The Anatomy of the Schedule: Breaking Down the 2025 Season, Volume IV
- Liam Farrell
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
As fall camp continues on, 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
In the fourth and final installment of the season preview, Notre Dame is entering the tenth game of the year, as the Irish look to finish strong in November.
At this point of the season, health will be critical as the Irish will be traveling plenty in the month of November as they make their final push towards the College Football Playoff.
In this volume of The Anatomy of the Schedule, Irish fans will see the uphill climb the Golden Domers will face in 2025.
Week 12 @ Pitt
2024 Record: 7-6
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: Seven
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Seven
After starting the 2024 season 7-0, the Pittsburgh Panthers dropped the final six games of the season.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi will be entering his 11th season with the program, as he returns 14 total starters to the 2025 roster. This includes one of the nation's best running backs in Desmond Reid. Last season, Reid rushed for 966 yards and five touchdowns.
The Panthers will also be returning quarterback Eli Holstein, who will be entering his sophomore season after throwing for 2,225 yards as a redshirt freshman.
On defense, the Panthers will return two vital pieces in the middle of their defense in linebackers Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles. The pair combined for 181 total tackles last season.
Week 13 vs Syracuse
2024 Record: 10-3
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: Three
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Four
The Syracuse Orange will strut into South Bend on Notre Dame's Senior Day, which may prove to be one of the Irish's most difficult Senior Day opponents in recent memory.
The Orange are entering year two of the Fran Brown era, in which the Syracuse head coach seemingly revamped the roster talent overnight. While Brown returns very little production from last year's successful team, he was active in the transfer portal as Syracuse brought in 16 players into the program.
Last season, the Orange had success with the portal as Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord found success in the offense and threw for 4,779 yards. To fill McCord's shoes will be either LSU transfer Rickie Collins, or a familiar face for Notre Dame fans: Steve Angeli. There is an ongoing quarterback battle, but there is no doubt Angeli will return to South Bend looking for revenge against his old team.
Outside of the quarterback room, Syracuse will need to look to replace 1,000-yard rusher LeQuint Allen Jr. and top two receivers Jackson Meeks and Trebor Pena.
Week 14 @ Stanford
2024 Record: 3-9
No. of Returning Offensive Starters: Five
No. of Returning Defensive Starters: Six
As always, Notre Dame will finish the season on the West Coast, but this year it will be on The Farm against the Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal, who are off the heels of a 3-9 season and an unusual coaching change, were put in a difficult situation that featured a mass exportation. With Stanford's academic prestige, it is quite uncommon to see players transfer out of the school, yet amid all of the turnover, 27 players transferred out of the program.
The Cardinal and Football General Manager, Andrew Luck, will most likely ride the arm of Elijah Brown, who will be entering his sophomore season. While Brown didn't get much playing time last season as a freshman, hails from Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei, in which he faced premium competition in the Trinity League.
On defense, the biggest impact returner is safety Scotty Edwards who was second on the team in total tackles (80) and fourth on the team in PBU's (2).
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