On Monday night, the Notre Dame football team's season concluded as they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship. The Fighting Irish tremendous postseason run ended after a 34-23 thrilling finals matchup, but there's plenty to be excited for if you're a Notre Dame football fan.
ND proved all of the haters wrong throughout this wild playoff run, and they had an extremely tough path to even get to the College Football Playoff Finals.
It all started with a in state rivalry win against the Indiana Hoosiers, a tough battle with the SEC Champion in Georgia Bulldogs, and a thrilling comeback win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the College Football semifinals.
5 reasons why Notre Dame football will get back to National Championship next year
The Blue and Gold proved they are National Championship contenders, and their run through the 2025 College Football Playoffs demonstrated that.
Marcus Freeman has built an outstanding culture in his locker room that is built for the present, but also the future. Their brilliant balance of young talent and veteran players is what makes them built for this moment, and they will be making deep playoff runs for years to come.
5. The new era under Marcus Freeman
Freeman brings passion and swagger to this historic program, a passion and type of swagger Irish fans aren't used to. The Fighting Irish head coach won the Dodd Trophy Coach of Year, which highlights the coach who embodies scholarship, leadership and integrity, but also showcases skill and success on the field.
Notre Dame football head coach, Marcus Freeman, has built a culture and resurrected this program back to the elite program it once was in just three years as the Irish head coach. He has a 33-10 overall record, 14-6 vs record vs ranked teams, and is currently 5-2 in bowl games.
Freeman has been breaking records through out his tenure as the Irish Head Coach. He has the most wins in a single season for Notre Dame with 14 and won two New Year Six Bowl games this postseason run, which gave the Irish their first NY6 bowl win since 1994.
4. Freeman hits jackpot in Portal
Irish picked up key pieces in the transfer portal as Notre Dame added Malachi Fields who will join Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison on the outside. Fields had 55 catches for 808 and five touchdowns, which would have all led Notre Dame wide receivers this year. They also brought in Will Pauling who brought in over 40 catches and 400 yards as well.
Notre Dame defense will miss a few key starters but added some key pieces in Jared Dawson, Elijah Hughes and safteis in DeVonta Smith and Jalen Stroman. Smith comes from Alabama and will play along side Adon Shuler. Dawson will join the Irish front line, as he had four sacks last season with Louisville.
3. Notre Dame football returning secondary
The Irish secondary was battle tested all season long and gained tremendous experience. Notre Dame was led by Leonard Moore and Christian Gray on the outside, they will return saftey Adon Shuler, and linebacker Drayk Bowen.
Fighting Irish defense was pivotal all season long and was a main point why they reached the Championship. They will lose key pieces in Xavier Watts and Benjamin Morrison, but this returning secondary should be lethal in the 2025 season.
Moore and Gray each had at least eight pass deflections this 2024 season, and the secondary allowed just a mere 51% pass completion against them which leads the nation.
2. The three headed monster
Notre Dame offense averaged 210.8 rushing yards per game, which was 14th best in the country in 2024-2025 and fifth best in power four. Irish led the power four with 4.2 yards after contact.
Notre Dame run game is led by Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, and Aneyas Williams, as all three backs will be back next season. This trio is known for their aggression and ability to break loose for long runs. Love has the longest run in College Football playoff history after his 98 yard touchdown run against Indiana. Love averaged 7.1 yards per carry, as he has 1,122 rushing yards on 159 carries and 17 rushing touchdowns on the season. He was limited in the postseason due to an injury, but he will be a huge piece to this offense next season
Following Love, the Irish are in good hands with Jadarian Price. Price has found the end zone on two rushing plays over 60 yards. Twenty of Price's 110 carries have gone for 10 or more yards, which is tied for 4th best among running backs. Price had 733 yards on the ground for the Irish and averages 6.3 yards per carry.
The Fighting Irish rushing attack ranks 10 in 20 plus yards rushing plays with 28 plays and rank 5 with 17 plays that went for 30 or more yards. The stat doesn't stop there, as they have 11 rushing plays that went for 40 yards or more that is 4 in FBS, and they have the second most 50 plus rushing yard plays in FBS with 8.
Lastly, Aneyas Williams averaged 6.5 yards per carry and had two touchdowns. He demonstrated his receiving skill against Penn State in the Orange Bowl and could be a key piece next season.
1. Irish 2 main X-factors for 2025
Notre Dame may have found their new duo on offense and it is in Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison. Grathouse and Faison stepped up in big moments all postseason.
Notre Dame sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison, led Notre Dame in receptions and receiving yards to help lead the Irish to the quarterfinals. The Irish wide receiver out of Florida had the best game of the season with six receptions for 89 yards, including a 44-yard reception that put the Irish on the two-yard line and led them eventually going up 27-3.
Faison was the Sun Bowl game most valuable player in last year's victory as he caught five passes for 115 yards and earned a touchdown as well. Faison has stepped up in big games in his career with the Irish and is becoming a key piece to this Irish offense.
Greathouse became Riley Leonard favorite deep ball target in the postseason, as he had seven catches for 105 yards and and a 54 yard game tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter in the semifinals against Penn State, and in the championship he had six catches for 128 recieving yards and two touchdowns.
Greathouse ended the year with 42 receptions for 592 yards which led the Irish. This duo on the outside has the possibility to cause major issues for opposing team secondaries with CJ Carr or Steve Angeli starting at QB for the Irish.