most critical of the game. But it really stung to have a 21-point lead fall back into the two-score category without much defensive resistance, particularly with the Cowboys taking the second half kickoff and marching down to make it a one-score game.

• The Irish have a cornerback problem. They had one in 2020 and 2021 and will carry that problem into the 2022 season. Martin and Presley combined for 20 receptions (on 29 targets) for 241 yards and Martin’s three touchdowns. The most frequent victim was Lewis, whose shortcomings against quality competition have been put in marquee lighting against Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

When adversity hits, Lewis’ confidence wanes badly, superseded only by how significantly his pass-coverage technique deteriorates when the storm turns to a hurricane. He can’t employ press coverage. He’s not quick enough or talented enough to be a guy who can engage in contact at the line of scrimmage and then adjust to the speed of a receiver coming out of hand-to-hand combat.

That means Lewis has only his pass-coverage technique to rely upon off the snap of the football. As his confidence slips away, he begins to reach, lunge and claw to stay in phase with a receiver. That’s a recipe for disaster.

• The best example of Lewis’ technique issues came on the 29-yard pass from Spencer to Martin with the Irish trailing, 34-28. The defense was trying to keep the offense in the game. On 3rd -and-10 from the Irish 40, Lewis had Martin covered on a downfield/sideline throw. He turned back and saw the football on its way. He saw it. He looked at it. Instead of maintaining the advantage he had gained, he then turned back into Martin, losing sight of the football.

At that point, Martin had all the advantages. Lewis had no way of reacting to the football once he abandoned his sightline. The football was slightly underthrown, which should have been an easy pick. Lewis had inside position. But he turned back into Martin. Martin saw the football and Lewis didn’t. He panicked his way out of perfect pass coverage.

Two plays later, Isaiah Foskey stripped the football from Sanders and the Irish still had a shot. But Lewis’ reactions throughout the second half were that of a football player whose confidence was gone, which contributed to those 377 second-half yards more than any one player.

Cam Hart and the potential return of an improved TaRiq Bracy give the Irish some foundational pieces with which to work in 2022. But cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens needs to develop Lewis and some of the younger players at the position. The Irish can’t be a successful post-regular-season team without much better cornerback play.

• Before commenting on offensive coordinator Tommy Rees against Oklahoma State, let’s preface it with the following commentary, which appeared in Irish Illustrated’s Point After.

“Tommy Rees showed great creativity and diversity as offensive coordinator throughout most of the 2021 season. He just signed an extension for big money with Notre Dame. They elevated him from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator just as he was about to interview with Nick Saban a couple of years ago. Brian Kelly was willing to pay him big bucks to come to Baton Rouge. He is a highly-respected offensive mind. Notre Dame has invested in him. Nationally, he is considered a very good offensive mind. He will be a head coach soon.

“But red-zone inconsistency, third-down issues and second-half droughts such as the one against Oklahoma State have prevented Rees’ offenses from being elite. Some of it is personnel driven. He needs to a) recruit the right talent and b) maximize the personnel consistently. He’s flashed. He’s trending. But he’s not quite there yet.

“Scoring the most points that Oklahoma State allowed this year was an achievement, but the second half offset it when the game was in the balance.”

• It’s become difficult to comment on play-calling without Rees’ critics declaring him a disaster every time the offense doesn’t score.

It is the job of the offensive coordinator to make sure the offense scores, so from that perspective, I concur. You’ve got to come up with ways to score in a game like this, particularly when the defense – for all of its issues in the last 31:16 – gives it a chance to build upon the first-half success.

But instead of looking at why the offense failed, everything gets lumped into “Rees sucks!” and reality goes out the window. Here is another attempt at an objective view of what happened after studying the TV version.

No. 1, Notre Dame couldn’t run the football. That immediately compromises a play-caller. But Rees didn’t force it. The running backs carried it just 16 times for 46 yards. The only way the Irish were going to move the football and score was through the air. So they threw it 68 times. Coan was sacked twice, so that’s 70 attempts to throw it on 89 snaps. Rees was as aggressive through the air as he possibly could be, mixing in a short passing game that was effective. (More on Tyler Buchner and the running game below.)

• Here’s where it’s frustrating when talking about play-calling. In a 28-21 game, Coan threw to Kevin Austin Jr. on 3rd -and-4. The ball was right there, but Austin reached one hand out for it and it fell incomplete. So instead of having a first down at least at the Oklahoma State 40, the Irish had to punt and the Cowboys marched 89 yards on 10 plays to tie the game.

So now it’s 28-28. On the first play of the next drive, Chris Tyree dropped an easy pass that would have given the Irish the football at least at the Notre Dame 40. The next two passes missed and the Irish punted. Oklahoma State marched to take a 31-28 lead.

It’s now the fourth quarter. Trailing by three, Rees calls a deep ball to Lorenzo Styles. The football is slightly overthrown, but rather than try to dive and cradle it for a long reception and undoubtedly a painful slam into the turf, Styles reached out with one hand and the ball fell incomplete.

You want to put it on Coan for a slight overthrow? Fine. You want to tag Styles for not giving a better effort? Okay. But it was a great play call. It was the execution that wasn’t good enough, just as the drops by Austin and Tyree moments earlier were not executed as designed.

If Styles makes that play, Notre Dame has the football well into Oklahoma State territory trailing by three with 12 minutes left.

After Oklahoma State took a 34-28 lead, Rees opened with a 21-yard Coan-to-Austin throw and then sprung Braden Lenzy open deep on the ensuing play. Lenzy clearly was held. You could see his shirt tail being pulled as he gained separation from the defender. No flag was thrown.

Coan then hit Styles and Mayer to move the football to the Oklahoma State 24. On one of the few times freshman right tackle Blake Fisher busted in his first appearance since the season-opener, Brock Martin sacked Coan for a six-yard loss. On the next play, Coan was intercepted.

• When Austin, Tyree, Styles and Lenzy get open and don’t make a play, that’s not bad play-calling; it’s bad results. The plays were open; the players (and the official) didn’t execute it.

Now, it’s the coach’s job to make sure the players execute. I get that. That’s his job. But failed offense, failed plays aren’t always bad play calls. If the players are open, it was, rather, a good play call that wasn’t executed properly. They go hand-in-hand. A play call is only as good (or bad) as the execution by the individuals.

• Should Tyler Buchner have played against Oklahoma State? Would it have stemmed the tide? I don’t disagree with that, although I would argue there were limited times to do it. There was no reason to make a change in the first half when the Irish scored more touchdowns than any Oklahoma State opponent had scored over 60 minutes. If Buchner is inserted in the first half, there’s an out-cry to getting away from what had been successful.

The offense bogged down in the second half, but it was a lack of execution of good play calls.

I’d agre there were times – at 28-21 and 28-28 – when inserting Buchner was worth the gamble. It might have opened up the rushing attack a bit so the Irish could rely upon it at some point. Instead, the rushing attack was dormant for 60 minutes.

• The bottom line as it relates to Tommy Rees: College and professional football recognizes what a talent he is. Part of Marcus Freeman’s wish list as he was being wooed as Brian Kelly’s successor was that Rees be retained as offensive coordinator. There is zero consideration of making a change at offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. This topic is nothing like the decisions along the offensive line and at receiver where changes are being made by Freeman.

• The future for Lorenzo Styles is very promising. He really emerged in the second half of the season. Of his 24 receptions in 2021, eight came against Oklahoma State and four – then a season-high – were at Stanford in the regular-season finale. Fourteen of his 24 catches came in the last three games.

One of the things I love about Styles is that he is a multi-dimensional receiver. You can run the whole route tree with him, including the deep ball because he is the fastest player on the team (along with Chris Tyree). You can hand him the football, too. But this wasn’t the first time this season that Styles did not give a strong enough effort on a deep ball.

Question: Does an Alabama receiver make that effort/play in a critical game? Would an LSU receiver during their national title run from a couple of years ago make that effort? I’m not saying Styles is as talented as they are. But if you want to compete with the big boys, you must compete like the big boys. That’s the next step in the promising career of Styles.

• There are so many players leaving the program that deserve credit for the 11-victory season and the 54 wins in five seasons. Say what you want about Drew White’s limitations. He had a great three-year run as Notre Dame’s starting Mike linebacker.

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa had a very-good-to-great final season at Notre Dame. His statistics didn’t always show it, at least not the way Isaiah Foskey’s did, but Foskey will tell you a lot of what he accomplished in accruing 11 sacks (and six fumbles caused) were a result of MTA’s stellar work getting upfield on the opposite side, which helped funnel quarterbacks back into Foskey. Tagovailoa-Amosa’s 11 quarterback hurries paced the team while Foskey combined for 18 sacks/hurries.

Kyren Williams is as productive a running back – rushing, receiving, pass-blocking, leadership – as you’ll find in the annals of Notre Dame football. His brilliance certainly was missed in the Fiesta Bowl. Likewise, Kyle Hamilton is one of the most talented players to come through Notre Dame and clearly has a great future ahead of him as a top 10, perhaps top 5 pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Jarrett Patterson has a decision to make. He certainly would benefit from a season under projected offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, but he’s also been a three-year starter and appears ready to play on the professional level.

Kurt Hinish. Man, from coach to fan to media, everyone will miss this unique cat. His 61 games played could last forever in the Notre Dame record books. His effort and concern for the greater good of Notre Dame football were special.

Jonathan Doerer and Jay Bramblett gave the Irish one of the best one-two punches in the country for three seasons with Doerer’s 2020 late-season struggles notwithstanding. Doerer made 49-of-63 field goals (.777), including 33-of-41 (.804) in 2019 and 2021 combined. His game-winning field goals at Florida State and at Virginia Tech were a significant part of why Notre Dame remained in the playoff hunt up to the first weekend of December.

And finally, grad-transfers Jack Coan and Cain Madden were instrumental in Notre Dame’s 2021 successes. Coan weathered the early-season storm to complete nearly 75 percent of his passes in the last seven regular-season games. Madden’s early-season struggles were even greater than Coan’s, but he improved at a position of need.

• Kevin Austin Jr. concluded his mercurial career with the Irish with six receptions for 105 yards and a late touchdown. His 48 receptions for 888 yards on the season averaged an impressive 18.5 yards per grab while tying Michael Mayer for the team-lead in receiving scores with seven.

Shortly after the Fiesta Bowl, 247Sports’ Tom Loy reported that Austin is expected to bypass his final year of eligibility with the Irish. Not sure who’s providing career advice for Austin but landing a spot on an NFL roster is going to be extremely difficult with such a small body of work. He could be a late-round draft choice but is more likely a free agent. His game is too unpolished – particularly against press coverage – for him to be an automatic draft choice. We’ll see.

Austin has been through it all at Notre Dame, some of it self-inflicted, some of it caused by injury. The wisest course of action for Austin would be to grad-transfer elsewhere and get a second strong season of productivity if he’s leaving Notre Dame because he has a degree and would like a change of scenery.

But with a solid body of work and an investment in himself, he believes he’s ready to take the plunge.

• The Irish received good news less than 24 hours after the Fiesta Bowl that Braden Lenzy will return for a fifth season at Notre Dame. Lenzy wrapped up his senior season with the Irish on a strong(er) note by catching seven passes for 60 yards against the Cowboys to give him a career-high 32 receptions for 350 yards (10.9) and three touchdowns with a long of 32.

It’s good news with clarifiers. He is, right now, a No. 3 receiver at best and a No. 4 in reality, which makes him a supporting piece, not someone who can be targeted 15 times in a major bowl. Notre Dame needs him to be much better.

He needs to get stronger so that he isn’t getting tripped up by arm tackles. He needs to get stronger so he can get off press coverage, which he can’t do at the present time. He’s a No. 4 receiver because his catch-per-targets ratio is not nearly good enough. Seven catches for 60 yards on 15 targets against Oklahoma State is insufficient, as it has been most of the season.

And yet at a position where the Irish desperately need productive personnel – it’s a near-given Notre Dame will sign at least one more receiver in the Class of 2022 and hit the grad-transfer market for another one (or two) – it was good news to get Lenzy back. Now it’s up to him to dedicate himself to coming back in 2022 a decidedly-stronger football player.

• Jack Coan’s interception could be directly attributable to a lack of respect for his ability to run. Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez would have had to consider Coan sprinting right up the middle of the field as it opened up for the Irish quarterback. Instead, Rodriguez could just hang with the double-team pass coverage and make the play…Speaking of Coan, his last pass in an Irish uniform – the 25-yard touchdown by Kevin Austin Jr. – epitomized his overall outstanding accuracy throwing the football this season…A noteworthy performance by sophomore running back Chris Tyree with his six catches for 115 yards, including his opening-of-the-Red-Sea 53-yarder for a touchdown. Like Braden Lenzy, Tyree needs to get much stronger if he’s going to be a significant contributor in the running game sans Kyren Williams…

• Running back Logan Diggs must have better vision running the football, particularly against a defense as stout as Oklahoma State’s. On a 3rd -and-2, he ran right into a tackler because he didn’t take the B-gap crease created by center Jarrett Patterson and left guard Andrew Kristofic. Everything doesn’t have to be a cutback. Fumbles happen. He had one pulled out of his hands, as did Oklahoma State’s quarterback and running back. Being a north-south runner is Diggs’ highest priority moving forward…And by the way, what a block by Kristofic on Chris Tyree’s 17-yard reception. Kristofic blocked Malcolm Rodriguez twice on the same play, once to knock him down and again when Rodriguez tried to get back up.

• Can’t say enough good things about the future of Notre Dame’s offensive tackle play with Blake Fisher and Joe Alt. Fisher proved once again that all the first impressions were correct. He plays cat-and-mouse with pass rushers. He just bats them around. He stays balanced, extends his long arms, and stymies pass rushers by jabbing/poking pass rushers out of his kitchen. Alt doesn’t make it look as easy as Fisher does, but he’s equally effective. Both need to become better run blockers, but that comes next in their evolution. Enjoy these two standouts. Each has two years left in the program…

• I’ve never considered it a big deal as to whether names are placed on the back of Notre Dame’s jerseys, as they traditionally are for post-regular-season play. An older generation will argue it’s a Notre Dame tradition not to have names on the backs of jerseys during the regular season, presumably to show the team is bigger than the individual. It might be time for a change, particularly since the Irish have a new head coach who is the first truly player-centric man in that position. It looks good, too…Can’t blame Bo Bauer for not attacking the last onside kick. It was tempting, but he knew it hadn’t gone the requisite 10 yards to make the recovery. A helpless feeling for a “hands team” participant…

• I respect the enthusiasm of ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky’s efforts in the Fiesta Bowl. I’ve always liked his analysis. The former quarterback provides a great insight into the game and boundless enthusiasm. It was a long game with a lot to analysis. The dude over-strategized to the point of distraction. But I still appreciate his work…I have never seen an obvious call replayed as much as ESPN did on the Spencer Sanders fumble caused by Isaiah Foskey. We get it! The ball was out!...As an aside, I have a humble recommendation for Orlovsky and those who have a tendency to “swallow the t” when pronouncing it. For example, Tay Martin. Emphasis the second syllable by separating them. Mar-tin. It’s easy if you think about it…

• It’s an easy second-guess now, but with Oklahoma State scoring to end the half and then scoring to open the third quarter, perhaps the Irish should have been more aggressive taking over at their own 25 with 34 seconds remaining in the first half and three timeouts. They needed every scoring chance they could get. The thought was they didn’t want a strip-sack to make it a one-score game before halftime…Notre Dame needs Marist Liufau on the field at linebacker next year. JD Bertrand often is criticized for his poor tackling and change of direction. He’s better than he’s given credit, but he’s not a 70-snap-a-game linebacker if you’re competing for the playoffs…In Houston Griffith’s last game in a Notre Dame football uniform, he made zero tackles against an offense that ran 95 plays…What’s with all the slippage on the State Farm Stadium turf?...

• During the intro of the TV coverage of the Fiesta Bowl, sideline reporter Kris Budden said Marcus Freeman told her he didn’t get much sleep on New Year’s Eve as he anticipated his first game as Notre Dame’s head coach. He probably had even less sleep on Jan. 1 after the defense allowed 609 yards, couldn’t defend the pass and the offense couldn’t run the football…Jack Kiser clearly was intentionally stepped on by an Oklahoma State player and a flag was thrown. The referee conferred with the line judge and picked up the flag. So he didn’t deliberately step on Kiser? It’s clearly visible…Until the Sept. 5, 2022 Tale of the Tape…

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