Notre Dame football decided to put up video game numbers against Arkansas in Week 5 of the 2025-26 season. The final score was 56-13 in favor of the Irish and we’re getting to see this year’s team really come into form. I never felt confident saying what this team would look like going, especially not […]
Notre Dame football decided to put up video game numbers against Arkansas in Week 5 of the 2025-26 season. The final score was 56-13 in favor of the Irish and we’re getting to see this year’s team really come into form. I never felt confident saying what this team would look like going, especially not accomplish, heading into this season. I think at this point we’re seeing a pretty special identity. It looks different from what we observed during last season’s historical run but if things keep going in this direction it’s going to be a pretty fun squad to watch through the stretch.
But let’s focus on this week’s stats for now.
Scoring Context
The Irish continue to rack up points at a crazy rate. They hit 56 points against Purdue and matched that number against the Razorbacks. An important shift this week was that the differential improved from +26 to +43. Winning a game by 26 points is nothing to sneeze at but +43 hits just a bit differently.
Total Offense Context
Notre Dame’s offensive stats made it seem like they were playing Arkansas on against Arkansas made it look like they were playing on Freshman level. The offense tallied up 641 yards overall and averaged 8.9 yards per play. I’m not foolish enough to expect this kind of output every game, because reality, but the offense has obviously found its way.
Passing Context
CJ Carr is the real deal. Within his first four games as a college starter he’s changed the way we think and talk about Irish quarterbacks in a major way. And a big contributor to that is he’s put up veteran numbers against two top ten teams and a flawed but still SEC defense.
In total, Irish passers completed 24 of their 32 attempts for a 75% completion rate. The team hit a season high 431 yards through the air and also nabbed four passing touchdowns. Carr completed 22 of his 30 attempts and accounted for 354 of the total yards and all four of the TD passes.
The Receivers
The Carr-Faison connection appears to be getting stronger with every game. Elusive speedster Faison logged seven receptions and 89 yards with an average of 12.7 yards per reception. Malachi Fields was #2 in terms of total yardage. He finished the Arkansas game with three catches for 723 yards.
Jeremiyah Love continues to be a major contributor on the receiving side of things. He pulled in five catches for 70 yards but most importantly two receiving touchdowns. Fellow running back Jadarian Price finished with one catch for a receiving touchdown.
And Will Pauling had some of his biggest moments so far in an Irish jersey. He caught three passes for 53 yards and one touchdown.
Rushing Context
There were a lot of concerns about Notre Dame’s rushing attack during the season opener. Turns out that they were all pretty unwarranted. The Irish’s rushing stable logged 40 attempts against the Razorbacks and translated that into 210 yards and four touchdowns.
The Rushers
Jadarian Price was Notre Dame’s leading rusher against Arkansas. Price finished the game with 13 carries for 86 yards and one touchdown. Jeremiyah Love was the best running back from an overall perspective but was #2 on the ground. He tallied up 14 carries for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Aneyas Williams logged two carries and got a late touchdown on the ground.
Defense: Passing Context
Arkansas completed 17 of its 32 attempts for a 53% completion rate. That translated into only 207 yards, similar to Miami (FL)’s 205 yards during Week 1. It was the lowest QBR, 101.2, for an opposing quarterback through Week 5 of 2025-26 play. It wasn’t always the prettiest product to watch but the Irish secondary is definitely going down a much better path.
Defense: Rushing Context
This is one area where the stats end up being a bit misleading. The Notre Dame defense have up a season high 158 rushing yards against Arkansas. And the Razorbacks averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Quarterback Taylen Green finished the game with 81 yards on the ground. Their #2 in the rushing stats table was running back Mike Washington Jr. who only logged 63 yards on the ground, though. It was nowhere near as bad of a day for Notre Dame’s rush defense as the numbers make it seem at the high-level.
Defense: Impactful Plays
Notre Dame’s defense continues to trend in the right direction when it comes to impactful plays. The team finished with three sacks and three tackles for loss, which were all spread across Boubacar Traore (DL), Jordan Botelho (DL), and Jaylen Sneed (LB). And while he doesn’t show up prominently in the stats, defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio was a major force up front.
Junior safety Luke Talich pulled down Notre Dame’s sole interception against Arkansas. Overall, the defense had five pass deflections spread across five players.
Final Thoughts
I think something really cool is happening with Notre Dame football.
Marcus Freeman and company were tasked with rebuilding from scratch in a lot of key areas during the offseason.
Starting a redshirt freshman quarterback, instead of bringing in a transfer was a big thing. Although it’s turning out to not have been much of a gamble at all given the way CJ Carr is developing. Similar things could be said on the defensive side of the ball.
If you’re only reality is National Championship or bust, given those two factors alone your were almost destined to be disappointed. But four games into the season, we’re seeing the continued development of a program that we can be excited about, regardless of what this particular postseason’s results end up being.
Category: General Sports
