Marcus Freeman took the Irish to the national championship game, but they ultimately fell short against Ryan Day and his squad. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for Notre Dame; they were on the brink of success but had to hit the reset button and quietly work on getting their groove back. Their offense struggled in the end, especially against the Buckeyes’ attempts to shut down the run game. But spring has been a great time for reflection and making updates. Freeman has done a solid job promoting a legit quarterback competition and bringing in some talented players through the transfer portal. The big question is: can all these moves really help them bridge the gap between just making it to the title game and actually winning the championship?

The gap might look slim, but it has volume. To reach the national title game after a historic roster evaluation and constant grinding is great, but beating another fierce suitor of the title from that stage hits differently. Freeman doesn’t just have to be great; he has to finish the job this time to solidify his status as the historic trailblazer that the program has ever seen.

The Irish need to work on their red zone touchdown efficiency against the ranked opponents. They won’t be able to sustain against the elite rivals with just a 58.8% touchdown percentage in the red zone. They have to reevaluate their third-down percentage as well. Building the new guys in the offense can be a challenge, yet a thrill as well.

On the May 25 episode of his show, Josh Pate looked at the Irish’s chances of doing the unthinkable. The CFB analyst reacted to a tweet by an X user that predicted a Clemson-like fate for the Irish. The tweet read, “2025 season for Notre Dame will be like the 2016 season for Clemson. Reached natty in 2015, came up short: came back the next season and won it all with a program changing QB at the helm.”

Some readers may think the comparison is over the top. However, let’s look at some similarities. Before their national championship in 2016, Clemson had last won a natty in the 1980s. The same goes for Notre Dame. After an impressive run to the championship game, Dabo Swinney’s squad fell to Alabama by 40-45. That tough loss didn’t halt their momentum. The Tigers ran it again with an offense led by Deshaun Watson. They faced Alabama once more, but this time, Nick Saban was unable to overcome Swinney. How did Pate react to this take?

“I’m putting a 9.5 on it because it’s hard to win a national title. Notre Dame has the seventh-best odds, tied for the seventh-best odds, to win it all. They are eligible to have a first-round bye. Remember this year, the way the format is. They play three like really high-level opponents. They play Miami week 1 on the road. They play A&M a few weeks later at home. They play USC at home. Elsewhere their schedule is manageable,” Pate said.

So, the schedule part (as always) looks good for Marcus Freeman’s team. However, there have been changes in the offense. Riley Leonard is no longer there, and the Irish have also lost several other weapons to the pros. “It’s the best skill profile they’ve had there in a long time. Now, CJ Carr is a first-year starter at quarterback, but when you look at the running game, he’ll have the O-line in front of him and the pass catchers that are better than they’ve been in a while,” Pate added.

The target is to get to the national championship game. You can’t reach the mountaintop and then get out on your first outing in the playoffs. That’ll be a failure. No doubt about that. Marcus Freeman’s first game of the 2025 season may just be his hardest against Mario Cristobal’s team. Win that, and ride the momentum. The USC game may be challenging, especially considering the Irish are facing the potential risk of losing out on their traditional rivalry game with the Trojans.

USC-Notre Dame’s future stands at a crossroads

USC vs. Notre Dame has been the one to keep fans hooked over the years. But recently, as per reports, the Trojans started to push back for a long-term contract as long as they don’t get confirmation over the number of automatic qualifiers to the Big 10. It can prove detrimental to the future of the iconic rivalry.

The media has now doubled down on the Trojans HC, accusing him of ‘chickening out.’ However, a Notre Dame insider thinks that Riley is doing nothing but giving the USC management a taste of their own medicine for kicking them out of the Pac-12.

In a May 23 video of Locked On College Football, Tyler Wojciak shared the potential reason for this impasse. “I think they made the decision to leave the Pac-12 to go to the Big 10 without considering his opinion. Maybe they just did it without even telling him. Maybe he found out, like the rest of us, that they just made that decision. And I think that he was upset by that.” It will be interesting to see how the situation pans out down the road.