Former athletic director Jack Swarbrick believed that the 12-team playoff would benefit his program by improving its chances at the postseason and providing an opportunity to host a playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. Experiencing the third-year magic felt by many Notre Dame coaches before him, head coach Marcus Freeman did just that, leading his group to the National Championship game for the first time since 2013. After falling short against his alma mater, Ohio State, in the title, Notre Dame finished the 2024-25 season with a 14-2 record.
A defining early-season stretch
The Irish undoubtedly had the season opener marked in their calendars: a trip to College Station, where over 100,000 Texas A&M faithful would pack Kyle Field for the Saturday night matchup. After weeks of questions surrounding an inexperienced offensive line, Notre Dame came in and shut down the Aggies while doing just enough offensively to eke out a 23-13 victory. At that point, it was the greatest win of the Freeman era.
In his first two seasons at the helm, Freeman endured devastating losses. The win against Texas A&M felt to many like a turning point. However, fewer than seven days later, Notre Dame fell to Northern Illinois in one of the most stunning upsets in program history.
“You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the tale of two weeks,” Freeman said after the game. “We’ve been here before. Now it’s time to get it fixed.”
What Freeman had shown through his first two seasons was the ability of his teams to respond to adversity. One week later, on the road against Purdue, his group once again came up with a response, overwhelming the Boilermakers from start to finish in a 66-7 drubbing. However, with aspirations of hosting a playoff game in December, the Irish needed to do much more than beat a 1-11 Purdue team. With a second loss almost surely eliminating them from the 12-team field entirely, they needed to be perfect.
Notre Dame returned home in week four to face another Mid-American Conference opponent in Miami (OH), whom they defeated 28-3. The win set the stage for a crucial matchup against then-No. 15-ranked Louisville. A loss would end the season before October, leaving ample time for some tough conversations. Surviving several mistakes in the chaotic clash, Notre Dame pulled out a pivotal win. The Irish were fueled by the playmaking of graduate safety Xavier Watts, who nabbed his second interception of the season and broke up a fourth-down pass to crush the Cardinals’ comeback attempt.
Taking care of business
On paper, the Irish would be clear favorites in each of their remaining seven games. Go 7-0 in those games, and the dream of hosting a playoff game would become a reality. But while Freeman’s team had shown resilience in the past, they struggled to handle success. Could this group win the games it needed to win?
Flash forward to the end of the regular season, and the answer was a resounding yes. Notre Dame would put together a nine-game winning streak to finish the year at 11-1, outscoring opponents 316-86 on the run. They decimated Stanford 49-7 before handling a formidable Georgia Tech team in a 31-13 victory a week later. Navy stood no match for the Irish, who forced a whopping six turnovers in the 51-14 win. They then came out of the second bye week to crush a dejected Florida State team 52-3.
The road was not without obstacles, however. To that point, defensive injuries were mounting, as junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison suffered a hip injury after the Stanford game, joining graduate defensive tackle Jordan Botelho and sophomore edge rusher Boubacar Traore on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. After a 35-14 win over Virginia, the Irish prepared to face an undefeated Army team the following week, still without graduate defensive lineman Howard Cross III, who remained with a left ankle sprain from the Florida State game. They rose to the challenge, however, producing a blowout 49-14 win and setting up a win-and-in game against USC. But despite a disappointing season, the Trojans came to play, putting up more points on the Irish defense than any other opponent. But as they drove to tie the game late in the fourth, sophomore cornerback Christian Gray caught and returned an interception 99 yards to the house. Watts secured another pick and took it the length of the field on the ensuing drive, punching Notre Dame’s ticket to the CFP.
The two turnovers put an exclamation mark on an incredible season from defensive coordinator Al Golden’s unit. It finished first in turnovers forced, first in pass efficiency defense and third in points allowed. The Irish started to find their footing on the other side of the ball as well. Albeit against light competition, the group put up 39.8 points per game, which ranked third nationally. Leonard came into his own as the year went on, forming one of the most dynamic backfields in the country alongside sophomore Jeremiyah Love and junior Jadaraian Price. The three-headed monster combined for 2,321 yards and 36 touchdowns on the ground, with Love riding a 12-game streak of games with a rushing touchdown. He would go on to break the program record with his 13th straight against Indiana.
A magical run
The stage was set in South Bend for the first-ever College Football Playoff game played on a college campus. After a deflected interception on their first offensive drive gave Indiana great field position, two plays completely flipped the momentum. Watts picked off a pass at the two-yard line before Love busted a 98-yard touchdown run on the following play. From there, Notre Dame never surrendered control, leading by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter. Indiana did some window-dressing with a pair of late touchdowns, making the final score 27-17.
The first real test awaited Notre Dame in the next round, as it prepared to face SEC champion Georgia. As they had all season, the Irish dominated the middle eight, turning a tie game into a commanding lead in the span of a few plays. After graduate kicker Jeter knocked in a 48-yarder, graduate edge rusher RJ Oben forced a strip-sack fumble to take the ball right back. Starting at the 13-yard line, Leonard wasted no time taking advantage, as he connected with graduate wide receiver Beaux Collins in the end zone. To open up the second half, graduate wide receiver Jayden Harrison took the kickoff from his two-yard line all the way to the house, extending the Irish lead to 20-3. Their defense continued to suffocate Georgia, closing out the game with a 23-13 victory to set up a semifinal matchup with Penn State.
The Irish were outmatched in the first 30, falling down 10-0 after a statement 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive by the Nittany Lions with a few minutes left in the half. Then, an unlikely hero emerged. Junior quarterback Steve Angeli, filling in for the banged-up Leonard, led a field goal drive to put the first Notre Dame points on the board before the break. The second half was full of fireworks, with both teams trading scores until the Nittany Lions took the ball with the game tied at 24 and 47 seconds remaining. That’s when Gray came up with the biggest interception of his career, and maybe Notre Dame football history.
“To be honest with you I really didn’t think about anything after I caught the ball,” Gray said. “I just knew I was just blessed and I just felt God over me after I caught the ball.”
After killing the rest of the clock, Jeter had a kick from 41 yards to win the game and take the Irish to the National Championship. He nailed it.
Decimated by a long list of injuries, with graduate defensive tackle Rylie Mills added to the list after going down against Indiana, the Irish ran out of gas against Ohio State. After a gutsy opening drive touchdown that drained 9:45 from the clock, Notre Dame gave up 31 unanswered points. They launched a furious comeback in the third and fourth quarters, cutting the lead to eight and forcing a 3rd-and-11 on a drive that had to be a stop to keep the game alive. However, the Buckeyes iced it on that very play when Will Howard hit superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith on a sideline shot for the first down. Despite the valiant effort, the Irish fell 34-23, ending their season at 14-2.
While it was without a fairytale ending, the 2024-25 season will be an unforgettable one for the Notre Dame faithful. Losing Al Golden and multiple defensive stalwarts next season won’t be easy. Neither will losing starting quarterback Riley Leonard. With that said, head coach Marcus Freeman has cemented himself as the man for this job and has shown what his team is capable of achieving.
“The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high,” Freeman said to close his postgame press conference after Ohio State. “As long as the people in that locker room that come back understand what it takes, the work these guys have put in, there’s a lot of success in our future.”
