Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NUMBERS AND QUOTES BY STEVE DOWNEY UNDER THE DOME 5th Ever college football game to played at historic Lambeau Field, which opened in 1957, will fea- ture Notre Dame versus Wisconsin in the 2026 Shamrock Series. The Irish — who will be the home team — will face the Badgers at the home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Sept. 6. Lambeau Field is named after Curly Lambeau, who was a Notre Dame football player more than 100 years ago. He played for head coach Knute Rockne in Rockne's first season with the Irish. The last matchup between college teams at Lambeau was Wisconsin versus LSU in 2016. Prior to that, Division III St. Norbert faced Fordham there in 1982 and 1983, and Mankato State in 1960. The matchup between the Irish and Badgers was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed and moved back several years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notre Dame defeated Wisconsin 41-13 in a Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2021. The Irish have never lost a Shamrock Series game dating back to the inception of them in 2009. They're 12-0 with five ranked wins. Last year, they beat Army 49-14 at Yankee Stadium. Marcus Freeman is elite. He showed that last year, beating and outcoaching James Franklin in the crunch at the Orange Bowl. … And he nearly pulled it off against Ohio State. He has done more with less talent than anybody in college football. Even though this team has seri- ous question marks, they have a difficult schedule, opening against Miami (Fla.), I think he will find a way to mold them and push back into the playoffs and maybe a decent run." — ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum No. 5 Was Notre Dame's ranking in ESPN's future power rankings, which examine the next two seasons and function as a snapshot of the landscape. Teams are evaluated in the following categories: return- ing quarterback, likelihood of a multiyear QB on roster, offensive line/defensive line outlook, roster management, star power (All-Americans, national award contenders, all- conference contenders) and coaching staff. Only Texas (No. 1), Ohio State (No. 2), Georgia (No. 3) and Oregon (No. 4) were ranked ahead of the Irish, who were No. 7 in last year's edition of these rankings. Marcus Freeman proved last season that Notre Dame is built for success in the expanded College Football Playoff. Despite being the only independent program among the sport's top-tier jobs — and not quite matching the TV revenue of its SEC and Big Ten counterparts — resources aren't a concern in South Bend. Freeman has followed Brian Kelly's national recruiting model, and the Irish should remain an annual playoff threat given how their schedule typically compares to their roster strength." — Brad Crawford of CBS Sports 6th Is where CBS Sports slotted Notre Dame on its list of college football's best coaching jobs. In determining which programs were best equipped to win big over the next decade, five factors were used in determin- ing a cumulative score for the nation's featured jobs: recruiting (high school, transfer portal), resources (NIL, donors, TV revenue, talent pool (geographical significance), administrative edge, executable expec- tations. Each of those categories was assigned a sub- jective number grade 1-5 with '1' being the lowest classification and '5' being elite. Here are the results based on the average rating in all the categories: DIAMOND TIER (4.4+) Rk. School Rating 1. Texas 4.8 LSU 4.8 3. Ohio State 4.6 4. Georgia 4.4 Alabama 4.4 ELITE TIER (4.0+) Rk. School Rating 6. Notre Dame 4.2 7. Michigan 4.0 Oregon 4.0 Southern Cal 4.0 Oklahoma 4.0 Penn State 4.0 Texas A&M 4.0 Fields was very productive across his past two seasons at Virginia, leading all returning Power Four receiv- ers in receiving yards (1,619). He's a big-bodied receiver at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds who is tied for 15th among FBS receivers since 2023 with 23 contested catches. He put up with a bad quarterback situation with the Cavaliers, as Virginia fin- ished just 117th in PFF passing grade this past season (59.7). "Fields should be one of the favorite targets for Notre Dame's next quar- terback in 2025." — Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus 800 800 Or more yards receiving for incoming wide receiver transfer MALACHI FIELDS in each of his past two seasons at Virginia. He caught 58 passes for 811 yards and 5 touch- downs in 2023, and then had 55 receptions for 808 yards and 5 scores in 2024. Fields was listed as the No. 9 wide receiver and No. 29 overall player in the On3 transfer portal rankings. Only six Irish wide receivers in pro- gram history have put together consecu- tive seasons with at least 800 yards re- ceiving: Tim Brown in 1986 (910 yards) and 1987 (846), Derrick Mayes in 1994 (847) and 1995 (881), Jeff Samardzija in 2005 (1,249) and 2006 (1,017), Golden Tate in 2008 (1,080) and 2009 (1,496), Michael Floyd in 2010 (1,025) and 2011 (1,147), and Will Fuller in 2014 (1,094) and 2015 (1,258). PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER