Blue and Gold Illustrated

45-4 Oct. 4, 2025 Arkansas

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

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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 4, 2025 31 E very time the Notre Dame kickoff unit flew down the field in coverage, running from south to north at Razor- back Stadium, the Fighting Irish took the long way back to their sideline. They ran through the end zone and waved their arms in the air toward the high- est concentration of their sup- porters seated in the northeast corner of the venue amongst the 75,111 in attendance. They made that detour a lot. That's what happens when you score 8 touchdowns for the second consecutive game. The kick coverage team gets a lot of run. That run — the literal south-north nature of it — is an embodiment for what Notre Dame's season has done in the last two weeks; a 180 from the doldrums of an 0-2 start — let's call that the south — to the im- plausible reality of putting up 112 points in a two-game span. Let's call that the north. The Irish are on a heater. That didn't seem likely in the slightest after they lost to Texas A&M in Week 3. That night, the Notre Dame defense was exposed in the worst way. The Irish offense was good, but a special teams touchdown was required just to keep pace with the high-flying Aggies. Admittedly, Notre Dame left points on the board. When that becomes a trend, it can be difficult for teams to break out of the bad habit and get into the good habit of finishing drives with points. Preferably, seven. It hasn't been a trend, and hardly anything has been difficult. Not for this Notre Dame offense. In demolitions of Purdue and Arkansas — OK, not the stingiest of foes, but still — the Irish have shown they truly have one of the best, most well-balanced offenses in all of college football. And because of that, they're going to be in every single game they have on the schedule be- tween now and the regular season finale at Stanford. Seriously, who's slowing this Notre Dame team down? Who even wants to try to slow this Notre Dame team down? Offensive coordinator Mike Den- brock's side of the ball is humming. Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr isn't just good for his age and relative inexperience. He's good — great, even — period. He's throwing the ball to a group of pass catchers that's as productive as Notre Dame has had in a long while. Since when have the Irish had a wide receiver duo that's as uncomfortable for opposing secondaries to cover as Jordan Faison and Malachi Fields? Since when have the No. 3 and 4 wideouts in the pecking order been as talented Jaden Greathouse and Will Pauling? Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both caught touchdown passes against Arkansas. Actually, Love had 2 touchdown catches. He had 2 on the ground as well. Price ran one in himself. Count up their scores. Yeah, six of them. Just like the previous game versus Purdue. Who has a better 1-2 — er, 1A and 1A; not even 1A and 1B — tailback tandem in college football? Nobody. Penn State, your retorts have been cute. But they've been proven patently untrue. Notre Dame actually has what you think you have. Even the Notre Dame of- fensive line has completely rebounded from a poor Week 1 showing at Miami and has been a much different unit ever since. In the last two games in particular, it's been Joe Moore Award-worthy in terms of the level of collective play, five across the line. Carr's had all day to throw on just about ev- ery one of his drop backs, and paths are being paved for Love and Price to display their supe- rior prowess. Senior tight end Eli Raridon is a weapon as a receiver and a blocker, and Arkansas trans- fer Ty Washington is especially effective with everything that goes into being the latter. He was out to knock the socks off of play- ers wearing the same jersey as the one he used to put on, and many times he was successful in doing so. Know your role and do it well. Washington does. So many from this Notre Dame offense do. Riding an elite defense all the way to the national championship game was fun and felt secure. Relying on an of- fense to rattle off a 10-game winning streak feels much less stable, but if there are no hiccups along the way and what we've seen lately is really what we're going to see the rest of the season, then why not embrace it? Why not accept that maybe it's the other side of the ball that's Notre Dame's best? To be elite and there in the end, at least one phase of your game has to do some heavy lifting. It's the Notre Dame offense that's taken on that responsibility this year, and it's OK to lean into that. Put your faith in Denbrock and Co. Right now, they definitely deserve it. ✦ Redshirt senior wide receiver Will Pauling, who scored his first touchdown in an Irish uniform versus Arkansas, is part of an arsenal of offensive weap- ons at Notre Dame's disposal. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Notre Dame's Offense Is One Of The Best In America 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

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