Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 SEPT. 27, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA N otre Dame has a vetting pro- cess it turns to when cipher- ing through the transfer portal looking for prospects to add to the following season's Fighting Irish ros- ter. And if it were a test, Malachi Fields would have aced it with flying colors. "I knew he was going to be a great locker room guy," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "He's been unbelievable. He comes into work every day, works his tail off." It goes beyond the locker room, too. A two-year starter and four-year wide receiver at Virginia, Fields did all he could in Charlottesville. His time there had simply run its course. The Cavaliers went 17-29 while he was on the UVA roster. Even back-to-back 800-yard receiving seasons from Fields couldn't save the Cavs from compiling just eight wins against 16 losses in his last two seasons in the Commonwealth. He needed a fresh start. He needed a happy ending. So, he came to Notre Dame. "Once I started my visiting and re- cruiting process after getting in the por- tal, it's just a special place," Fields said. "Getting up here on the visit and just talking to the coaches, talking to some of the guys, it's just different." The unique buzz in South Bend this time of year hits even more intensely when the Fighting Irish are winning. And through two games of the 2025 sea- son, they were not. They lost at Miami, 27-24, in the season opener, and versus Texas A&M, 41-40, in the home opener. Much like it was for him at Virginia, it wasn't Fields' fault. He amassed 8 recep- tions for 125 yards in the pair of defeats. At that rate yardage-wise, he was on pace to become Notre Dame's first 800-yard wide receiver in a single season (includ- ing a potential bowl game) since Kevin Austin Jr. in 2021. In a 12-game regular season, he was on track for 750 yards. That type of production is paramount for an offense quarterbacked by a first- time starter in redshirt freshman CJ Carr. The idea is as they continue to learn each other's game-day tenden- cies and jell within the Irish offense, the numbers will tick upward even more. A LOT TO LIKE Virginia transfer Malachi Fields has a chance to be Notre Dame's most productive wide receiver in quite some time