Despite shattering program records, Mike Denbrock’s high-powered unit must fix glaring red zone inefficiencies and short-yardage struggles to transform statistical dominance into a national championship trophy.
Last season was historic for Notre Dame's offense. They set a program record for yards per play (7.3) which ranked No. 2 in the country at the end of the season. Quarterback CJ Carr also shattered the program record for passer rating in a single season. The offense as a whole also set a modern day scoring record after averaging 42.0 points per game in 2025 which ranked No. 2 in the country. Year two in the Mike Denbrock system took this offense to new heights, but there's still another level it can get to.
For Notre Dame to win a National Championship, there are gaps that still need to be closed and areas of this offense that have to improve. It's easy to turn a blind eye to the negatives and only focus on the positives, and believe me, there's a lot of positives. That being said, with all of the record-setting achievements last season, we're still talking about a program that hasn't won a title since 1988. There are some key areas of focus for this offense, and one is a glaring issue.
In 2025, despite their 42.0 points per game average, Notre Dame ranked No. 118 in the country in red zone scoring percentage (76.4%). In 2024, when they made the title game, they had the No. 89 red zone scoring offense in the country (81.7%). Now, a lot of the issues came from the kicking game, or lack thereof, the last two seasons for various reasons. Thankfully, their red zone touchdown percentage is much higher. In 2025, they ranked No. 21 in the country in red zone touchdown percentage and in 2024, they ranked No. 19 in the country.
The kicking game has played a major role in their red zone scoring percentage being driven into the dirt, but there's still room for the offense to capitalize on opportunities down inside of the 20-yard line. When you look at previous national title winners, it's clear there's another level Notre Dame has to get to.
Last season, Indiana was the No. 8 team in the country in red zone scoring percentage and No. 12 in touchdown scoring percentage. In 2024, Ohio State was the No. 31 team in the country in red zone scoring percentage, a big reason why they struggled at times in the regular season. But they ranked 5th in the country in red zone touchdown percentage. In 2022, Georgia ranked No. 1 in the country in red zone scoring percentage. There's a direct correlation between a team's efficiency down in the scoring zone and their ability to win a title.
Another area this offense has to improve overall is their 3rd down conversion percentage. To be completely transparent, I don't think their conversion rate last season was all that bad. They ranked No. 13 in the country in 3rd down conversion percentage. But the brunt of the criticism came from their inabilities to convert on short down and distances like they were able to in 2024.
That being said, again, there's another level this offense can get to. Two of the last four championship winners ranked inside of the Top 5 in the country in 3rd down conversions. Indiana was the No. 1 team in the country on 3rd down in 2025 and Georgia was the No. 5 team in the country on 3rd down in 2022. Ohio State only ranked 33rd in the country on 3rd down in 2024 over the course of the entire season. Again, leading to some of their struggles in the regular season. But in the post season, they went 9-12 on third down in the title game against Notre Dame when it mattered the most.
I don't think Notre Dame has to be the No. 1 team in the country in 3rd down conversion rates to win a title due to their aggressive nature on 4th down. But you also can't rank No. 70 in the country on 4th down like they did in 2025. Being inside of the Top 10 would be a big step in the right direction towards winning it all.
To some, these improvements might seem nit-picky and I get it. They had a record setting offense last season in points per game, yards per play and passer rating. But when we're talking about what separates great teams from elite teams, the margin for error grows thinner. Notre Dame is more than capable of improving these key areas, and if they do, this will be an extremely difficult offense to stop this fall.
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