Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi during Notre Dame Spring Practice on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at Irish Athletics Center in South Bend, Indiana. Ncaa Foorball 2023 Notre Dame Spring Practice John Mersits / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame Football Stat of the Day: A Spot Where Irish Improvement Feels Inevitable

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 10:05 AM ET

As the countdown to Notre Dame vs. Miami continues, we're doing something new here at Notre Dame on SI.

In preparation for the season, we're taking time each day to look at a statistic or combination of statistics relevant to the upcoming Notre Dame football season. Sometimes it'll be offense-related, other times defense, and yes, we'll dive into special teams as well.

We'll also keep a running list of links for each Stat of the Day before the season kicks off on August 31 on South Beach.

Notre Dame Stat of the Day for August 9, 2025:

55.6%

As in, Notre Dame made just 55.6%, 15 of 27 to be exact, in field goal attempts in 2024. As strong as the team was and special teams specifically, the field goal kicking game left more than a little to be desired.

The why behind those numbers certainly matters, though, because they happened for a reason. Starting placekicker Mitch Jeter was brought in from South Carolina and came up huge in the win at Texas A&M. A lower-body injury kept him from being anywhere near 100% the majority of the season, as he made just 13 of 21 field goal attempts.

That said, he got healthy at the right time and came up in the College Football Playoff. He drilled a kick to make it a two-touchdown lead before halftime against Indiana, made two field goals to get Notre Dame an early lead against Georgia, and of course hit the game-winner to eliminate Penn State.

What Changes for Notre Dame's Kicking Game in 2025?

Notre Dame dipped back into the transfer portal for another kicker, this time snagging Noah Brunette from North Carolina.

Brunette was part of North Carolina's 2020 recruiting class and saw his first game action for the Tar Heels in 2022. For his college career, Brunette has hit 79% of his field goal attempts (49 of 62) and is coming off a 2024 season that which he was successful on 15 of 21 tries (71.4%).

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

I'd be lying if I said I looked at Brunette's numbers with the Tar Heels, specifically 2024, and was inspired. I do however, have confidence in Notre Dame's special teams as a whole, starting with unit coach Marty Biagi.

Biagi gets deserved praise for his creativity in all areas of special teams, but he was the coach that oversaw Jeter's improvement by the time the College Football Playoff rolled around last year. Nothing is a guarantee in college football, but statistically, Notre Dame should see a significantly better field goal unit this fall.

Now let's just hope instead of settling for three, the offense again makes them kick a lot more points after touchdowns.