How Notre Dame's 2025 Football Schedule Could Impact the Quarterback Race

Notre Dame opens the 2025 season at Miami before hosting Texas A&M

Nov 11, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame football quarterbacks (from left to right) Riley Leonard, Kenny Minchey, Steve Angeli, Anthony Rezac and CJ Carr watch in the first half of the basketball game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Buffalo Bulls at the Purcell Pavilion. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Notre Dame football returns a ton of talent in 2025 from a team that reached last season's national championship game.

Although a plethora of talent returns, the race at quarterback will be the biggest thing for Fighting Irish fans to keep their eyes on until opening night in Miami on August 31.

Speaking of Miami, is that Week 1 opponent a factor in Notre Dame's quarterback derby?

Notre Dame Football: 2025 QB1 Candidates

Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli (18) throws the ball during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The race for starting quarterback at Notre Dame in 2025 appears to be three-headed as we await spring football.

This piece isn't necessarily to preview all the quarterbacks - we'll have pieces up on each individual instead, but more so if a certain aspect of Notre Dame's 2025 schedule could determine the starting quarterback.

That said, the three expected to be in the QB race are senior Steve Angeli, who brings the most experience to the race. Junior Kenny Minchey, who saw action in the Purdue game last season, and sophomore CJ Carr, who is one of Notre Dame's highest rated quarterback recruits in recent years.

Notre Dame's Open to 2025 Football Schedule

Nov 11, 2017; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback DeeJay Dallas (13) dives into the end zone to score a touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium. | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Notre Dame's 2025 schedule starts with a bang as a probable top 10 matchup starts the year in Miami.

That's followed by an off week before the home opener against Texas A&M, who will also likely be a top 20 team to start the year.

Purdue gives an anticipated easier date in the third game but a trip to Arkansas (who beat Tennessee, a CFP team last year) and home date with Boise State by the first week of October is no easy stretch.

Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr have combined to throw three passes in their college careers so does Notre Dame's tough start to the 2025 slate have any impact on the starting quarterback race?

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought:

If anything, the difficult schedule to start 2025 likely gives Angeli a slight edge but that edge only comes into account if everything else is even.

Angeli showed heroics on the biggest stage, leading a scoring drive just before halftime of the Orange Bowl that helped changed the entire outlook of the national semifinal game against Penn State.

That said, he also had a fumble on that drive that easily could have been recovered by Penn State and the magical story could have had anything but a fairytale end.

In all, the tough slate to start may be a factor in the race, but at the end of the day it'll come down to a lot more than just a difficult road game to start the year to determine Notre Dame's starting quarterback.

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