College Town Touch down

Fans cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame with a passion unlike any other. Whether they’re alumni or just a ravenous Irish Catholic that works a trade, the loyalty to the program is fascinatingly avid. Last season they had lots to cheer about. This season looks different from the jump, and to the dismay of Irish fans it may look different after the final whistle. Here’s why we think Notre Dame will have an unsuccessful 2025 campaign. 

A determining factor of success in college football is often an improvement upon the previous season. Knowing Notre Dame was the national runner up last year, that may be a difficult feat to replicate. Not as difficult as years prior perhaps; the playoff is still at a 12 team capacity. A respectable Notre Dame season could potentially earn them a playoff berth and stringing together a few postseason wins can punch their ticket to a national title. The other measure of success is wins. The easiest way for a casual fan to tell you how good a team is would be the win column. Last year you could count to 14 in the win column, the most the storied program has ever had in a single season. (Also the first season with an expanded playoff, so put a fat asterisk on it.) 

In Marcus Freeman’s first season as head coach in 2022, he didn’t have his guy at quarterback. He was hired after Brian Kelly’s surprising departure to be the head coach at LSU. Tyler Buchner ended up winning the starting job for the Irish until he was injured and out for the year. Even after a successful season that ended with a blown lead in the Fiesta Bowl, it was obvious there was a piece missing. 

Notre Dame received their only other quarterbacks under Marcus Freeman through the transfer portal. In 2023 Sam Hartman had already attempted over 1,500 passes in college and threw 110 touchdown passes before he ever even donned the gold bucket. Last season Riley Leonard had played in 27 games and had over 4,000 passing yards before he arrived in South Bend. Under Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, quarterbacks are already polished veterans; until this year. 

Notre Dame is still experiencing an ongoing battle at the quarterback position during fall camp. The difference between this battle is that these two quarterbacks, Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr, have three passing attempts combined. Both players are talented, but both players have zero meaningful snaps in a college game. A quarterback battle with no clear winner less than 2 weeks out from the season opener is an indication of one fact: it’s too close to call. In a battle with this much subjectivity, there will always be contrarians to the decision made, whatever it may be. 

It’s easier to ignore the noise of a loud Irish catholic crowd when you’re winning games, but when the lights are on and the quarterback of the future might not be the far future you had hoped, the noise is deafening. I believe the issue for Notre Dame will be found in the indecision. A battle decided this late can open the door to the second option after just one bad game for the starter. It is not out of the realm of possibility that both quarterbacks will start multiple games for the Irish, and that’s not a recipe for success based on the way the program has been run under Marcus Freeman. 

Notre Dame returns a smattering of key players, and there is no doubt they have an extremely talented roster, but the lack of experience at QB will be their downfall. 

This would be less of an issue if it weren’t for the strength of their early schedule. Whomever is chosen to be the starter, he’ll have to play in prime time on a Sunday night in the Miami heat against the Miami Hurricanes. A blast from the past in the “Catholics vs Convicts” rivalry. The lights will be bright and Miami is a newly inspired program after replacing their first overall pick quarterback Cam Ward with a seasoned veteran in Carson Beck. 

The following week gets no easier when they host Texas A&M, an SEC program with now or never expectations and returning starting quarterback Marcel Reed (who didn’t play against Notre Dame week one last year.)

Beyond those two games it would not be unexpected to see Notre Dame drop another few games, as they see plenty of opponents with rising talent and expectations such as rival USC, Arkansas, Boise State, and Syracuse. 

Notre Dame will look to head onward to victory and prove us wrong when they open their season on August 31st at 7pm.