‘Diamond-in-the rough’ ‘Notre Dame’ has late-morning game time at Arkansas; Marcus Freeman looking like the right man for the head coaching job
#22 ‘Notre Dame’ Fighting Irish (1-2) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-2)
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, AR
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, 11 a.m. CT
ABC, Sirius XM 129, ‘Notre Dame’ Football Radio
[PDF 86pp] ‘Notre Dame’ game notes
The Fighting Irish road game with Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville is scheduled for 11 a.m. local time — 12 noon ET, 11 CT, 10 MT, 9 PT, Saturday, Sept. 27. [click here for ‘Notre Dame’ media game notes, an 86-page PDF]
ABC is broadcasting the game on live national television.
‘Notre Dame’ Football Radio offers the game on Sirius XM 129, various radio affiliates and live streaming audio.
Among others, ABC Sports’ cable affiliate ESPN will offer a live online “gamecast” showing play-by-play and cumulative stats, accompanied by a live box score.
In his initial “bird’s eye view” early in the week, Marcus Freeman said Arkansas had a top-5 offense and a solid defense.
That would seem to promise a weakness-on-strength match-up challenging a still rebuilding Irish defense, with a few key injuries in the secondary.
Particularly concerning is big dual-threat Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green, who leads the country in total offense. Green threw for 325 yards and ran for 53 last week against Memphis.
If Arkansas can get its offense rolling, that might mean a “track meet” with an increasingly explosive Irish offense trying to outpace the Razorbacks with scoring.
Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price are increasingly regarded as the best running back tandem in college football, and both are looking more and more like NFL running backs, combining flash, speed and true tailback moves with aggressive running into the teeth of opposing defenses keying on them.
Fourth-semester rookie quarterback CJ Carr is being used more judiciously, only throwing four passes in the first half against Purdue yet also looking sharp throwing deep.
On the other hand, some commentators have cautioned against a back-and-forth scoring fest on the road in front of a rabid crowd, and that the Arkansas defense, itself “trying to find its feet” has proven itself soft against the run, something that a power running game like ‘Notre Dame’s’ should exploit to gain control of the game flow.
The 2025 Irish arguably have shown themselves to be a “diamond in the rough” work-in progress, with flashes of championship-caliber play mixed in with lapses, inconsistency or, on defense, surrendering big plays.
The Irish quality of play has grown by leaps and bounds each game, with the flashes of brilliance becoming more common, as the lapses persist, yet show improvement.
Marcus Freeman has shown himself to be the right man at the helm, voicing a sense of tireless diligence, drawing on the best of a vintage Notre Dame ethos, calling for ownership and acceptance of responsibility, accountability, and thoughtful, excellence-driven steadfast effort and improvement.
Even amidst the potpourri of extremes, the Irish have played well enough to have tight game with a highly ranked Miami (Fla.) on the road in Everglades-type weather, and to actually beat a somewhat highly-ranked Texas A&M on the field, even if the record books show a close loss, due to SEC officials blowing the game in its final moments.
Last week, of course, the Irish throttled a good, rebuilding Purdue team under a new successful coach, winning 56-30 and outgaining the Boilermakers 537 yards to 379. The Irish pulled their starters at the end of the third quarter leading 56-23.
Yet the main thrust has been a game-by-game ramping up. The season is reminiscent of a game that starts slow but promises to crescendo with a furious rally, with the question being whether a team fighting from behind has enough time left to pull it off.
The Irish defense, reloading, and recently coping with injuries to key defensive backs Leonard Moore and DeVonta Smith, also lost one of the best assistant coaches in college football when defensive coordinator Al Golden jumped to the NFL.
Marcus Freeman indicated that new defensive coordinator Chris Ash was making the right play calls, and that his focus was on helping teach and coach the players to develop and carry out their execution the way they needed to.
An immediate question will be the secondary, with reshufflings of replacements that includes a freshman, covering and tackling well, and giving up fewer big plays. The overall defense, however, is a work in progress that still needs to ramp and gel.
Yet it is not a static black box in some kind of mediocre inertia. The defense is highly talented, mostly plays hard, and is stepping up to make great plays. The issue is to keep progressing towards a more competitive level of play.
Freeman has said he is not taking over defensive play-calling, which apparently is similar to past play-calling and, in Freeman’s view, sound. Yet apparently it has not blitzed as often as in recent years. It will be interesting to see how all that is balanced with Arkansas having a big passing quarterback who also can run well.
Arkansas has a big line of scrimmage, although not necessarily much bigger than any power conference team, except for a few behemoths. Yet, as with past opponents like that, the issue will be how that is countered by strength, technique and athleticism, combined with what is good size for the Irish as well.
Unlike last week’s game with Purdue, with its two-hour storm delay, this week’s game in Fayetteville appears to have favorable weather, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid- to upper-70s.