Notre Dame Football Falls to Texas A&M: Hello Pop-Tarts Bowl, Adjusted Expectations

Notre Dame went from being a national championship contender to a program trying to find itself in two games

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the first half of a NCAA football game against Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in South Bend.d | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Perhaps we were all a little over-excited for Notre Dame football entering the 2025 season. Fresh off a national championship appearance, this time things felt different.

Since losing to Northern Illinois in stunning fashion last September, it felt like Notre Dame had turned a corner and grown under Marcus Freeman. Now, just two games into the 2025 season, the feel around all of Notre Dame land has changed, as have the expectations for the Fighting Irish.

College Football Playoff Not Even Worth Worrying About

Can Notre Dame make the College Football Playoff at 10-2?

That seems to be the question many wanted to ask even before Saturday night's loss to Texas A&M, but it's a waste of energy regarding Notre Dame right now. Notre Dame has issues on both sides of the ball that need to be addressed.

How do you generate a pass rush? How do you stop having so many busts and stop allowing huge gains to opponents? How do you expedite the growth of CJ Carr and in turn, hopefully better establish a running game?

Those are the questions worth asking right now because the way things currently are, this Notre Dame squad is bound to lose another few games before season's end, even against a signficantly more favorable schedule to come.

Notre Dame Struggles to Handle Success Under Marcus Freeman

Perhaps this is something I'll further explore this week, but under Marcus Freeman's watch, it feels as if Notre Dame has not been able to handle success well, whatsoever.

Play Ohio State very close despite being a massive underdog in the 2022 opener, only to follow it up with a loss to Marshall. Then go on a bit of a run only to lose at home to a lowly Stanford outfit that same year.

After a solid 3-0 start to 2023, Notre Dame forgot how to count to 11 and lost in the final seconds against Ohio State. To its credit, it bounced back in dramatic fashion a week later to right the ship at Duke, but was blown out of the water at Louisville the week after that as the season would end in the Tony the Tiger Bowl.

2024 started with the massive win at Texas A&M, only to be followed up with a stunning home loss to Northern Illinois. Perhaps that was the wake up call that was needed as Notre Dame looked like a different team all the way to last year's national title appearance, but early returns to 2025 show a program that feels like its living off of last season's success, instead of elevating things like Marcus Freeman always talks about.

Two games in this feels like a team that's realistic expectation should be to earn a berth in the gimmicky Pop-Tarts Bowl, not have a seat in the College Football Playoff.