Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman seem to be working hard to gain momentum into the 2025 season. The Fighting Irish have a new-look roster and high expectations again following a successful 14-2 season last year, and they are among the top few teams with playoff aspirations. But, analyst Josh Pate is not buying the hype.
In a recent episode of The Josh Pate College Football Show, Pate presented a cautiously optimistic evaluation of what lies ahead for Notre Dame. Regardless of all the publicity surrounding the back-to-back playoff hopes of Freeman, Pate pointed out his major doubts.
In particular, the unproven starting quarterback CJ Carr, a front-loaded schedule, and depth issues in some areas are likely to complicate the path of Notre Dame, as per Pate.
Pate also implied that Carr will be put to the test very early in the season. This is due to Notre Dame getting two high level opponents early, Miami in week one and Texas A&M in week three. He said:
“CJ Carr, the good news is that he is not a rookie. He is just a first-time starter. He’s been there for a year, though. He’s going to be pressed early. (1:18)
“The Secondary, are they still at the level they were? Notre Dame’s got good players back, but they lost [Xavier] Watts and [Benjamin] Morris.”
“They could be good this year, they could be elite this year… It’s all in the range of outcomes,” Josh Pate added, referencing the offensive line’s critical role.” (1:28)
After the Hurricanes and Aggies, the Irish will take on Arkansas, Boise State, and USC, all before the middle of October. It is a blistering assault course of games that does not give much time to develop.
Josh Pate Predicts an Undefeated Regular Season for Marcus Freeman’s Team
The Irish bring back one of the top running back tandems in college football with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. They are also deemed to have a deep linebacking corps, but they will look to fill the gaps left by two pillars of last year, Benjamin Morrison and Xavier Watts.
Josh Pate sees an undefeated regular season, 12-0, as the best-case scenario for Notre Dame. On the other side, 7-5 would be the worst possible record, as per him. The predictive model that the analyst came up with landed on an estimate of 9-3, a good season, but not title-winning.
South Bend is a high-stakes town. The talent is evident, the coaching staff is in good faith, and the ambition of the program is evident. The Irish will have to get CJ Carr to live up to the hype, and they have to do it quickly.
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