Historic College Football Program Has One Glaring Concern Entering 2026 Season

The 2025 college football season was a disappointing one for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

After playing for a national championship in 2024, the team started 2025 with a 0-2 record, losing by a combined four points to the Miami Hurricanes and the Texas A&M Aggies. Notre Dame would rally and win 10 straight games, but that wasn't good enough to make the College Football Playoff.

Now they are hoping to return to the College Football Playoff and this time take home the trophy at the end of the season. Some obvious things are going well for them. For starters, the Fighting Irish return the most production in college football at 72%, according to ESPN.

Quarterback CJ Carr is back after throwing for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions last season.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) runs with the football. | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Although they retain many key players, they also lose standout running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Both have declared for the NFL and were the only two running backs selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

On3's J.D. PicKell ranks the Fighting Irish No. 5 in the country, but does admit that he's worried about how Notre Dame replaces those two superstar running backs.

"I think Notre Dame is probably the most explainable team in college football," PicKell said.

"No. 1 in returning production, lost two games by two plays a year ago. Bring back a quarterback that is thought to be the Heisman Trophy front runner... the reason why they're at five for me and not any higher is I am trusting that that run game is going to be awesome yet again in 26. With that being said, don't we kind of have to account for the fact that you lost your best playmaker in Jeremiah Love and Jarian Price a year ago?"

The reality is that the Fighting Irish have built a program that should get the benefit of the doubt. They almost always have a very good offensive line and typically have a strong running game. Notre Dame has had six straight seasons with a player rushing for at least 900 yards. In five of those seasons, a player has surpassed 1,000 yards.

So, there aren't many certainties in life, but Notre Dame having a good rushing attack certainly feels like one of them. Now, the issue for them is the Fighting Irish aren't just replacing one, but two elite players. Aneyas Williams is expected to get the nod.

But he's rushed for less than 500 yards in two seasons. Still, he averaged an incredible 9.3 yards per carry last season.

So, while the worries about Notre Dame are fair, it certainly feels like a program built to withstand this glaring concern.

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