The Anatomy of the Schedule: Breaking Down the 2025 Season, Volume I
- Liam Farrell
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
As fall camp creeps around the corner, it is a perfect time for Notre Dame fans to begin to comprehend the path that lies ahead of them in 2025.
Art by The Irish Tribune
As the 2024 season showed, not only for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, upsets can happen when people least expect them. Obviously, the losses to Marshall and Northern Illinois have humbled the Irish, but Marcus Freeman has matured as a head coach who has now begun to learn how to channel expectations and continue his path at leading his team to their truest potential.
In 2025, the Fighting Irish's schedule appears significantly more intimidating than the year prior. While the first two games are garnering the most attention, beginning the year in Coral Gables to play Miami and then returning home two weeks later to face off against the Texas A&M Aggies, there are plenty of games following these that will pin the Irish into difficult situations.
With that being said, this will be a four-part series that runs through every regular season game of the 2025 season. In this edition, we will be briefly previewing the first three games of the season against the Hurricanes, Aggies, and Purdue Boilermakers.
Labor Day Sunday @ Miami
2024 Record: 10-3
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: Three
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Five
The Miami Hurricanes are entering another season in the Mario Cristobal era and in this iteration, Cristobal will be putting his faith in transfer portal quarterback, Carson Beck. Beck, who is recovering from an UCL tear in the SEC Championship, is looking to fill the shoes left by the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Cam Ward.
Last season, the Hurricanes saw their college football playoff hopes slip through the cracks while going 1-2 in their last three games of the regular season, with losses to Georgia Tech in the beginning of November and a loss to Syracuse that knocked them out of an ACC championship game appearance. Outside of those blemishes, the Hurricanes started the season 9-0 and were powered by the aerial attack led by Ward and his wide receiving threats.
In 2025, the Hurricanes are looking to improve on a poor defensive season that led to the hiring of a new defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman to replace Lance Guidry. Miami was also extremely active in the transfer portal, especially in the secondary, as they added six defensive backs to their defense.
In this game, a key variable to watch will be the turnover battle. At Georgia last year, Beck was quite interception-prone, and with a ball-hawking Irish secondary, it should be an interesting facet to monitor in Chris Ash's first game as the Notre Dame DC. Whether or not the Miami defense pressure CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey in their first collegiate start is the opposite end of the matchup that could dictate this game as well.
Week Three vs Texas A&M
2024 Record: 8-5
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: Seven
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Eight
After seeing how the Irish handle week one, things do not get much easier in their second game of the season. While the Irish still get a BYE week, Mike Elko's return to Notre Dame will be one rooted in revenge. Outside of last season's opening victory in College Station, Freeman also got the best of Elko in Durham two years ago in another heartbreaking loss for a Mike Elko-led team.
While the Irish will be playing a similar team from a year ago, the Aggies have found a new signal caller to lead their offense in Marcel Reed. Reed is a dual-threat quarterback who fits into offensive coordinator, Collin Klein's scheme extremely well. In less than a full-season, Reed threw for 1,864 yards and added 547 yards on the ground as well.
This will be a Texas A&M team whose identity lays on the strength of its defense. While losing EDGE rushers Nic Scourton and possibly, Shemar Stewart, to the NFL, the Aggies still return eight starters on defense, including linebackers Taurean York and Scooby Williams.
Texas A&M also has pre-season all-SEC first team running back Le'Veon Moss, who rushed for 765 yards last season while missing the last five games due to an season-ending knee injury. They also got recognition on the offensive end in two all-SEC second team offensive linemen in Trey Zuhn III and Ar'maj Reed-Adams, and a third team selection in lineman, Chase Bisontis.
While Freeman is only 1-2 in his career for first home games, this will be his hardest test to date, and it is imperative that the Irish go at least 1-1 through these first two games.
Week Four vs Purdue
2024 Record: 1-11
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: One
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Zero
Arguably the easiest game on Notre Dame's schedule is week four against Purdue. While last season I may have pegged Northern Illinois as Notre Dame's easiest game, Purdue is a team that is looking to rebuild itself after a truly disappointing year.
The Boilermakers are attempting to completely revamp their program with the hiring of Barry Odom, who had success at UNLV before agreeing to this position with Purdue. While many talented pieces including Max Klare and Dillon Thinneman left Purdue, they have been extremely active in the transfer portal acquiring Power 4 talent.
The quarterback competition should be a deep one for Odom, who is set to choose between Ryan Browne, Malachi Singleton, an Arkansas transfer and a few other candidates. The sole returning starter from the 2024 team is running back Devin Mockobee who rushed for 687 yards and four touchdowns a year ago.
While Purdue is still entering their rebuilding phase, they still have a plethora of talent that they acquired from the portal. While the first few weeks should showcase their development before the Irish face them, a week three matchup against USC should be a clear indication for what type of team Notre Dame would be set to play.
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