Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 11, 2025 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ CJ Carr rubbed his left forearm before a snap in the first quarter, changing the play at the line of scrimmage. Good things tend to happen when he does that. The redshirt freshman quarterback saw single- high man coverage and checked into a slot fade to redshirt senior wide receiver Will Pauling. What happened next was almost inevitable. Carr threw a perfect pass that Pauling snagged for a touchdown, his second with the Irish. Carr completed 15 of 23 passes for 189 yards (8.2 yards per attempt) with 2 touchdowns. His favorite target was once again junior wide receiver Jordan Faison, who caught 6 passes for 83 yards. However, he left some meat on the bone when he missed Pauling on fourth-and-8 on what would have been a wide-open touchdown. That and multiple drive-killing penalties (holding and offensive pass interference) in the third quar- ter take this grade out of the A range, but it was still a solid day for Carr and company. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: A- BGI counted five missed tackles on redshirt ju- nior running back Jadarian Price's 49-yard touch- down run. He and junior Jeremiyah Love ran 24 times for 186 yards (7.8 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. Carr added 3 carries for 25 yards, proving to be a crafty if occasionally reluctant runner. Notre Dame's offensive line played well against an aggressive and tougher-than-you-think defen- sive front, helping create six explosive run plays of 15 yards or more. In contrast to Price's touchdown, the nasty interior offensive line made sure no one even came close to Love on his 4-yard score. Docking this grade are 5 tackles for loss for Boise State, as well as a goal-line stand for the Broncos when Love was stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. It would be too harsh to say the Irish can be feast or famine against a strong de- fense, but limiting negative plays is definitely an area they can improve. Still, that feels like nitpicking with the way this unit is rolling. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A It's hard to overstate the difference a healthy Leonard Moore makes — and according to Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, he wasn't even 100 percent healthy. In his return from a high-ankle sprain that cost him two games, Moore picked off Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen twice. The Irish intercepted Madsen 4 times, and it probably should have been 5 if not for a question- able roughing the passer call on redshirt junior de- fensive tackle Jason Onye. Madsen only managed 5.8 yards per attempt, and the Irish sacked him 4 times as well. Notably, 3.5 of those sacks came from linebackers, with each of the four fixtures notching at least 0.5. Freeman expressed displeasure after the game with Madsen escaping the rush and scrambling for gains of 6, 9 and 10 yards, but the Irish did a nice job of containing him before that. This looked like a return to the aggressive, opportunistic Notre Dame defenses of years' past. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: A- Notre Dame would have liked to be better on third-and-short, and backfield penetration (zero tackles for loss) isn't ideal. But limiting explosive plays is the name of the game against Boise State, and the Broncos gained more than 10 yards on a run play only once all game. Boise's three running backs totaled just 78 yards on 19 carries (4.1 yards per carry), and the eye test agreed with the numbers. Notre Dame's lineback- ers played downhill against Boise State more than they have in the past, and its defensive linemen held their gaps well. Perhaps no play was more indicative of Notre Dame's effort than when redshirt senior defensive end Jordan Botelho said "BAM" and knocked Bron- cos running back Malik Sherrod to the ground so fast that it looked like he bounced off it and kept running in real time. The Irish beat the Broncos physically, and the visitors couldn't sustain drives as a result. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: C- With redshirt senior Noah Burnette's hip injury flaring up, true freshman Erik Schmidt had field goal duties — for a time. Schmidt's first point-after try was blocked; the protection was fine, but he didn't kick it high enough. As a result, he was benched for junior Marcello Diomede. Notre Dame also showed a lack of con- fidence in Schmidt and Diomede when it chose to go for it on fourth-and-8 from the Boise State 28-yard line. Later in the first quarter, Faison muffed a punt and was fortunate to recover his own mishap. The Irish avoid the D range because they didn't put themselves at risk of losing the game, but it was not a banner day for special teams coordinator Marty Biagi's unit. NOTRE DAME COACHING: B+ As poorly as this game was officiated — and it was officiated really, really poorly — many of Notre Dame's 11 penalties for 112 yards were warranted. False starting on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line can't happen, and neither can needless defen- sive holding on third-and-long. Still, the Irish were strong across the board against Boise State. You'll notice that Notre Dame's "only" 21-point margin wasn't the result of one individual unit; it was just a mistake here and a missed opportunity there. It's also a credit to the coaching staff that the Irish didn't let any one setback snowball into something more, and even when they trailed late in the second quarter, it never felt like they were in real danger. Most importantly, though, this was defensive co- ordinator Chris Ash's best game in terms of draw- ing up pressures that actually got home. Notre Dame can build on that. REPORT CARD BY JACK SOBLE The Irish ground attack produced 200 yards and 2 touchdowns on 31 carries (6.5 yards per attempt), with redshirt junior running back Jadarian Price contributing 83 yards on just 8 carries. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER