Greg McElroy broke down Notre Dame’s offensive struggles on the latest episode of the Always College Football podcast.

While others — including Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman — have pinpointed the mental side of the game as the Irish’s biggest shortcoming in their loss to Northern Illinois, McElroy argued the issue is more related to personnel on the offensive side of the ball.

“I think the problem for Notre Dame is that this is now 29 games that Marcus Freeman has coached and this is the 7th time in-which they scored 21 or fewer points,” McElroy said. “Their record in those game in-which they scored 21 or fewer is 1-6.”

More specifically, McElroy indicated the issue was with Notre Dame’s lack of elite offensive skill players.

“If you want to win a national championship, you have to have super elite weapons,” McElroy said after comparing Notre Dame’s offensive personnel to other teams in the top 10 like Georgia, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Oregon.

It’s worth noting that Freeman did part ways with former wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey after the 2023 regular season, so it’s possible this is an issue that will continue to improve as replacement Mike Brown gets more time in the program.

Through 2 games this year, Notre Dame’s leading wide receiver is Beaux Collins who has 107 yards and 0 touchdowns on 10 catches.

The wide receiver position has certainly been the weakest position group for Notre Dame in 3 years under Freeman. Excluding tight ends like Michael Mayer, the Irish’s most prolific receiver in a single-season during the Freeman era was converted running back Chris Tyree, who totaled 484 yards last season.

That’s something that will need to change quickly if Notre Dame is going to get back to competing for national titles, McElroy argued.

“If you look at Notre Dame, their weapons, when compared to the other teams that are championship contenders, they currently don’t compare,” McElroy said.

Notre Dame will go on the road to face Purdue in Week 3.