Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 27, 2025 9 UNDER THE DOME 1st Team since 1988 to stay in the Associated Press Top 25 with an 0-2 record is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish lost their first two games against ranked opponents by a total of just four points — 27-24 at then-No. 10 Miami Aug. 31 and 41-40 to then-No. 16 Texas A&M in South Bend Sept. 13. The Irish started the season at No. 6, dropped to No. 8 after the loss to the Hurricanes and then fell to No. 24 following the last-second defeat at the hands of the Aggies. The last school to achieve the feat was Michigan. The Wolverines entered the 1988 season at No. 9 and lost to No. 13 Notre Dame 19-17, dropped to No. 15 and then lost 31-30 at No. 1 Miami. Michigan was No. 19 the follow- ing week and went 9-0-1 the rest of the way to finish at No. 4 in the AP poll. Other teams that started 0-2 and stayed in the rankings were 1984 Auburn, 1958 SMU, 1949 Missouri and 1948 Purdue. 2 Catches for 41 yards for Notre Dame junior wide receiver Jaden Great- house in the first two games of this season. In the final two games of the 2024 campaign, against Penn State and Ohio State in the College Football Playoff, Greathouse had 13 catches for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns. 3 Times since the turn of the century Notre Dame has faced multiple SEC opponents in the same season. The Irish did it last year in playing Texas A&M and Georgia. They also did it in 2017 against Georgia and LSU. Before then, it had been since 1997 that the Irish took on two SEC squads in the same season. 9.4 Million viewers for the Texas A&M-Notre Dame game Sept. 13. It was the Fighting Irish's most-watched NBC home opener since facing Michigan in 2018. 20.2 Yards per reception for senior tight end ELI RARIDON in his first two games of 2025. Rari- don had 9 catches for 182 yards against Miami and Texas A&M. Prior to accumulating those statistics, he had 16 catches for 141 yards in his career. Through Week 3, Raridon led all FBS tight ends with 91.0 receiving yards per game. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said Raridon would be the next great Fighting Irish tight end by the end of this season, and he laid a good founda- tion to live up to that in the early going. .667 All-time winning percentage for Notre Dame against teams that were in the SEC at the time of kickoff, according to Mcubed. net. The Fighting Irish's record in that scenario, dating back to a 1938 game against Georgia Tech, formerly of the SEC, is 38-19. The 19th loss was this year's Week 3 game against Texas A&M. 79.2 Completion percentage for opposing Notre Dame quarter- backs against zone defense in the first two games of the season, per Sports Info Solutions. That's up from 60.1 for the Irish de- fense last year. Furthermore, the Irish gave up 137.5 passing yards per game in zone defense versus Miami and Texas A&M. That average was 59.6 yards per game last season. 87.3 Pro Football Fo- cus passing grade for Notre Dame redshirt freshman quar- terback CJ Carr on throws 20-plus yards downfield in his first two career starts. For reference, he had grades of 70.2 be- tween 10 and 19 yards, 60.3 between 0 and 9 yards and 60.5 behind the line of scrimmage. One of Carr's best abilities is throwing deep down the field. 103rd National rank for the Fighting Irish in pass efficiency defense through Week 3. Notre Dame was the No. 1 team in the country in that statistical category in two consecutive seasons in 2023 and '24. Miami's Carson Beck and Texas A&M's Marcel Reed averaged a passer rating of 142.78 against the Irish. Opposing passers had a rating of 97.09 versus Notre Dame in 2023 and 104.4 in 2024. 133rd National rank for Notre Dame in sacks per game through Week 3. The Fighting Irish had only 1 sack as a team in games against Miami and Texas A&M. In 2024, the Irish ranked 37th nation- ally in sacks per game with 2.50. — Tyler Horka ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER