With the Notre Dame Fighting Irish entering into the offseason, it's time to sit back and take a look at how the 2025 offense did in comparison to this unit a season ago. For some, myself included, this is a relatively bittersweet topic, especially since this season ended so abruptly and resulted in Notre Dame missing the playoffs by one spot.

With that being said, it's possible to take a step forward as a program without yielding the overall result we longed to see this team achieve back in August. Let's look at the Irish offense from this season, see where they improved from a season ago as well as the areas that have room for improvement heading into 2026. 

2025 Offensive Statistical Overview

One thing to keep in mind with some of these comparisons is that Notre Dame played 16 games a season ago and only played 12 this season. Taking that into consideration, this offense took a massive step forward in several different areas. They finished the 2025 regular season averaging 42.0 points per game which ranked 4th overall in the country. Last season, they finished averaging 36.1 points per game which ranked 10th overall. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock improved and already Top 10 unit from a season prior. 

Notre Dame scored 40 points or more in six of their 12 games. In five of those six games, they scored 49 or more points. This was a much more efficient offense this season averaging 7.3 yards per play which ranked 3rd nationally. Last season, they finished averaging 6.3 yards per play (No. 27); a one yard increase in average yards per play is a massive increase and it showed in their total yardage output. This past regular season, Notre Dame averaged 458.5 yards per game (No. 18) while last season they averaged 399.1 yards per game (No. 55). 

This was also a much more explosive offense than the one we saw last season. In 2024, Notre Dame had 34 plays of 30 yards or more in 16 games; that ranked 17th in the country when the season was over. This year, Notre Dame finished the regular season with 40 plays of 30 yards or more which ranked 4th in the country. This offense also finished the regular season ranked 3rd in the country in total touchdowns with 70 while last season, they finished with 76 total touchdowns in 16 games played. 

We also saw significant improvement in the pass game. Behind redshirt freshman CJ Carr, this offense averaged 255.1 passing yards per game (No. 39), 9.5 yards per attempt (No. 4), 14.1 yards per completion (No. 9) and 25 total passing touchdowns (No. 26). In 2024, Notre Dame finished their 16-game stint averaging 198.1 passing yards per game (No. 101), 7.1 yards per attempt (No. 79), 10.7 yards per completion and 24 total passing touchdowns (No. 42). They did all of this while not taking a step back in the run game, and in some areas, improved. 

Notre Dame ranked 17th in the country this season in rushing yards per game (203.4) compared to finishing 19th in the country in rushing yards per game (200.4) in 2024. Last season, they finished with 45 total rushing touchdowns in 16 games which ranked 3rd in the country. If you average out what they did this season, 38 rushing touchdowns in 12 games, over 16 games the offense would have finished with over 50 rushing touchdowns.

Despite losing a very mobile and elusive quarterback in Riley Leonard, the offense gave up significantly less sacks this season as well. In 16 games in 2024, the offense gave up 25 sacks which ranked 62nd in the country. This season, they only allowed 12 sacks throughout the regular season which ranked 11th in the country. They also drastically improved on their 3rd down conversion rate; in 2024, they converted 41.3 percent of their 3rd down attempts. This season, they converted 48.2 percent of their 3rd down attempts. This offense took a major step forward in many directions and have a lot of core pieces returning in 2025. But that doesn't mean there isn't another level they can't reach. 

As exceptional of a job as this offense did this season, there are still some areas that need some work if they aspire to reach their full potential in 2026. In some ways, this offense took a step back situationally. Head coach Marcus Freeman developed an extremely aggressive identity and while that remained on 4th down this season, it was significantly less effective than it was in 2024. This year, Notre Dame converted on 4th down 54.8 percent of the time which ranked 69th in the country. Last season, they converted 73.3 percent of their 4th down attempts which ranked 8th in the country at the end of the season. 

The red zone offense also took a step back from last season, which isn't all that great considering they finished 2024 with the 89th best red zone offense in the country. This season, they finished ranked 120th in red zone scoring, however, the kicking woes in both seasons played a major factor. They also finished slightly below their touchdown scoring percentage in the red zone (70.9 percent) than they did in 2024 (71.7 percent). 

Notre Dame's offense has an exceptionally strong foundation heading into this offseason and did a lot of great things this season. This is the first season since 1966 that the Irish won at least nine regular season games and beat all nine or more of those opponents by double digits. If they can improve situationally, this offense will be one of the best in the country next season. 

-------

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook