Notre Dame Must Improve In These Areas vs Syracuse and Stanford

The Irish look like a playoff team, but with fatal flaws that have to be fixed over the next two games.

Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman (middle) leads the team onto the field to play the Pittsburgh Panthers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Notre Dame looks like a CFP-worthy team

As of now, after 10 football games of the 2025 season, the CFP committee believes that Notre Dame is one of the best 12 teams in the country, despite having two painful losses on the ledger. With just two games to go, the Irish have a unique mission ahead of them.

I don't believe that simply winning against Syracuse and Stanford will be good enough for anyone's standard. Notre Dame must impress in these final two games against 3-7 teams. The Irish cannot afford to win but look sloppy doing so to the point where the CFP committee rethinks Notre Dame's position in the bracket.

An ideal finish for the Irish would be to notch two blowout wins and show some improvement in areas that need major improvement before CFP play, where winning margins are thin and any weakness gets exposed.

No matter how you spin it, Jeremiyah Love is the best player in the country ☘️#GoIrish☘️ | @JeremiyahLove pic.twitter.com/JnqIX2hSfe

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 20, 2025

Notre Dame must improve its red zone efficiency

For years, Irish fans have been clamoring for a Notre Dame offense that could be dangerous through the run and pass game. This year, Notre Dame has that combination.

Between Jeremiyah Love, JD Price and the run game, combined with Carr's arms and receivers like Malachi Fields, Will Pauling, and Jordan Faison, Notre Dame's offense has been very dangerous and has averaged 38.5 PPG.

Despite this new look offense that at times can move the ball at will, the Irish have not been effective this year where it matters most, in the red zone. For the season, the Irish have a redzone touchdown rate of 74.5%, good for a rank of 123rd out of 136 teams.

More specifically, in the last four games, Notre Dame's red zone touchdown percentage rate is a lowly 62.5%, with touchdowns being scored on just 10/16 red zone trips.

Notre Dame has been fortunate to win all of its games since the first two despite this major flaw, but if the Irish hope to make a deep CFP run, this percentage must improve greatly. These final two games against bad teams should provide the perfect opportunity to build some much-needed confidence in this area.

Notre Dame's kicking game is shaky

Another area where Notre Dame is woefully deficient that could become costly in a CFP game is the field goal kicking. Noah Burnette, the starting kicker, has battled injuries most of the season, and his backups have not fared well.

On the season, the Irish have made just 55.6% of field goal attempts, ranking Notre Dame at 119th out of 136 in the nation. For comparison, there are a handful of teams that have not missed a single field goal all season. Perhaps in the final two ballgames, Notre Dame can gain some confidence in this area heading into the postseason?

The reality is that this Notre Dame team is very good. It could very well go on another deep CFP run. But I could also see a lack of scoring in the red zone and the inability to rely on field goals burning the Irish in the CFP as well. There's always room for improvement, and Syracuse and Stanford should provide this opportunity.