With the 2024 season in the rear view mirror, all eyes turn to what 2025 may hold for the Irish. Before examining Notre Dame’s future, let’s examine how we got here.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
The Regular Season
Marcus Freeman and the 2024 Fighting Irish began the regular season at #7 in the polls and were a preseason favorite to make the CFP. This was partially due to a highly criticized schedule many called weak, but the Irish would face possibly their biggest test of the season in week 1, #20 TAMU. Rankings aside, the Aggies were considered the more talented team, and when combined with their notoriously tough home-field advantage, gave them a -2.5 point edge over the Irish heading into the game.
The first half was a defensive battle, with both offenses settling for two field goals a piece to enter halftime tied 6-6. The Irish broke through in the 2nd half with rushing touchdowns from Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price while only surrendering a single score to the Aggies. A late field goal and a crucial defensive stop from Christian Gray gave the Irish a 23-13 win deep in SEC territory to kick off the season.
Unfortunately, that momentum and optimism were short-lived, as Freeman and the Irish were stunned by unranked NIU in their home opener the following week, losing a heartbreaker 14-16. It was arguably the worst loss in modern program history, and the Irish went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. They dropped from #5 to #18, and the entire trajectory of Notre Dame’s season was on its head. The fanbase, team, and program were all shaken by the defeat, and criticism got so bad that some called for Freeman’s job altogether. Many believed the Irish wouldn’t be able to come back from this low, but with ten games left to play, the season became a “lose again and go home” challenge with no room for error.
The Irish responded with an impressive 66-7 trouncing of Purdue on the road, raising even more questions about what went wrong against NIU and which performance better reflected who this team was. Notre Dame welcomed Miami (OH) the following week and won a comfortable if unimpressive 28-3 win over the RedHawks before preparing for their next real challenge, Louisville. The #15 Cardinals put up a fight, but the Irish stopped a late rally to squeak out a 31-24 win. It was their narrowest win of the season and the most points allowed thus far by Notre Dame’s defense.
Notre Dame returned to form with a lopsided 49-7 win over Stanford but struggled to fully dominate a shorthanded Georgia Tech squad in Atlanta, only managing a 31-13 win.
Now (6-1), the #12 Irish faced their 3rd ranked opponent of the season, (6-0) #24 Navy. For the first time in recent memory, some mainstream media commentators gave Navy a legitimate chance to upset the Irish, and the Midshipmen fielded statistically competitive squads on both sides of the ball. The Irish had a respectable -13.5-point advantage heading into the matchup but outperformed expectations. Freeman and the Irish put on a clinic and dismantled Navy 51-14 to secure their 6th straight win. It pushed Notre Dame back into the top 10 for the first time since week 2 and began whispers of a playoff bid comeback.
The Irish continued their win streak with a stellar 52-3 win over a beleaguered FSU team, then cruised by Virginia 35-14. In their third and final neutral site game of the season, Freeman and the #6 Irish headed to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, to face the #19 Army Black Knights. This was Notre Dame’s 4th ranked opponent of the season, and like the Navy game, favored the Irish by about two touchdowns going into the contest. Once again, Notre Dame poured on the style points for the playoff committee and ran away with a 49-14 win.
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For the season finale, #5 Notre Dame again hit the road, this time for the West Coast to face archrival USC at the Coliseum. 2024 had been a struggle for 3rd-year head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans, facing the Irish with a shockingly underwhelming (6-5) record. While their record was nothing to brag about, this was technically a more talented team than Freeman’s boys, and the nature of the rivalry added a level of angst the Irish hadn’t seen in weeks. USC was uniquely positioned to knock Notre Dame off and dash their playoff hopes just before the end of the year - down on their luck, with a talented roster and an elite coach looking to quiet his loudest critics before an early offseason. The Trojans had nothing to lose, and the Irish had a turnaround season and redemption arc to fulfill, with no room left to fail.
For the first time all season, Notre Dame was forced to rely on their offense to stay in the game, trading shots with the Trojans from the jump. The Irish struck first with a rushing touchdown close to the end of the 1st quarter, but USC responded with a drive of their own to tie things up. The Irish scored again, this time through the air, and took their second lead of the game with less than a minute remaining in the half. Unfortunately, the Irish defense couldn’t contain the Trojans and surrendered another touchdown in mere seconds, allowing USC to tie things up 14-14 and steal all the momentum going into halftime. Notre Dame got the ball at the start of the 3rd quarter and was able to score quickly off a 36-yard Jadarian Price run to go up 21-14, their 3rd lead of the game. The Irish defense allowed USC to cobble together an 8-play 77-yard drive to tie things up again. That’s when the game began to turn. Notre Dame responded with back-to-back scores to close out the 3rd quarter, first from a Riley Leonard keeper and then from Leonard’s 2nd passing score of the day to go up 35-21.
Inexplicably, the Irish offense went quiet in the 4th, unable to get anything going, and a USC touchdown off a short field narrowed Notre Dame’s lead to a single score with less than 9 minutes left to play. In a ridiculous series of plays, the entire complexion of the game changed. The Trojans used their momentum to march down the field quickly, but just as they were about to tie things up, Notre Dame’s defense stepped in. On 1st & 10 from the Irish 21, USC tossed a fade to the front corner of the end zone, but Notre Dame DB Christian Gray reeled in a one-handed interception, bracing himself with a hand on the ground, and returned it 99 yards to the house for a shocking score.
The Trojans got the ball back and again moved deep into Irish territory. With under two minutes left, USC faced 4th and 6 from the Irish 13, and Notre Dame’s defense was up against a wall. As the ball was hiked, the Irish front four broke through the USC line and forced a quick desperation throw over the middle toward the end zone. For the second straight series, Notre Dame’s secondary rose to the occasion. Safety Xavier Watts stepped right in front of a man-to-man battle in the end zone and reeled in another Irish interception, never breaking his stride and returning it 100 yards for a touchdown to put Notre Dame up 49-28. The Irish walked away with the win and finished their regular season (11-1) with a 10-game win streak, four wins over ranked opponents, and a top-5 finish in the polls. Altogether, it was enough to earn the Irish a CFP seed with a 1st round home game.
The Playoffs
The Irish earned the privilege of hosting their 1st round matchup of the playoff and drew cross-state rival #9 Indiana. The tension was palpable from the start, and nerves got the best of both sides as they traded interceptions to start things off. With Notre Dame backed up to their own 2-yard line, Irish star running back Jeremiyah Love took a handoff and burst through a gap on the left-hand side before breaking into the open and down the sideline for a 98-yard rushing touchdown. In just one run, Love scored the game’s first points, the longest rushing touchdown of the season, and the first touchdown scored in the 12-team playoff’s history. The Irish dominated the 2nd quarter, capping off a 16-play 83-yard drive that took over 9:00 minutes with another score. The Hoosiers got on the board with a field goal before Notre Dame responded with one of their own, sending the game into halftime with the Irish up 17-3.
The second half was more of the same, as Notre Dame extended their lead with another touchdown and another field goal to go up 27-3 with less than 5 minutes left in the 4th. With the game out of hand, Freeman and Golden began subbing in 2nd and 3rd string defensemen to rest starters for the rest of the playoff run. In response, Indiana kept their starters in and had their only success of the day on offense. The Hoosiers cobbled together 14 garbage time points against the Irish reserves and narrowed the lopsided game’s score to a more respectable 27-17.
While it wasn’t the prettiest or most statistically impressive win of Notre Dame’s season, it brought a level of confidence this team hadn’t experienced yet. You could tell by the way they played that something was different. Notre Dame outclassed and outworked the Hoosiers from the jump. The Irish defense smothered Indiana’s highly lauded offense, holding them to 215 yards passing and only 61 yards on the ground. Indiana’s defense was considered the stronger part of their team, but even they failed to contain any part of the Irish offense. Jeremiah Love finished with 108 yards and a touchdown, while Leonard tossed 201 yards and a touchdown through the air, along with a score on the ground. It gave the Irish a win on a stage they hadn’t seen in quite some time, and they managed to dominate the Hoosiers while not even playing their best ball.
The Irish headed to the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia to face Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. It was a defensive battle from the start. Notre Dame's defense forced a fumble to stop a deep Georgia drive into Irish territory, and neither team scored in the first quarter. After giving up a huge chunk pass down the sideline, the Irish defense held UGA to a field goal for the game's first points. The Irish answered with back-to-back field goals to take a narrow 6-3 lead with less than a minute left in the half. That's when everything changed. Instead of taking the conservative route and kneeling the ball, Kirby Smart sent his offense back onto the field to try and score. First-time starter Gunner Stockton had been throwing the ball well, and the Bulldogs hoped to at least tie things up with a field goal before giving the Irish the ball to start the 3rd quarter. On the first play of Georgia's drive, Stockton dropped back to throw but was blindsided by Notre Dame's Jason Onye, who chopped the ball out of his hands and onto the ground. The Irish recovered and immediately struck with a passing touchdown from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins, stunning the Bulldogs and taking a 13-3 lead going into halftime.
On the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, Notre Dame's Jayden Harrison fielded the ball at the 2-yard line and began slowly cutting his way through Georgia's return team before breaking a tackle and finding a seam, bursting into the open and down the sideline. He ran 98 yards to the house, putting the Irish up 20-3 while driving a dagger into Georgia. In just 54 seconds of gameplay, the Irish scored 17 points and extended a 6-3 lead to 20-3. Georgia finally scored a touchdown with about 9 minutes left in the 3rd, but the Irish added another field goal after forcing a turnover on downs on the 9-yard line. The final backbreaker was a 4th & 1 on Notre Dame's own 19, where the Irish executed an 11-man personnel change, swapping the entire special teams unit with the offense before baiting the Bulldogs to jump offsides. The Irish proceeded to bleed the clock with multiple 3rd-down conversions until giving the ball back to Georgia. The Irish sealed the 23-10 win with another turnover on downs, sacking Gunner Stockton at Georgia's 17.
Once again, the Irish beat an elite opponent in dominant fashion while not quite playing their best ball. Notre Dame's offense collected fewer total yards than Georgia while only throwing for 90 yards and one touchdown. They didn't score a single rushing touchdown between Leonard, Price, and Love and relied heavily on Mitch Jeter's 3/3 mark on field goals and a special teams touchdown. With the win, the Irish kept their playoff hopes alive, beat the reigning SEC Champion, secured the program’s first-ever win over UGA, and beat arguably the best coach in all of college football. It was even less pretty than the Indiana game and was by no means a blowout, but the Irish proved they can find a way to win and can do so in a variety of ways. Their defense proved they could absorb big-chunk plays and a massive offensive line while still preventing scores and forcing turnovers. The offense proved they don't even need to throw the ball if their running backs aren't producing; they can just run with Leonard and beat you on special teams.
Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl win earned them a spot in the Orange Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Despite several big gash plays in the first quarter, both defenses kept the game scoreless. The Nittany Lions’ defense reeled in a Riley Leonard interception for the first big momentum swing of the game, but the Irish defense held strong and only allowed a field goal as the 2nd quarter began. Penn State then controlled the quarter with a 15-play, 90-yard drive to score, putting them up 10-0 and chewing more than 7 minutes off the clock. Before the half ended, Riley Leonard was sacked and hit his head hard enough to be taken out of the game, putting Steve Angeli on the field in Irish territory with only 1:30 left before half. Angeli orchestrated a sorely lacking passing attack down the field and into position for a field goal before halftime. The Irish had done nearly nothing on offense, but their defense kept them competitive.
The Irish scored right out of halftime with an 8-play, 75-yard drive of their own, tying things up at 10-10. After trading punts, the Irish put together another long drive that took them to Penn State’s 2-yard line with a little over 14 minutes left in the 4th. On 1st and goal, Leonard handed the ball off to Jeremiyah Love, who spectacularly out-willed the entire Nittany Lions defense, hurdling the first defender, dragging the second with him as he collided with two more defenders before leaping forward to break the plane. It gave Notre Dame their first lead of the game, 17-10. Penn State quickly responded with their second touchdown to tie things back up at 17-17. On the ensuing drive, Riley Leonard tossed another interception that led to a Penn State score, stifling any Irish momentum while taking the lead 24-17. The Irish got the ball back with about 5 minutes remaining and began chipping away PSU’s defense. The Irish got to just about midfield before wideout Jaden Greathouse broke his defender’s ankles off the line of scrimmage and reeled in a perfect ball from Leonard. Once in the open, Greathouse hit another stellar move to drop PSU’s last defender on his butt, and he walked into the endzone, tying it 24-24.
With less than a minute remaining, Penn State’s Drew Aller tossed a late ball over the middle with pressure in his face, and Irish CB Christian Gray reeled it in for their first turnover of the game. Instead of playing it conservative and running out the clock to play in overtime, Freeman and the Irish capitalized on their field position, moving the ball just far enough into PSU territory to try for a field goal. With only 0:12 seconds left on the clock, Irish kicker Mitch Jeter lined up for his second opportunity of the night, drilling a 41-yarder to seal the win 27-24.
Once again, the Irish did whatever was needed to get the win. Notre Dame had yet to trail this season nor mount a comeback through the air, and in just two quarters, they managed to do both. For the first time in the season, the Irish offense outgained their running game through the air and failed to win the turnover battle but still held on to win. Fittingly, the game came down to Mitch Jeter’s recently healed leg, and he nailed it, becoming the first kicker in CFP history to make a game-winning field goal. The win sent the Irish to their first National Title game since 2012.
The National Championship
Everything led to this point. All the close calls, the big wins, the critics who said they didn’t belong, and a program-defining loss - all of it helped get the Irish to the big dance. All that stood in their way was Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Irish got the ball to start the game and put together one of their most dominant drives of the playoff. Riley Leonard led the Fighting Irish on an 18-play, 75-yard scoring drive that shaved the first 9:45 seconds off the clock. The Irish couldn’t have scripted a better start to the game, especially for an offense quite obviously outmatched by the Buckeyes defense.
It then fell to Notre Dame’s defense, which statistically matched up more closely against Ohio State’s offense. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes had little trouble moving the ball and went on three straight unanswered scoring drives: 11 plays, 75 yards, 6:05 minutes; 10 plays, 76 yards, 6:06 minutes; and 12 plays, 80 yards, 4:26 minutes. As the game entered halftime, the Irish found themselves behind 7-21, with OSU getting the ball to start the second half.
The Buckeyes had little trouble marching 75 yards to score on their opening drive of the 3rd quarter and added a field goal shortly after. Suddenly, the Irish faced a 7-31 hole, and all hope seemed lost. Thankfully, Freeman and the Irish were able to scrape together another impressive 10-play 75-yard drive to get back on the board. Riley Leonard found Jaden Greathouse through the air, who busted a few twitchy moves to slice and dice his way into the endzone. The Irish successfully converted the 2-point conversion with a Leonard-to-Love shovel pass to bring the deficit to a more manageable 15-31. After recovering a fumble, the Irish were able to move the ball into Buckeye territory but curiously settled for a 27-yard field goal attempt on 4th & goal that ultimately ricocheted off the upright and was no good.
Thankfully, the Irish were able to get the ball back and respond with a drive that did convert. After a huge pass to tight-end Mitchell Evans, Riley Leonard tossed a 30-yard bomb to the front corner of the far end zone, where Greathouse reeled it in over his shoulder for the score. Once again, the Irish lined up for a 2-point conversion, but this time, they handed the ball off to wideout Jordan Faison, who came on a sweep around the side and tossed the ball over the heads of the Buckeye defenders to Beaux Collins for the score. In two quick drives, the Irish narrowed a 28-point deficit to just 8 and gave themselves a few minutes in the 4th to tie things up. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes were able to put things out of reach with a field goal to go up 34-23 with less than 30 seconds left. It was enough to kill Notre Dame’s valiant comeback and end their Cinderella season.
Final Thoughts
No matter how you look at it, this season was an unmitigated success for Marcus Freeman and the Irish. Before week one, everyone in the country had a pretty good idea of what Notre Dame should do in the regular season. However, once the NIU loss came, it felt like this team might go the way of disappointing Notre Dame teams of the past. Many thought the season was already over, and critics saw no way for Notre Dame to come back from it, yet they did. Week after week, the Irish cobbled together a respectable and often dominant 10-game win streak to close out the regular season and found a way to overcome their early failure. While the NIU game will stick around in fans' memories, the 2024 Irish redeemed that regular season black mark by securing a postseason bid.
The Irish earned a clean slate in the playoffs, but the stakes had never been higher for a program long criticized for its lack of success in the postseason. Notre Dame‘s win over Indiana should have been enough to silence even the most staunch Irish hater, but excuses surrounding Indiana’s legitimacy seemed to overshadow the public discourse. All of that disappeared following the Georgia game. For the first time in recent memory, Notre Dame had beaten a quality team, an SEC champion, and an elite coach in one fell swoop - all on their biggest stage yet. In the eyes of Notre Dame fans, their team had achieved something they’d been waiting for for decades - a legitimate win in a major bowl game - but it still wasn’t quite enough for the public. That is, until the following week when Notre Dame did it again against Penn State in the Orange Bowl. This time, there was no blaming a backup quarterback, lucky seeding, or a talent disparity. Notre Dame had just posted its 3rd straight win over a top-10 opponent and answered the most significant remaining question - are the Irish back?” with a resounding “yes.”
All in all, the 2024 Fighting Irish overachieved and defied even the rosiest of predictions. Once Notre Dame got on a roll and started winning in the playoffs, fan excitement at the possibilities evolved into confidence amidst a new reality. In a way, that’s what Freeman and the 2024 Irish did for the program as a whole. Within a single season, they moved the goalposts well beyond expectations, from hopefully winning a big game to hopefully winning a major bowl game, to hopefully beating a better team on a huge stage, to hopefully winning a National Title. The evolution of Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame is well ahead of schedule and has already taken expectations to a place many outside the fan base never thought they’d return to. While the Irish didn’t achieve their ultimate goal, they did prove that Notre Dame can go all the way, and it’s no longer a question of “if” they can win it all but “when” that will be.
With another promising season on the horizon and a clear path to achieving success laid out for them, Notre Dame’s 2025 season holds even more promise than 2024. In my next piece, we’ll look at the current situation the program finds itself in and where the Irish go from here.
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