Notre Dame football still has a huge backing from the people who matter most despite a season opening loss to the Miami Hurricanes
Notre Dame football still has a lot of hope for a big season
Notre Dame football got off to a rough start to the 2025 college football season, coming out with a 27 to 24 loss to the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday night. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish now head home, having a bye week to prepare for the Texas A&M Aggies in the opener. They began the season as the No. 6-ranked team, and with championship hopes on their minds.
After losses, especially this early in the season, fans tend to become super pessimistic about a team’s chances. Notre Dame fans are no different, and they lose sight of the fact that this team just lost to another top-ten team in the country. This wasn’t Northern Illinois, Marshall, or Stanford. You lost to a highly ranked team on the road.
Even while some will be lower on this Notre Dame team until further notice, others remain high on this Irish team. In the latest AP Top 25 Poll, they had Notre Dame ranked as the No. 9 team in the country. The teams that were ahead of Coach Freeman’s squad included Ohio State, Penn State, LSU, Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Texas, and Clemson, in that order. That would, if the season ended today, put the Irish into the playoffs.
This early-season loss, however, does decrease your margin for error. You are going to play Texas A&M next, and as of now, they are the only Top 25 ranked team left on the schedule. Obviously that can change, but if Notre Dame is able to beat the Aggies, they do have an advantageous schedule to make a run. If they do lose, then you could be in some trouble moving forward.
There were some positive signs from Notre Dame during their loss to Miami, even if some don’t want to admit it. You had a really nice first start from quarterback CJ Carr, who played his best football in the second half with his back against the wall. You also saw some impressive plays from defenders like sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, which will be needed for defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
The biggest question marks around this Fighting Irish team are going to be for the offensive and defensive lines. Those are two units that need to play a ton better moving forward. They hold the key to just how good this Notre Dame team can be, and whether they can make another deep playoff run.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
Changes head coach Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish should consider during the bye week heading into Texas A&M
Changes Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman should consider
