Re-Watch List: Three Games to Get Through the Offseason

Liam Farrell
May 29
4 min read

As the calendar is about to turn to June, college football fans are at the deadest point in the offseason: both far away from the end of spring camp and the beginning of summer ball. Here are three Notre Dame games to satisfy your college football needs.

Photo by The Irish Tribune

The middle of the offseason. As spring camp and the spring transfer portal movement have wrapped up, this is truly the dead winter for the college football calendar.

With recent scheduling news, the addition of Clemson has a rivalry game and the possible subtraction of the USC rivalry, Notre Dame football has still been making waves. This coupled with the new CFP format that deletes automatic bids, and therefore benefits the Fighting Irish, most fans are beginning to get an itch for the upcoming season.

While 2025 previews might still be a bit out of reach, here are three games to rewatch to satisfy Fighting Irish fans.

CFP Semifinal: Orange Bowl vs Penn State

Quite possibly the best game of the 2024-2025 college football season. This game had it all, the great depths of a 3-point first half coupled with a Riley Leonard interception that made it seem like all hope was lost. Even the two interceptions that got called back due to penalties drained Notre Dame fans hope.

Then there were the great highs: Jeremiyah Love recorded the most impressive 2-yard touchdown run of all time. Steve Angeli being the hero at the end of the first half, coming in for an injured Riley Leonard to get the first points of the game. Jaden Greathouse breaking a Penn State cornerback's ankles at the line of scrimmage, and then juking the safety out of his shoes to tie the game on a 54-yard touchdown. Then, of course, a play that will live in infamy in Penn State's eyes, Drew Allar forcing a pass late over-the-middle of the field, in which Christian Gray made the biggest play of his career. This set up Mitch Jeter to forever be a Notre Dame legend, in which his 41-yard field goal put the Irish ahead with seven seconds left.

2020 vs #1 Clemson

The next game on the list was the matchup between #1 Clemson and #4 Notre Dame. Coming into the game, Clemson's star quaterback Trevor Lawrence got diagnosed with COVID-19, which made him ineligible for the matchup, and forced Dabo Sweeney to turn to freshman DJ Uiagalelei, who had a historic day.

This 2OT thriller is in a similar boat to that of the Penn State game, because of the ups and downs of this one. Notre Dame had complete control of the game early on, but couldn't capitalize in Clemson territory, settling for field goals and keeping the Tigers in the game.

The longer Clemson was able to stick around, the Tigers finally capitalized and spun the game on its head, taking a 33-26 lead with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter. On the following drive, a Notre Dame turnover on downs appeared to ice the Irish's fate, yet after the defense forced a three-and-out, Ian Book led the Irish downfield on a bomb to Avery Davis. This long pass to Davis set up a four-yard passing touchdown to Davis yet again, and tied the game with 22 seconds remaining.

After sharing touchdowns in the first overtime, the Irish bullied the Tigers off the ball in the second overtime period as well to convert another touchdown. On Clemson's rebuttal, the Irish defensive line made a huge splash with back-to-back sacks on 1st and 2nd down to ice the game and have the Irish knock off the top-ranked Tigers.

The heroes from this game were Ian Book, who threw for 310 yards, and Kyren Williams who ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns.

2017 vs #11 USC

A complete splattering. Just the way one would want against the USC Trojans.

Coming into this game, the #11 USC Trojans faced off against #13 Notre Dame, both looking to see which direction there season would go in this mid-season matchup.

The Irish were only a three-point favorite at home, and the last time they played the Trojans in 2016, USC ran them off the field. However, in this iteration of one of the best rivalries in the sport, the Irish dominated the Trojans on all sides of the ball.

This game derailed USC's hopes of a college football playoff bid, and also destroyed Sam Darnold's Heisman campaign.

This was also one of Brandon Wimbush's best games, as he was efficient both as a passer and a runner, but Josh Adams was the key to the Irish offense, rushing for 191 and three touchdowns.