Notre Dame Fighting Irish had the lowest of the lows last season – a Week 2 home loss to Northern Illinois that had to make even Touchdown Jesus blush – and then followed that up with a series of highs that saw the Fighting Irish stop Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the College Football Playoff before falling short to Ohio State in the national championship.
As the last major independent in college football, Notre Dame doesn’t have to go through the same sort of gauntlet that teams in the Power 4 conferences face, with at least eight games against league foes. As part of their agreement with the ACC to have other sports in that conference, Notre Dame plays six games against ACC teams, but they are not a part of that league’s standings.
This year, their only games against ACC teams that had winning conference records come against Miami and Syracuse. They do finish a home-and-home series with Texas A&M and Purdue this year, and they travel to SEC foe Arkansas while welcoming last year’s MWC champs in Boise State. Four of their opponents won at least 10 games in 2024, and nine either qualified for a bowl game or the College Football Playoff.
Let’s take a look at Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s schedule and break down their expectations as you start to plan your sports betting on college football this year.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2025 Football – What to Expect in Every Game
What is the schedule?
- @ Miami (FL) Hurricanes, Sunday, August 31, 7:30pm ET, ABC
- vs Texas A&M Aggies, Saturday, September 13
- vs Purdue Boilermakers, Saturday, September 20
- @ Arkansas Razorbacks, Saturday, September 27
- vs Boise State Broncos, Saturday, October 4
- vs. N.C. State Wolfpack, Saturday, October 11
- vs USC Trojans, Saturday, October 18
- @ Boston College Eagles, Saturday, November 1
- vs Navy Midshipmen, Saturday, November 8
- @ Pitt Panthers, Saturday, November 15
- vs Syracuse Orange, Saturday, November 22
- @ Stanford Cardinal, Saturday, November 29
Except for the opening game on Labor Day weekend, the kickoff times are all TBA at this point; all we know at this writing is the date of each game, the opponent and the site.
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Where are the games broadcast?
Notre Dame has a unique relationship with NBC, which has broadcast all of the Fighting Irish home games since 1991. The immense fan base that Notre Dame has ensures that NBC will get high ratings, and so the Irish get that national audience when they play at home. Those games generally take place at 3:30 pm Eastern time, although there are times when they play in prime time as well.
Notre Dame’s away game broadcasts will vary depending on the quality of the opponent. I would anticipate their matchup with Arkansas will appear on a national broadcast network or ESPN, while the three road games in November are likely to air on the ACC Network.
^What can we expect from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team?
There are some ways that the Irish could fall off the table in 2025. Defensive coordinator Al Golden is gone, and now Chris Ash takes over. He did extremely well at Ohio State, but when he was the head coach at Rutgers, it didn’t take long for things to fall apart. Al Golden brought elite competence to the position. Chris Ash could as well, but this is a major question mark. Notre Dame has been a defense-first team for some years now, and if they’re going back to the CFP, they can’t regress on this side of the ball.
Quarterback is another major question mark. One feature of the transfer portal era is the movement of elite quarterbacks from one school to another. Consider the trip that Dillon Gabriel took over the course of his college football career – UCF to Oklahoma to Oregon over seven seasons. The Irish didn’t bring a quarterback through the portal this season, which means they’re going to pull someone from within the program to start. The leash on the new signal-caller will be short.
One surprise about last year’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish team was how well their O-line and D-line held up despite the number and severity of injuries that hit both units. However, in the title game against Ohio State, that vulnerability on the offensive line made it difficult for the Irish to move the ball, and the Buckeyes were ultimately able to take advantage. Keeping the lines healthy would help the Irish avoid the problems that Ohio State’s defense was able to cause for them.
^Game 1: at Miami
The Hurricanes had one of the top offenses in college football last year. However, their defense couldn’t get stops. All they had to do was beat Syracuse in their regular-season finale, and while the offense put up 38 points, the defense gave up 42. That knocked the Hurricanes out of an ACC Championship date with SMU – a date that very well could have seen Miami win the conference title as SMU’s conference game jitters opened the door for Clemson to walk away with the championship and the first-round CFP bye.
Quarterback Cam Ward is gone now, likely an early first-round NFL draft pick. Carson Beck transferred in from Georgia, which should instantly make the Hurricanes a preseason top-15 team. We still don’t know what their defense will look like, though. Notre Dame didn’t see Beck in their CFP showdown with Georgia as Beck was on the shelf with a season-ending injury. Will the Notre Dame offense – likely to be led either by rising senior Steve Angeli, rising junior Kenny Minchey, rising sophomore C.J. Carr, or freshman Blake Hebert – have things together enough to keep up with Miami’s high-octane system? Notre Dame to lose.
^Game 2: vs Texas A&M
Last year, the Irish opened the season with an impressive win over the Aggies in College Station. The Aggies could also start 2025 in the top 15 after a successful first year for head coach Mike Elko. They followed that loss to Notre Dame last year with seven wins in a row, including blowout wins over ranked opponents in Missouri and LSU. The Aggies sagged down the stretch with inconsistent quarterback execution, but their defense held seven teams under 21 points.
Even so, if they had been able to beat Texas at home late in the season, they would have made the SEC Championship. They have the offense in the hands of Marcel Reed, but this quarterback needs to elevate his performance from what he delivered against Texas and then against USC in the Las Vegas Bowl. Both of the Aggie tailbacks are back in Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels, and the O-line returns all of the starters except their left guard. Notre Dame to lose.
^Game 3: vs Purdue
Last year, the Irish traveled to West Lafayette and delivered a 66-7 demolition of the Boilermakers, who ended up with a dismal 1-11 season, only the second 11-loss campaign in the history of the program. They have a new head coach in Barry Odom, who led UNLV to their most wins in 40 years and picked up 19 wins in two seasons. Even getting to .500 will be a major step forward for this program, so I see the Irish using Week 3 to get things going in the right direction. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 4: at Arkansas
The Razorbacks only finished 7-6 (3-5 SEC) last year, but that record included an impressive bowl victory over Texas Tech. Another one of those seven wins came against Tennessee when the Volunteers were ranked fourth in the country. Tennessee would eventually advance to the College Football Playoff. The Razorbacks also beat Auburn by 10 on the road – an Auburn team that pushed Alabama to overtime – and beat Mississippi State by 33 on the road.
Their losses to Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M came by a combined 21 points, though, and now they welcome Notre Dame for the first time ever. Head coach Sam Pittman has had the Razorbacks bowl eligible in each of his five seasons in Fayetteville. Bobby Petrino is entering his second year as offensive coordinator, and the team has its starting quarterback back. This will be a tough road environment, but the quality of the Irish system should be enough to get the win against a Razorback team still looking to find consistency at the top level of the game. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 5: vs Boise State
The Broncos went 11-1 last year (7-0 MWC). Their only loss came to Oregon by just three points. They got a bye to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, but their season ended at the Fiesta Bowl, where Penn State stopped the Broncos. Tailback Ashton Jeanty put up historic numbers and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting behind two-way specialist Travis Hunter.
Head coach Spencer Danielson enters his third season and has 15 wins in 18 games as a head coach. The biggest hole in the lineup, of course, is Jeanty, who moves on to the NFL after running for 2,601 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns last year. Jambres Dubar and Sire Gaines will take on the tailback position as a tandem behind returning starting quarterback Maddux Madsen, who threw for more than 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns. Their top receiver, Cameron Camper, has moved on, but tight end Matt Lauter is back along with Latrell Caples, who was the third-most prolific receiver last year. Their O-line returns four starters, but the game-changer for the Broncos was Jeanty. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 6: vs N.C. State
Now things get a bit easier for the Irish. The Wolfpack weren’t one of the top teams in the ACC last year, going just 6-6. They lost to Syracuse by seven and Georgia Tech by 1, but they also got torched by Clemson and Tennessee. They ended up in 10th in the ACC. This is a team on the rise, but they’re still below the Irish. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 7: vs USC
The traditional Notre DAme-USC rivalry is renewed again in Week 7. The Trojans finished 7-6 after an impressive win over Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl. Lincoln Riley’s traditional refusal to install a power conference-level defense is playing out at USC even worse than it did at Notre Dame. They lost to Maryland, Michigan and Minnesota on the road last year, and they will lose to Notre Dame on the road this year. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 8: at Boston College
The turmoil that struck Boston College at quarterback about two-thirds of the way through the 2024 season ultimately undid what could have been a solid season for head coach Bill O’Brien. Thomas Castellanos lost the starting job and ended up leaving the team before the end of the season, and the Eagles never found a way to leverage their mammoth O-line. They lost to Nebraska in the Pinstripe Bowl, 20-15. Their offense is like Notre Dame’s – heavy line play, focus on the running game – but the Irish do it better. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 9: vs Navy
There was a point last season when Army and Navy looked headed to the AAC Championship – and then to their Army-Navy matchup a week later, which would have made for a very unwieldy back-to-back schedule. However, there’s a long distance between the AAC and South Bend. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 10: at Pitt
The Panthers got off to a tremendous start in 2024, but after a loss at SMU, the Panthers never found their way again, losing out from that point on. The Panthers still managed to be bowl eligible after their 7-0 start ended 7-5, but an overtime loss to MAC foes Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl was a disappointing thud at the campaign’s end. Pat Narduzzi is back at head coach. Tailback Desmond Reid and quarterback Eli Holstein are back, but this is a team that has a lot of mental work to do as well. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 11: vs Syracuse
The Orange have a dangerous offense, but much like Miami, their defense is still very much a work in progress. This might be one of the most dangerous games for Notre Dame the entire season as fatigue down the stretch could make this much more interesting than it needs to be. Notre Dame to win.
^Game 12: at Stanford
This isn’t the Stanford of the Jim Harbaugh days by any means. They finished 3-9 (2-6 ACC) last season, and while they pushed some teams hard, they couldn’t finish much. The Cardinal will get up for this rivalry, but that enthusiasm won’t last long. Notre Dame to win.
^Final record: 10-2
Will this get the Irish to the CFP? It will depend on how other teams in the Power 4 fare. Those two early losses won’t hurt as much because they came early, but it will also depend on how Miami and Texas A&M play through the season.
^Almost camp season ☘️
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) March 5, 2025
Sign up for Notre Dame Football camp today ➡️ https://t.co/mfLuBqSj6s #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/qDo0HIGMTD
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Schedule 2025
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