Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 MAY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED No. 6 Was where The Athletic writer Bruce Feldman ranked Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman among his top 25 head coaches in college football. "Freeman has put together a good staff, proven to be a terrific evaluator and grown immeasurably in his job," Feldman said. "Last year, the 39-year-old out-coached a lot of excellent head coaches, including the No. 1 coach on this list [Georgia's Kirby Smart] in the Sugar Bowl." Feldman's colleague Stewart Mandel listed Freeman at No. 10 in his list. "Though he only has a three-year body of work as a head coach, he's one of just eight active coaches who's coached in a national championship game," Mandel said. "To get there required winning 14 games, capped by beating SEC champion Georgia and top-five foe Penn State in the Playoff." UNDER THE DOME NUMBERS AND QUOTES BY STEVE DOWNEY No. 1 Was where ESPN ranked Notre Dame rising junior Jeremiyah Love among all running backs nationally entering the 2025 col- lege football season. Love received eight of 10 first- place votes and finished with 96 points in a poll of ESPN's college football reporters, well ahead of Penn State's dynamic tandem of Nicholas Singleton (82 points) at No. 2 and Kaytron Allen (68) at No. 3. "Love, at 6 feet and 212 pounds, is as effec- tive earning the tough yards, as evidenced by his tackle-breaking touchdown against Penn State in the College Football Playoff, as he is breaking big plays," ESPN's Chris Low noted. "He had eight touchdowns of 30 yards or longer last season. The Irish want to get him the ball even more in 2025, as Love has lined up some as a wide receiver during spring practice. He caught 28 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns in 2024." Most Popular College Football Teams Per The Athletic Rk. Team Points 1. Michigan 67 2. Ohio State 57 3. Alabama 56.5 4. Georgia 55 5. Texas 49.5 6. Penn State 36 7. Tennessee 29.5 8. Notre Dame 28.5 9. LSU 23 10. Texas A&M 12 11. Florida 10.5 12. Oklahoma 10 8th 8th Is where Notre Dame was ranked among the most popular teams in college Football per The Athletic. The media outlet's "unscientific methodology" used nine distinct, quantifiable categories: TV viewership, Google searches, social media, home attendance, StubHub ticket sales, merchandise sales, football revenue, on- line wagering and living alumni. The Fighting Irish earned points in six categories for a total of 28.5 points to finish just behind No. 7 Tennes- see (29.5). The Irish were No. 1 in merchandise sales, No. 4 in football revenue ($141.1 million in 2022-23), No. 5 in Google searches, tied for No. 8 in TV viewer- ship, No. 9 in social media following and No. 10 in StubHub ticket sales. 6 Notre Dame players were among ESPN analyst Matt Miller's projection of all 257 picks three weeks in advance of the 2025 NFL Draft: safety Xavier Watts at No. 41 to the Chicago Bears, cornerback Benjamin Morrison at No. 53 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tight end Mitchell Evans at No. 125 to the Los Angeles Chargers, linebacker Jack Kiser at No. 207 to the New York Jets, edge RJ Oben at No. 224 to the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Riley Leonard at No. 227 San Francisco 49ers. Miller did not have defensive linemen Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills, wide receivers Beaux Collins and Kris Mitchell or defensive back Jordan Clark getting drafted. Each of those players, however, have appeared in other mock drafts. I've seen Steve Angeli thrust into action against a ferocious pass rush in Penn State and one of the best defenses in the country. I saw Steve Angeli go into the lineup and just methodi- cally go right down the field. Accurately carving up a defense. Who's to say Steve Angeli's ceiling, when the real lights are on, isn't outrageously high? … What if, when we fast-forward to this year, Steve Angeli has some awakening? And all of a sudden, he's the second coming of Joe Burrow. "Joe Burrow at Ohio State was just a guy. In his first year at LSU, he was just a guy. Well, Steve Angeli to this point of his career, just a guy. Maybe there's another level in there that we just don't know about." — ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy on his podcast, "Always College Football" At his best, Evans is a legit three-down tight end — a rare thing to find outside of the first two rounds of the draft. He is a sound run-blocker with a particular knack in space, a quar- terback's best friend because of his catch radius and toughness over the middle, and a surprisingly quick mover at 260 pounds. Forgive the helmet comparison, but [former Irish and current Chicago Bears tight end Cole] Kmet seems like a fair expecta- tion for Evans as a league-average starting tight end." — Ben Solak on including Notre Dame tight end MITCHELL EVANS on ESPN's 2025 NFL Draft All-Film team: 11 prospects with upside Notre Dame has been playing the rent-a-quarter- back game for the past few years and it paid off in a big way this past season with Riley Leonard, who led the Irish all the way to the national title game. But head coach Marcus Freeman didn't dip into the portal this year to get an established veteran to take over. Why? Because CJ Carr has been waiting in the wings for this moment. Though Steve Angeli came into the Penn State game in the CFP semifinal and helped Notre Dame win, the job is going to be Carr's." — Ari Wasserman of On3 on who'll win Notre Dame's starting quarterback job PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER