Scott Warden
Editor-In-Chief
January 14, 2025 // Diocese

Here Come the Irish!

Scott Warden
Editor-In-Chief

Led by Freeman, Notre Dame Eyes First Title Since ’88

For those of a certain age who cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame, the past nearly 40 years of Fighting Irish football has seemed like an endless loop of high expectations followed by bitter disappointment.

Since the University of Notre Dame won its last national championship in 1988 under coach Lou Holtz, the feeling of hope has been a constant tease. Sometimes that hope was justified, and sometimes it was not, and it mattered little who the coach and quarterback were – Jarius Jackson and Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Carlyle Holiday, Charlie Weis and Brady Quinn, Brian Kelly and Tommy Rees, Brian Kelly and DeShone Kizer, Brian Kelly and Ian Book. …

Photos by Chad Ryan
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, quarterback Riley Leonard, center left, and others celebrate the Irish’s Orange Bowl win in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Thursday, January 9. Notre Dame beat Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinal round to advance to the CFP National Championship Game.

It isn’t as if those lofty expectations hadn’t been earned. From the 1920s through the 1980s, Notre Dame had claimed 11 consensus national championships – more than any other school. It was the gold standard in college football. But since then, year after year, Irish fans have had their hopes dashed – shocked that Lucy would pull the football away from Charlie Brown again.

After being ranked No. 7 in the preseason and pulling out a season-opening victory at Texas A&M, expectations were as high as they’d been since Holtz roamed the sideline. And then Lucy pulled the football away again as unranked Northern Illinois stunned the No. 5 Irish in South Bend. Many wondered aloud whether the job was too big for head coach Marcus Freeman.

Notre Dame plays Penn State in the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Photo by Chad Ryan)

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13), Molly McGrath (ESPN)

Embarrassed but undaunted, Freeman and the Irish shook off the loss and rattled off 10 straight regular season victories – all but one by two touchdowns or more – to clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff. Once in the tournament, wins against Indiana and Georgia followed – the latter snapping a 31-year losing streak in major bowl games. It felt like Irish fans could exhale after holding their breath for the better part of three decades. It was Notre Dame’s biggest victory in a generation.

And then, they topped it a week later when Mitch Jeter kicked a 41-yard field goal in the final minute of the Orange Bowl to knock off Penn State and clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

On Monday, January 20, the Irish will face a familiar foe in Ohio State – Freeman’s alma mater, by the way – which beat Notre Dame during the 2022 and 2023 regular seasons. And despite the Irish’s 13-game winning streak, most college football pundits say the Buckeyes are prohibitive favorites to win the national title. Since a loss to Michigan in its regular season finale in November, Ohio State has trounced its three College Football Playoff opponents – Tennessee, Oregon, and Texas.

Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler (8), defensive lineman Bryce Young (30) and cornerback Christian Gray (29) celebrate after Gray intercepted a Penn state pass in front of Nittany Lions wide receiver Omari Evans (5) in the final minute of the Fighting Irish’s 27-24 win in the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Photo by Chad Ryan)

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) dives across the end zone, carrying Penn State safety Jaylen Reed (1) on his legs for a second-half touchdown.

For his part, Freeman has rejected the media’s efforts to make him the center of the story, whether it’s because he’s facing his former college or that he will be the first Black – or Asian – head coach to play in a college football national championship game. As he’s done all season, Freeman has deflected any praise and made sure the credit goes to his players and staff.

After the Orange Bowl victory, Freeman noted that while winning championships will always be the goal at Notre Dame, “There’s more to this university and what it provides for young people,” he said. “It’s a special place that young people get to grow in their faith, they get to grow in community, they get to make connections that are going to help them for the rest of their lives. Every football season, this is the expectation, although we haven’t achieved it. But there’s also a lot of things that this university does for these young people that will carry them throughout the rest of their lives.”

Notre Dame place kicker Mitch Jeter (98) kicks the game-winning field goal in the Fighting Irish’s 27-24 win over Penn State in the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

While Notre Dame fans are praying that Freeman, quarterback Riley Leonard, running back Jeremiyah Love, linebacker Jack Kiser, and the rest of the Irish can lead the program to its first national championship in 36 years, regardless of the outcome against the Buckeyes, this season already feels like victory, and here’s why: Yes, certainly, breaking this championship drought would be a tremendous achievement worthy of celebration, but it isn’t just the lack of a national title that Notre Dame fans have yearned for over the past 30-plus years. No, what Irish fans have been seeking is simple: a team that is competitive with anyone in the country (check) and, equally as important, one that comports itself with the virtues of the institution it represents.

Freeman – and, by extension, his players and staff – embodies these qualities: humility, hard work, intelligence, resilience, selflessness, faithfulness, and more.

In the recent past, the culture of the Notre Dame football program seemed dependent on the number of wins it achieved. Now, suddenly, that formula has flipped, and games are being won because of the culture of integrity Freeman has built.

That, thankfully, is the new gold standard.


College Football Playoff National Championship

Notre Dame (14-1) vs. Ohio State (13-2)

When: Monday, January 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta

Television: ESPN

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