Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 9 UNDER THE DOME ACC Finalizes Notre Dame's 2025 Schedule The 2025 Notre Dame football schedule is set. All that was left to do prior to its finalization Jan. 27? Finding a 12th opponent and slotting the Fighting Irish's games against ACC opponents into the calendar. Two birds, one stone in the ACC's schedule reveal show. Notre Dame's 2025 regular- season finale will be against Stanford Nov. 29. That's the opponent that was not yet named on the Irish schedule prior to Jan. 27. This year is the 100th anniversary of the rivalry, which has since been commemorated as the Battle for the Legends Trophy. The ACC also set in stone dates for Notre Dame's games against other teams from the conference (see accompany- ing chart). — Tyler Horka TERRY HANRATTY NAMED TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025 The school with the most representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame is add- ing another at the end of this year. Former Notre Dame quar- terback Terry Hanratty is set to become the 56th Fighting Irish rep in the hall when he's of- ficially inducted in an awards ceremony in Las Vegas on Dec. 9, 2025. The news of Hanratty's selection went out on Jan. 15. Hanratty was Notre Dame's starting quarterback during the Irish's 1966 national champion- ship-winning season. He was a consensus All-American in 1968. Hanratty left South Bend holding multiple program pass- ing records at the time of his departure — completions (304), passing yards (4,152) and pass- ing touchdowns (27). He was quite a dual-threat talent, too. He finished his career with 586 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Hanratty was among the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting in all three of his seasons as Notre Dame's starting signal caller, finishing eighth in 1966, 10th in 1967 and third in 1968. Hanratty was a second-round NFL Draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. The Butler, Pa., native won two Super Bowls with the Steelers, cap- ping the 1974 and 1975 seasons with championships. Hanratty finished his professional career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. — Tyler Horka 2025 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (2024 Record) Aug. 31 at Miami (Fla.) (10-3) Sept. 6 Bye Sept. 13 Texas A&M (8-5) Sept. 20 Purdue (1-11) Sept. 27 at Arkansas (7-6) Oct. 4 Boise State (12-2) Oct. 11 NC State (6-7) Oct. 18 USC (7-6) Oct. 25 Bye Nov. 1 at Boston College (7-6) Nov. 8 Navy (10-3) Nov. 15 at Pitt (7-6) Nov. 22 Syracuse (10-3) Nov. 29 at Stanford (3-9) NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL LEGEND JOHN SHUMATE DIES AT 72 One of the best to ever do it in a Notre Dame men's basketball jersey passed away at the age of 72 on Feb. 3. John Shumate suited up for the Irish from 1971-74 and was inducted into the ring of honor inside Purcell Pavilion on Dec. 11, 2022. Shumate was a consensus All-American as a senior. That was after battling a blood clot and a viral infection around his heart that caused him to lose nearly 50 pounds as a sophomore. In his final two seasons after overcoming his ailments, Shumate averaged 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. S h u m a t e 's c a r e e r shooting percentage of 61.0 is still the best mark in Notre Dame men's basketball his- tory. He's still eighth in program history in points scored in a single season (703) and fifth in single-season shooting percentage (62.7). Shumate will long be remembered for scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the Irish's upset of No. 1 UCLA that ended an 88-game winning streak for the Bruins on Jan. 19, 1974. Shumate averaged a tournament- best 28.7 points in three March Madness games later that spring. — Tyler Horka Hanratty, Notre Dame's starting quarterback during the Irish's 1966 national championship-winning sea- son, is set to become the 56th Fighting Irish representative in the College Football Hall of Fame. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS NOTRE DAME ANNOUNCES DATE FOR 2025 BLUE-GOLD GAME Notre Dame's annual Blue-Gold Game has a date and time for the 94th edition: 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 12. It will be broad- cast on Peacock. The Blue Team will take on the Gold Team in the culmination of spring practice at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, as the calendar flips from the 2024-25 season to the 2025-26 season. The Irish had not announced a date for the start of spring practice as of early February, but it typically begins in the early portion of March. Last year, the Blue Team won 28-21 thanks in large part to 17 com- pletions on 25 attempts for 228 yards (9.12 yards per attempt) with 2 touchdowns from quarterback Steve Angeli. The junior out of Or- adell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic completed a 62-yard touchdown pass to graduate student wide receiver Kris Mitchell for the decisive score. Angeli, now a rising senior, will be one of the headliners this season as well. He's expected to compete with rising sophomore CJ Carr for Notre Dame's starting quarterback job in 2025. Carr played for both teams in the Blue-Gold Game last sea- son, combining for 15 completions on 23 attempts for 165 yards (7.2 yards per attempt) with a touchdown. Rising junior Kenny Minchey, then a sophomore, also played well. He threw 19 times and completed 12 passes for 123 yards (6.5 yards per attempt), a touchdown and an interception while rushing 6 times for 40 yards and an additional score. — Jack Soble Shumate averaged 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game in his final two seasons at Notre Dame. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS