Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538217
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2025 5 M a rc u s Fre e m a n 's done a lot in his first three years a s No t re Da m e 's h ea d coach. But he hasn't ever had to make a decision like the impending one that will shape the course o f t h e Fi g h t i n g I r i s h 's 2025 season. And, perhaps, beyond. Yeah, he had to name a starting quarterback ahead of the 2022 sea- son. But everyone knew it would be Tyler Buchner. He had the edge over Drew Pyne as soon as Jack Coan stepped off campus. Even before then, really. When Coan's performance required a momen- tary benching at Virginia Tech in 2021, it was the true freshman Buchner who replaced him in Blacksburg. Not Pyne. In both seasons since then, Free- man's QB1 was all but set in stone in the winter, many months before kickoff. Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard were brought to South Bend to start every single game of their final year as a col- lege quarterback, and they did — minus Hartman opting out of the Sun Bowl because, well, yeah. No surprise there. What also shouldn't be a surprise if it is to occur — Notre Dame being held back by the quarterback position this fall. So, as big of a choice is it for Freeman to make, naming either Kenny Minchey or CJ Carr the starter for the season opener at Miami, we've got to brace ourselves for what might transpire no matter which direction he decides to go. It's very possible quarterback play costs Notre Dame a game or two. Such was the case in 2022 with both Buchner and Pyne. The former lost his first two career starts at Ohio State and at home against Marshall. The latter went 8-2 after Buchner was bounced late in the game against the Thundering Herd with a shoulder injury that kept him out until December. One of Pyne's two defeats was against 3-9 Stanford. Buchner and Pyne were both first- year starters. They looked that part of- ten, even when Buchner was named Ga- tor Bowl MVP for totaling 5 touchdowns despite throwing 3 interceptions. Two of those were returned for defensive touchdowns. It's widely believed that Minchey and Carr both possess higher ceilings than Buchner and Pyne. So, there's less worry about the potential for mind- numbing losses like the ones to Marshall and Stanford. But bad things come in threes, so you've got to include North- ern Illinois in that category. And that defeat came with a veteran like Leonard running the operation. It just goes to show — nobody is com- pletely infallible. Bad things can come in fours and fives, too. Minchey and Carr are susceptible to struggle in the same way their most recent Notre Dame starting quarterback predecessors were. What's unsettling about that for Irish fans — and for Freeman, if he ever spent any time quizzing himself over an un- certain future (he's made it clear time and again he does not) — is that the rest of the roster looks like a national cham- pionship unit. The Irish have the best running back room in the country per plenty of people, former football standouts such as David Pollack and Ryan Clark included. The of- fensive line is far more experienced now than it was last year, and that group was a Joe Moore Award semifinalist. Of- fensive coordinator Mike Denbrock is alerting us to Eli Raridon being the next great Notre Dame tight end. T h e se co n d a ry i s a s stout as any, led by a safety in Adon Shuler who started all 16 games last season and an All-Amer- ica cornerback in Leonard Moore who many perceive to be the best at what he does in college football. The front seven? It's mean and nasty and loaded with stoppers who aren't afraid to get down and dirty. It just all won't matter as much if the quarterback doesn't pull his weight. If the first game of the season was July 31, not Aug. 31, Notre Dame would have been in trouble in that regard. Carr threw 3 interceptions that day, the first of fall camp. Minchey threw a bad one too. Explosive plays were missing and sec- ond-guessing was aplenty. It was all told a shaky session for the two, to say the least. There's time yet for it to get better, and it probably will. Just how much bet- ter, though, is the question. And will Freeman land on the right guy? If he doesn't, and Notre Dame loses one or both of its first two games against its toughest two opponents of the season, a year with so much promise can all of a sudden look like a waste. That says nothing about the future, which is still bright for the reasons al- ready laid out and the inevitable im- provement of the young quarterbacks. Just keep in mind even Brady Quinn threw 15 interceptions as a freshman and 10 as a sophomore. There's no such thing as easing into a college career as a starting quarterback. If you're expecting a Notre Dame football ride void of turbulence this year, you're viewing it wrong. ✦ Notre Dame quarterbacks CJ Carr (13) and Kenny Minchey (8), neither of whom have ever started a college game, are pivotal pieces who hold so much of the direction of the Fighting Irish's 2025 season in their hands. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Don't Be Surprised If The Irish Struggle At QB In 2025 Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA