The Marcus Freeman era officially begins tonight for Notre Dame football and it won’t be an easy debut for the highly motivated head coach. Freeman will lead the Irish against his former school, Ohio State, in a battle between two highly ranked teams - the Buckeyes are No. 2 and Notre Dame is No. 5 in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Some will argue that the Fiesta Bowl game against Oklahoma State was the beginning of the Freeman era. But you can’t count that game because former head coach Brian Kelly exited before the game, and Freeman could only use what Kelly left behind offensively and defensively. He couldn’t change very much in the short span he had to prepare for the game.

So tonight is Freeman’s “official” debut as Irish head coach.

It is hard to find anyone to say anything bad about Freeman. He has a lot of energy that has pumped up the Irish, their fans and alumni looking forward to the possibility of another 10-plus win season. His energy has filtered into the recruiting wars too. He has ND ranked in the top three for recruiting. But the recruiting results won’t begin to filter into the program in earnest until next season.

But games are not won in the print media, on TV or on radio and no matter what kind of energy is present and how much a team rallies around a coach, it comes down to the players on the field and coaching.

The 2022 schedule is a challenging one but there is enough talent to give the Irish and Freeman the opportunity to win 10 or more games. ND plays seven home games and five on the road this year. Besides Ohio State tonight, the other key games ahead include BYU in Las Vegas (an ND home game in the Shamrock Series), North Carolina, Clemson and USC. There are some “spoiler” chances ahead in games against Stanford and Boston College.

At age 36, Freeman brings youth to the program and that may be something to think about. His youth may be a distracting feature for his team, and the fact that he has never been a head coach before is reason for concern. You can’t forget that ND was up 21 points in the Fiesta Bowl game only to blow the lead and have the offense shut down by the Oklahoma State defense in the second half. Also, there was a meltdown by the defense which gave up 600 yards to Oklahoma State, in the two point loss.

You have to give Kelly credit too for some very good seasons despite the fact he seemed to come up short every year in at least one or more key games while trying to get into the national playoff picture. It is also not a secret that the ND fan base and many alumni did not warm up to Kelly in his 12 years at Notre Dame. He knew it too and I think that was one of the big reasons, besides the money, that had him jumping ship for LSU.

Tommy Rees returns as offensive coordinator and has made some changes in the offense. Defensively, Freeman, defensive coordinator for Kelly, brought in a top man in Al Golden. He will take over the defense that Freeman built and I’m sure improve it. Golden spent the past few seasons working with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Golden’s is also one of the best linebacker coaches in college football.

Offensively the Irish will be led by Quarterback Tyler Buchner, who was named starter just two weeks ago. He is not as good a passer as Jack Coan was last year but he gives the offense another option with his ability to run the football. His backup will be Drew Pyne.

Michael Mayer returns as the top receiving threat at tight end. It will probably be his final year as many expect him to leave school early for the NFL. Another key receiver is sophomore Lorenzo Styles. Leading yardage receiver Kevin Austin has graduated so several youngsters are going to get their chance.

Running backs returning include Chris Tyree, Logan Diggs and Audric Estime. The offensive line returns with experience and hopefully will do a better job in protecting the QB. ND has an All-American candidate at center in Jarrett Patterson, although he may not play tonight due to a foot injury.

On the defensive side Cam Hart and Clarence Lewis give ND plenty of hope at the corner positions. Top pass rusher Isaiah Foskey returns as do twins Jayson and Justin Ademilola.

ND also got a surprise in the fall drills from freshman Bryce McFerson, who will handle the kickoffs. He boots them high and far.

ND faces na Ohio State team that went 11-2 last year, including 8-1 in the Big 10 conference. The only losses were to Oregon in the second game of the season and arch-rival Michigan in the final regular season game. The Buckeyes edged Utah, 48-45, in the Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes have three or four players who are already rated as early picks in next springs NFL draft, and they have redshirt sophomore C.J. Stroud at quarterback, who is a Heisman Trophy candidate.

The game will be televised nationally by ABC-TV with a 7:40 p.m. kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... Isaiah Foskey, Jarrett Patterson and Michael Mayer were named team captains last week. Joining them on the six-player list are wide receiver Avery Davis - who is out for the season with his second ACL tear in nine months - and linebackers Bo Bauer and JD Bertrand. Davis and Patterson also held the honor last season, making them the 21st and 22nd two-time Irish captains over the past century. Robert Hainsey (2019-20), Ian Book (2019-20), Drue Tranquill (2017-18), Mike McGlinchey (2016-17), Nick Martin (2014-15), Sheldon Day (2014-15) and Zack Martin (2012-13) also repeated as captains in recent years ... Game times for ND home games on NBC have been set. Night games include BYU, Stanford and Clemson with 7:30 p.m. starts. Day games begin at 2:30 p.m. The UNLV game will be on Peacock only ... It is something when the No. 5 rated team in the country goes into its opening game and is a 17-plus point underdog ... ND’s new field goal kicker his year in Blake Grupe. Reports say he has been consistent in practice, but practice is a lot different than game situations. He does bring with him 64 career field goals and all-conference honors from his prior school, Arkansas State. ... This is the first time Notre Dame is kicking off the season in a top five matchup since 1990, when the top-ranked Irish defeated No. 4 Michigan 28-24 in Notre Dame Stadium ... In the 109 seasons Notre Dame has won its opener, the Irish have gone on to post a winning record in 93.5 percent of those campaigns (102) ... Here is my annual prediction for the season. Opening loss to Ohio State, 0-1; home opener win over Marshall, 1-1; second win of season over California, 2-1; a tough loss at North Carolina, 2-2; ND edges by BYU, 3-2; Stanford falls to the Irish, 4-2; UNLV can’t keep up with Irish, 5-2; a trip to Syracuse and a win, 6-2; Irish get by Clemson, 7-2; at Navy and a win, 8-2; a struggle with BC but a win, 9-2; and trip west and a loss to USC, 9-3 ... As you can see, I pick ND to lose tonight and that should not be a shock. If watch all the “experts” on TV or read media reports on the game, ND is decidedly the underdog. Freeman says being the underdog has added more energy to the team in is preparations for tonight. I only hope is that ND can keep it close and it’s not a blow out.