Irish fans get their exclusive spring showcase, featuring QB battles, early enrollees, and potential national championship contenders. Don't miss the action.
The official date and time for Notre Dame's 95th annual Blue Gold game has been set. On Saturday, April 25 at 2:00 PM ET, the Irish will take the field for the first time since their final regular season game back on November 29, 2025 against Stanford. The game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.
This is major news for the Fighting Irish faithful; more and more programs continue moving away from the traditional spring game model while other teams are doing away with it entirely. For many fans, this is their one and only opportunity to see the Notre Dame football team in person. Their continuation of the spring game will bring a smile to many fan's faces, including mine.
Last year's outing was a high scoring affair with the Blue Team (offense) walking away with a 76-31 victory over the Gold Team (defense). There was no shortage of big plays for either side of the ball last year. I'd imagine the scoring rules will be slightly different this season, but that will remain to be seen.
Over the years, we've seen several breakout performances in the spring game, some leading to in-season breakouts while others are a 'flash in the pan' during the offseason. One player in particular, current starting quarterback CJ Carr, flashed in his first two Blue Gold games.
Last year, we got to see the much-anticipated quarterback battle on full display between Carr, Kenny Minchey who has transferred to Kentucky and Steve Angeli who transferred to Syracuse last offseason. This year, there will still be a quarterback competition, but it will be for the No. 2 spot behind Carr and will feature redshirt freshman Blake Hebert and incoming freshman Noah Grubbs.
This will also be our chance to see the highly-touted 2026 recruiting class. The majority of this talented group has been on campus the last couple of weeks as early enrollees. We will get to see the first look at what the potential starting offensive line may look like as well as the receiver rotation. A handful of transfers will also be on display during Notre Dame's annual scrimmage.
There's never a dull Saturday inside of Notre Dame Stadium, and even though this isn't a full on game, the entertainment of the annual Blue Gold game never disappoints. This will the their first opportunity to put on display what kind of team they'll be in 2026.
Like they are every season, the expectations around the Irish are high, but this year they are one of the preseason favorites to win the National Championship and have a preseason favorite at quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. All eyes will be on head coach Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish when they take the field on April 25.
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!