Notre Dame is starting 0-2 in football for only the 10th time in their 126-year history. Some seasons ended in disaster, but others flew above their early-season mishaps. Here is a look at every time the Irish started with back-to-back losses.
1887
Notre Dame began their climb into national prominence from the very bottom. 1887 marked the first time the school competed in a football game. Even then, the sport was a far cry from what it is today. Prior to the program’s inaugural game against Michigan, the Wolverine players taught the Notre Dame team how to play the sport. Captain Henry Luhn led the team in lieu of a head coach.
The game against Michigan was overcome by frigid cold weather and melting snow seeping into the ground. After just thirty minutes, the game was called. Michigan won 8-0. Notre Dame would play two rematches in the spring and lost both. Despite the 0-3 record, it was a year that changed the course of the University’s history.
1896
On paper, Notre Dame’s 1896 season was a clear improvement from previous years. The program played more games than ever before, shut out four opponents and finished 4-3. However, those wins came after two early-season losses.
Notre Dame opened the season with a 4-0 loss against the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons. The Chicago Tribune wrote an article the next day titled “DOCTORS DEFEAT NOTRE DAME.” Six days after their initial defeat, Notre Dame lost 18-0 to the University of Chicago. The Maroons played 18 games in 1896, and they clearly proved to be the more experienced side.
1963
Notre Dame fell 14-9 to No. 6 Wisconsin at home and 7-6 to Purdue on the road to open the 1963 season. Those two stinging losses set the tone for one of the worst seasons in Notre Dame Football history. The Irish went on to record a dreary 2-7 record, ending with transitionary head coach Hugh Devore making way for Ara Parseghian. The following year, the Irish finished No. 3 in the country and John Huarte became the sixth Notre Dame player to win the Heisman.
1978
Off the back of the 1977 national championship, head coach Dan Devine and quarterback Joe Montana had high hopes for the 1978 season. However, the Irish were upset at home by Missouri in week one in a low-scoring 3-0 affair. Unlike the wintry games of old, this one resembled a sauna, as the sun burned down on South Bend at 94 degrees. It was the first time in 132 games that Notre Dame suffered a shutout.
Strikingly similar to the recent loss against Texas A&M, the Irish mishandled a late kick, though in 1978 it was a field goal rather than a PAT. Also similar to the 2025 season, the team had a bye week before losing their next game. In 1978, that game was a 28-14 loss to Michigan.
Something clicked following that game. The Irish went on to notch eight consecutive wins before losing 27-25 on the road at No. 3 USC. They proceeded to beat No. 9 Houston in the famous “Chicken Soup Game”, where the Irish pulled off their largest comeback ever, 22 points, to win 35-34 in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
1986
Lou Holtz’s first season in 1986 endured growing pains, but it laid the foundation for the 1988 team that won the national championship. The 1986 Irish’s first game of the season was a 24-23 loss at home to No. 3 Michigan. In a game pundits and fans alike were expecting the Irish to be thrashed, Notre Dame held their own. At the end of the game, the team received an ovation as they left the field.
A week later, Notre Dame lost to Michigan State. They would go on to lose two games in a row twice more, the first batch against No. 2 Alabama and Pittsburgh and the second later in the season to No. 3 Penn State and No. 8 LSU. The season did end on a joyful note, as the Irish came back from a 17-point deficit and took down No. 17 USC, 38-37. Notre Dame ended the season 5-6.
2001
The 2001 season was one of Notre Dame’s worst in program history, perhaps because of the expectations surrounding the team. Eerily similar to the present-day team, the 2000 team had a great season and enthusiasm was high headed into the new year. Contrary to the 2025 squad, the 2001 Irish struggled to generate offense. The team lost to No. 4 Nebraska, Michigan State and Texas A&M in their first three games. They generated a combined 23 points in those losses.
The Irish did find their form in the next slate of games, beating Pitt, West Virginia and USC in a three-game homestand. They ultimately ended the season 5-6. Upon the conclusion of the season, head coach Bob Davie was fired.
2007
This was arguably the worst season in the team's history. The Irish opened the season 0-5, and their closest loss in that stretch was by two touchdowns. The first two games were against Georgia Tech at home and away at No. 14 Penn State.
Led by Charlie Weis, the team was hurt by the loss of 2006 Maxwell Award–winner Brady Quinn. The Irish limped to a 3-9 record, dropping all three of their games against ranked opponents and falling to military outlets Navy and Air Force in back-to-back weeks.
2011
Ranked No. 16 headed into their week one clash against South Florida, there was plenty of reason to be excited for Brian Kelly’s second season in South Bend. Those hopes were deflated when the Irish crumbled to the Bulls 23-20 at home. They lost to Michigan 35-31 at the “Big House” in week two.
What followed from there was a stretch of eight wins in nine games. The Irish eventually snuck back into the AP top 25 by late November, but they slid out of the rankings once more after losing their final two games.
The 2011 season provided valuable experience for many members of the 2012 team that soared to the National Championship, including the likes of Manti Te’o, Zack Martin and Tyler Eifert.
2022
Marcus Freeman’s first three games in charge, starting with the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, were something of a nightmare. After falling to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s, the No. 5 Irish started the 2022 season with a valiant 21-10 loss to CJ Stroud and No. 2 Ohio State. However, they then suffered a cataclysmic 26-21 drumming by Marshall. Ranked No. 8 at the time, the Irish fell completely out of the rankings.
They eventually rebounded, highlighted by a 35-14 home win over No. 4 Clemson. The Irish ended the season as Gator Bowl Champions with a 9-4 record. Tyler Buchner was named the game’s MVP, throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns.
