Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Win A College Football Playoff Game By Tyler Horka There were two years in a three-year stretch when Notre Dame was the "we can make the College Football Playoff but we can't win a College Football Playoff game" program. And that was when the CFP was comprised of a four-team field. Now, the CFP is made up of 12 teams. And just a year ago, Notre Dame was one of those 12 teams. Then one of eight teams. Then one of four teams. Then one of two teams. The Fighting Irish won three CFP games. Not winning one a season after getting all the way to the national championship game would sting. Obviously, the goal for the Irish every year is to win it all. But it would be unfair to place "national title or bust" expectations on a first-year starting quarterback, be it CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey. That said, Carr and Minchey should both be good enough to guide the Irish to not just a playoff berth but a playoff victory. There are a few avenues to notching a playoff win. You can be a No. 5 through No. 8 seed and win a game at home. You can be a No. 9 through No. 12 seed and win a game on the road. Or you can earn a first-round bye and win a neutral-site bowl game. Whatever seed the Irish earn, they just need to win the game that comes with it to keep proving they're not the Irish of old on the grand stage. Don't make the CFP at all, meanwhile? Yeah, that'd be a major disappointment. Need To Make The College Football Playoff By Tyler James Following a successful third season that ended with a loss in the national championship game, head coach Marcus Free- man has raised the reasonable expectations for Notre Dame football. The success of a sea- son moving forward in the era of an expanded playoff field requires an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Exactly how success- ful the season was will be dictated on how far the Irish can advance in the playoff. Those stakes might seem high, but that's life as a college football powerhouse looking for the sustained glory that was established long ago. The way Notre Dame has recruited high school prospects and transfer portal players under Freeman should give the Irish the talent necessary to make the playoff again this season. The Irish do have their share of question marks going into this season, but they're surrounded by known quantities to make the transition easier. That's abundantly clear at quarterback, where the Irish will have a first-time starter. But Notre Dame has a talented backfield, an experienced offensive line and intriguing potential at wide receiver that will raise the expectations for sophomore CJ Carr or junior Kenny Minchey. At least one win in the playoff would make the season more successful, but I think it's easy to deem the season a success with a first-round loss in the playoff if it's clear the future remains bright at the quarterback position. If the Irish have a future star leading the offense into 2026, an early playoff loss will be seen as a building block. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHAT'S THE BASELINE FOR A SUCCESSFUL NOTRE DAME SEASON? Former Northern Arizona forward Carson Towt didn't have a very complicated transfer portal recruitment. After several schools — including Iowa, Baylor, Xavier and Washington State — reached out to Towt, he decided to make his first visit to Notre Dame. The trip went so well that he committed to the Irish on the spot and ended his recruiting process in April. Towt, who led Division I with 12.4 rebounds per game last season at NAU, officially joined the Notre Dame men's basketball program in June as a graduate transfer and quickly started to ac- climate to his new team. Blue & Gold Illustrated recently caught up with Towt to discuss the start of his Irish career. BGI: What's the key to being a great rebounder? Towt: "Just doing your job every time. My old head coach, Shane Burcar at Northern Arizona, love the dude. He used to say it's like cold calling in sales. … You might make 1,000 calls, and if you get three sales, you might be leading the week. You might be leading the whole department. "Offensive rebounding and rebounding in gen- eral is the same. You gotta hit a big body every time. You might get five. You might get lucky and get 10, 12. But if you do your job every time, and back to what you can control is that effort and attention, then it kind of takes care of itself." BGI: How would describe your game and what do you bring to this team? Towt: "I pride myself on doing the little things, dirty work no one wants to do. … Playing that role is a skill. So, I pride myself on that. I pride myself on being an energy guy, a culture guy, a leader. I'm just doing my best to help the guys, help the team, help the squad, help the school." BGI: How much of an emphasis has been on building a defensive identity this summer? Towt: "It's been a big emphasis of ours. The energy, the connectedness, the passion. Coach [Jon] Sanderson's done a great job in the weight room, too, just kind of creating a fighting culture. Fighting Irish. Fight on three. We're boxing once a week. We're learning to fight. "We're doing things to really toughen and sharpen our edge. Defense is that. You gotta fight. It's not fun to play defense. It's dirty. It's gritty." BGI: How have you found yourself fitting in? Towt: "I know it was a pretty fluid transition with all the dudes. They're all just great dudes, great staff. It's a big family vibe here. "All my people back home ask me how it is out here and how it's going. I'm like, 'It's a big family. It's a big family that works hard and we have fun doing it.' We've got a vision, and we're gonna go execute it." BGI: What is that vision? Towt: "The tournament. We're gonna make a run in that tournament. That's what we work for every day. That's why we stack moments and lay bricks. That's what we're doing right now in the summer." — Tyler James Five Questions With … NEW NOTRE DAME FORWARD CARSON TOWT Towt brings a prolific rebounding skill set to Notre Dame after developing his game in four healthy seasons across six years at Northern Arizona. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS