Notre Dame football has entered an alternative reality that Fighting Irish fans didn’t see coming heading into the 2025 season
Notre Dame football has entered an alternate reality. Fighting Irish fans aren’t sure what to think right now.
Notre Dame football finally entered the winning column with its 56 to 30 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday. A 26-point victory sounds good on paper, and there were certainly a lot of positives to be excited about for Fighting Irish fans, but the main issues still exist. It’s tough to be overly excited about a clearly flawed team, and a flaw we aren’t totally familiar with.
When you think of Notre Dame football over the last several years, you typically think of a strong defense, especially in the secondary. The program has been blessed to have some tremendous defensive coordinators since Mike Elko held the position in 2017. From Elko to Clark Lea, Marcus Freeman, and Al Golden is quite a run as defensive play callers.
Heading into the 2025 college football season, even while making the change from Golden to Chris Ash at defensive coordinator, many expected the Fighting Irish to have another elite defense. Through three games, it couldn’t be further from the truth. The defense has allowed nearly 33 points per game so far. For the second straight week, the defense also allowed over 300 yards passing through the air.
A new Notre Dame reality
Most Notre Dame fans were also excited about the potential of the Irish offense heading into 2025, but expected it to start a little slow and develop incrementally throughout the campaign. Everyone knew that redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr was talented, but he probably would need some time to get comfortable.
When he did, you would have arguably college football’s best running back room, a well-balanced wide receiver corps, and an experienced offensive line for Mike Denbrock to get creative with.
For the first time in a long time, this is a Notre Dame team that is being carried by its offense. Carr has improved significantly, and this group appears to have the potential to be very good. The fanbase has been screaming for offensive improvements, dreaming of the day that it was a true complement to a fantastic defensive unit. It feels like that offensive maturation is finally happening, but of course, the defense has decided to regress. We are losing out on that marriage that all the supporters have been so desperate for.
Things are a mess under Ash right now, and who knows where true improvements will come from. For years, it felt like the Notre Dame offense was wasting an impressive defensive window; now, it feels like the inverse. Irish fans are living a new reality, and it is uncertain if this program can ever find balance within it. One thing is certain: this flawed product isn’t capable of making a legitimate run. Just when it looked like Notre Dame was so close, things continue to feel far away.
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