Dec 20, 2024; Notre Dame, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs against Indiana Hoosiers linebacker Rolijah Hardy (21) during the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

The Most Important Week of Notre Dame's 2025 Football Season

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated May 8, 2025 12:36 PM ET

Notre Dame's first two games set the stage

Notre Dame's schedule is not overly challenging in 2025. It is, though, front-loaded.

While this would always be something to monitor entering a season, breaking in a new starting quarterback with such a tough early schedule is certainly something legitimate to worry about.

How will he adjust? Is the game moving too fast for him? How much of the playbook can he be trusted with? These are all questions Notre Dame will have little time to answer in 2025 with a season opener in Miami against the rival Hurricanes, only to be followed up after an off-week with a rematch with Mike Elko and his sure-to-be-improved in year two Aggies.

These two games, the first two career starts for whoever wins the temporarily paused QB battle, will set the tone for what the 2025 Irish season will feel and look like.

Week 1 non-conference games in 2025:

Alabama at Florida State
Auburn at Baylor
Georgia Tech at Colorado
LSU at Clemson
Nebraska vs. Cincinnati (Kansas City, MO)
Notre Dame at Miami FL
South Carolina vs. Va. Tech (Atlanta)
Syracuse vs. Tennessee (Atlanta)
TCU at North Carolina…
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) January 2, 2025

The week in-between Miami and Texas A&M will be huge for Irish program

Leading into the Miami game, Notre Dame will have all of August to prepare its new quarterback for competition and to ready the team for whatever the staff believes the Hurricanes will throw at them. What happens the week after this game, when Notre Dame does not play, could determine if the team is in line to host another playoff game, or watch the playoffs from home.

Either way the Miami game goes, how Notre Dame handles the off-week is critical.

If it beats Miami in week one, is the program mature enough to not get full of itself and fully prepare mentally and physically for Texas A&M?

And if the Irish were to lose to Miami, will the team count itself down and out and let 0-1 quickly turn into 0-2, or rise from the ashes like it did after the NIU debacle in 2024?

Marcus Freeman is developing a good feel for the game as a head coach, I believe he will be able to communicate the proper message he feels his team needs to hear to be in the right physical and mental space for this key window of games, but this is a fine needle to thread with a new QB under center, indeed.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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