Blue and Gold Illustrated

45-3 Sept. 27, 2025 Purdue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539676

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 4 of 55

BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 27, 2025 5 O nly at Notre Dame could you have gotten the follow- ing scenario in Week 3 of the 2025 college football season. With a win versus then-No. 16 Texas A&M, Marcus Freeman would have moved past Steve Sarkisian of Texas for the most ranked victories for any head coach since the start of the 2023 season. Freeman and Sarkisian are currently tied with 10 apiece. With a loss, however, which is what Freeman was so rudely handed by the Aggies in the final minute of a 41-40 barnburner at Notre Dame Stadium, he became the first head coach in Fighting Irish history to begin two sepa- rate seasons with an 0-2 record. No, seriously. The program has had 30 head coaches in its legendary existence. None of them before Freeman were ever 0-2 twice. He's the first one to bear that cross. But again, it hasn't all been bad. Far from it. Heck, Freeman just led the Fighting Irish to a program- record 14 wins and an appearance in the national championship game for the first time since 2012 a season ago. Notre Dame won 13 games in a row, including big postseason victories against No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 Indiana. The Irish truly looked like the sec- ond-best team in the country behind Ohio State. The only team who might've had an argument otherwise was Texas, who lost to the Buckeyes in the national semifinals. And we already know Sarki- sian's Longhorns, like Freeman's Irish, have consistently knocked off teams with a number next to their name in the last two-plus seasons. But here's what Sarkisian and Free- man have in common in addition to their overall prowess in ranked games; they can't seem to win the biggest of them. Sarkisian is 0-4 against Georgia and Ohio State in the last two seasons. Free- man got the Bulldogs off his back in the Sugar Bowl, but he's 0-3 against his alma mater (OSU) since the start of his tenure. Reigning national champions and currently No. 1 in both polls this year, the Buckeyes are the class of the sport. And Freeman has not been able to beat them. He also hasn't been able to beat any- one other than an FCS opponent in a Notre Dame home opener. That's an- other "no, seriously" pill to swallow. In four inaugural games in South Bend, Freeman has a 1-3 record with losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M. The one win came against Ten- nessee State in 2023. That was Notre Dame's first and only game the Irish have ever played against an FCS foe. In spite of the shortcomings, it's probably safe to say Freeman has al- ready asserted himself as one of the 10 best coaches in college football. In the 12-team playoff era, you don't make it all the way to the natty if you aren't any good. But good and great are not the same. Freeman still has to prove his greatness. Greatness is finding a way to get the best of the Buckeyes at least one of those three times. Greatness is finding a way to win at least one, preferably both, of the Irish's first two games of this season at Miami in Week 1 and at home versus Texas A&M in Week 3 following a bye. Great- ness definitely isn't losing to Marshall and Northern Illinois at the House That Rockne Built. Knute wasn't ever 0-2. In fact, he only lost two or more games in the same season twice in his 13 years on the job. Brian Kelly started a season 0-2, though. So did Lou Holtz. In the last five decades, those are the Notre Dame head coaches who have enjoyed the most suc- cess. And even they weren't im- mune to a disaster right out of the chute. They rectified their respective situations, though, and in a hurry. Two years after Holtz went 0-2, Notre Dame won the national championship. One year after Kelly went 0-2, Notre Dame played for the national championship. Again, that's something the Irish just did nine months ago. So Freeman has it in him. But there is a consistency ele- ment he's still trying to hone in on and fully grasp that just isn't all the way there yet. If it was, the Irish wouldn't be winless in mid-September. They wouldn't have had to run the table after losing to Northern Illinois last year just as they need to run the table this year to have any hope of sniffing the CFP come December. Freeman's good. Is he great? Jury is still out. And it'll be out for a while until it's less of three steps forward and one or two steps back and more of always moving forward without hardly ever stepping back. The latter is what the great ones did and do. ✦ Marcus Freeman is now 1-3 with losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M in home openers since taking over as Notre Dame's head coach. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER A Tale Of Two Emotions — Euphoria And Angst 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

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - 45-3 Sept. 27, 2025 Purdue