Notre Dame football has important questions to answer and storylines to follow during the bye week

It has been a very interesting start to the season for Notre Dame football , entering the bye week with a 4-1 overall record. If you told anyone that the Irish would beat both Texas A&M and Louisville , the odds would have been heavily favored that they would be undefeated. Unfortunately, that is not the case, due to some inconsistency through the first quarter of the season.

If this Fighting Irish team wants to reach their potential this year, this bye week provides a huge opportunity. Here are some of the main things that Notre Dame needs to accomplish this week. Some answers need to be found.

Get as healthy as possible

Unfortunately, Notre Dame is dealing with a long list of injuries right now. Some of them are short term issues, while others are long term. Obviously, one bye week isn’t going to magically fix everything, but getting as healthy as possible is huge.

That includes cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray, as well as getting offensive lineman Billy Schrauth, and defensive linemen Gabriel Rubio and Joshua Burnham back hopefully over the next few weeks. Giving quarterback Riley Leonard a week of rest isn’t a bad thing either. The injuries are a bummer, but hopefully reinforcements are on the way.

Figure out the offensive line

With so many injuries up front, there is only so much Joe Rudolph and this staff can do during a bye week. There are, however, several conversations that need to happen. It will mostly center around left tackle Anthonie Knapp and left guard Sam Pendleton. Both players have had their struggles and there are a couple of options behind them that could challenge.

Is Guerby Lambert ready to fit into the offensive tackle conversation on a larger level? Is Tosh Baker a better option at left tackle? I tend to believe that they will stick with Knapp, but you never know.

When it comes to Pendleton, this is more of a conversation about the future. With Rocco Spindler playing pretty good football at right guard, you are going to have to send one of them to the bench when Schrauth returns. Which one will it be? It feels like it could be Spindler but him playing quality ball certainly makes it an interesting conversation.

Find pass rushing answers

Injuries on the EDGE have been really tough for the Irish the last few weeks. Losing Jordan Botelho a couple weeks ago was tough. Now high upside pass rusher Boubacar Traore was injured during this week against Louisville. Add in the fact that Burnham is still returning from injury, and this group has been pretty decimated.

Notre Dame needs to find answers for their pass rush. Can RJ Oben give you more production? Could Bryce Young and Loghan Thomas give you more quality minutes? I wouldn’t even count out some of the linebackers supplementing those reps in obvious passing situations, whether it is Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa or Jaylen Sneed. It feels like a combination of all options could be on the table.

Continue solidifying your identity

We know who this team is defensively. Notre Dame has a tremendous secondary, and speed everywhere. Al Golden is going to be aggressive, and blitz everywhere. It’s a unit predicated on pressure.

The Irish staff must continue to figure out who they are offensively. They will also be built around the running game, but what exactly is this team from a passing perspective? We have seen some positive growth, but not nearly enough. Meshing those two units needs to be a priority over the next few weeks, especially for when you get down the stretch of the season.