Notre Dame’s Al Golden is one of the top defensive coordinators in the nation. In addition to returning veterans under his tutelage such as 2023 unanimous All-American Xavier Watts and 2023 second-team All-American Howard Cross III, Golden has coached first-time starters, and reserve players brought into starting roles by injuries, to major success, all while facing a schedule of diverse offensive schemes. Seven Irish defensive players have made their first-career starts in 2024. The defense has lost three starters to season-long injuries, including one of the nation’s top veteran cornerbacks in Benjamin Morrison, and the unit has not skipped a beat. Notre Dame’s 2024 defense is dominant and ranks among the FBS’ best in nearly every defensive stat category, including: first in passing efficiency defense (88.89), first in turnovers gained (25), second in passing yards allowed (150.9), second in defensive touchdowns (4), third in scoring defense (11.4), fourth in red zone defense (0.682), fifth in fumbles recovered (10), fifth in first downs defense (153), sixth in total defense (277.1), sixth in third down defense (0.289) and seventh in passes intercepted (15). Golden has coached his players to hold opponents to 100 passing yards or less four times in 2024 (100 at Texas A&M, 87 vs. Stanford, 88 at Navy and 88 vs. Florida State). Golden’s defense has created game-changing opportunities for Notre Dame, as the Irish lead the nation in turnovers gained (25) and rank second in defensive touchdowns (4). In total, Notre Dame’s turnovers gained have resulted in 114 points, from either direct scores or resulting scoring drives. The Irish have allowed one or fewer touchdowns in six games this season. The Irish have held nine of 10 opponents to 16 or fewer points, and no opponent has scored more than 24 points. Notre Dame is the only Top 10 team to have not allowed an opponent to score more than 24 points once this season. That is the best performance by an Irish team since 2012 when Notre Dame held 10 opponents under 16 points and just one opponent (Alabama in championship game) reached 30 points. Notre Dame is on a five-game run of opponents scoring 14 points or fewer: 35-14 vs. Virginia, 52-3 vs. Florida State, 51-14 at No. 24 Navy, 31-13 at Georgia Tech and 49-7 vs. Stanford. It is the best run since 2012 (six games): 30-13 at Oklahoma, 17-14 vs. BYU, 20-13 vs. Stanford, 41-3 vs. Miami, 13-6 vs. Michigan, 20-3 at Michigan State. Golden’s defense has held five opponents this season to fewer than 250 yards of offense: Texas A&M (246), Purdue (162), Miami OH (229), Stanford (200) and Florida State (208). The last time the Irish held five opponents under 250 total yards was 1988. Notre Dame is one of seven teams with three AP Top 25 wins so far this season; no program has more. Notre Dame owns the best record vs. ranked opponents in FBS (3-0). Every other team with three ranked wins has also lost to a ranked team.
