Irish defense battled back from an early slump, finding its identity and dominating late-season opponents. They tightened their grip, especially against the run.
With the Notre Dame Fighting Irish entering into the offseason, it's time to sit back and take a look at how the 2025 defense did in comparison to this unit a season ago. For some, myself included, this is a relatively bittersweet topic, especially since this season ended so abruptly and resulted in Notre Dame missing the playoffs by one spot.
With that being said, it's possible to take a step forward as a program without yielding the overall result we longed to see this team achieve back in August. Let's look at the Irish defense from this season, see where they improved from a season ago as well as the areas that have room for improvement heading into 2026.
2025 Defensive Statistical Overview
The discussion with Notre Dame's defense isn't as cut and dry as the offense. Let's face the facts, this was a much different defense in the final nine regular season games than it was in the first three regular season games. That being said, as you can see from the graphic above, this defense took some minor steps back in some areas in the "macro-view", but what they did in the final nine games of the regular season, once they got back to what their true identity was on defense, was truly special.
This season, the Irish finished the regular season allowing 17.6 points per game which ranked 13th in the country. Last season, in their 16-game run, they finished allowing an average of 15.5 points per game which ranked 4th in the country. In their last nine games, however, Notre Dame allowed an average of 12.6 points per game. During that stretch, Notre Dame played two Group of 5 schools (Boise State and Navy), rival USC and six other Power 4 schools. Last season in their final nine games of the regular season, the Irish played three Group of 5 schools (Miami (OH), Navy and Army), rival USC and five other Power 4 schools and allowed an average of 14.1 points per game.
Now, some of the overarching stats have to be looked at with a little bit of context. In 2024, Notre Dame played 16 games and only played 12 games this season leading to some of their rankings this season being lower compared to last season. For example, the Irish finished this season ranked 5th in the country in plays of 30 yards or longer allowed (13) and finished last season with 17 plays allowed of 30 yards or long which ranked 17th. However, if they allowed those explosive plays at the same rate over a 16-game stretch, they would have finished 2025 with 17.3 allowed. The difference is minimal, but the context is still worth providing nonetheless.
This biggest area this defense improved was against the run. This season, they finished ranked 11th in the country in rushing yards allowed (99.3), 11th in the country in yards per rush allowed (3.0), 8th in the country in rushing touchdowns allowed (8) and 5th in the country in 20 yard rushes allowed (6). Last season, they allowed an average of 138.1 rushing yards per game which ranked 49th in the country. The defense last season also allowed 3.8 yards per carry last season which ranked 37th in the country. They cut the number of rushing touchdowns allowed in half from 2024 to 2025, but again, the four game difference somewhat factors in.
The second biggest area this defense improved in was their ability to rush the passer. Last season, they finished with 272 total pressures and 106 combined hits plus sacks on the quarterback according to PFF. This season, in four less games, the defense finished with 285 pressures which led the country and 79 total hits plus sacks on the quarterback. Considering they went their first three games only tallying 12 total hits plus sacks on the quarterback, ending the regular season with 79 hits plus sacks on the quarterback is quite impressive.
In some ways, their turnovers generated improved significantly; this defense finished the regular season ranked 1st in the country in interceptions gained (21). Last season, they finished 5th in the nation in interceptions gained (19) but that was in a 16-game span. This defense was able to overcome their rough start and their significant turnaround led to the Irish rattling off 10 straight wins to end the regular season, but there are some key areas of improvement for this group as well.
The biggest overall step back this season compared to 2024 was the pass defense. This season, they allowed an average of 213.4 yards per game (No. 56), 6.2 yards per attempt (No. 24), 55.7 completion percentage (No. 14) and allowed 14 passing touchdowns (No. 30). In 2024, the defense allowed 169.4 passing yards per game (No. 4), 6.0 yards per attempt (No. 6), 52.1 completion percentage allowed (No. 1) and 14 passing touchdowns allowed (No. 23). Their pass defense was significantly better down the stretch, but there were some instances of blow coverages outside of the first three games as well.
As frustrating as the start of the 2025 season was for Notre Dame's defense, I'd argue that this unit played at a higher level for certain stretches than last year's defense played. That's not to take away from anything the 2024 defense accomplished, but this season we saw a significantly better pass rush and rush defense. As disappointing as their pass defense was, they still led the country in interceptions and ranked inside the Top 25 in yards per attempt, completion percentage, interceptions, passer rating, 30 yard plays allowed and sacks. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash has a strong foundation to build upon if the philosophy stays consistent with the defense we saw from September 27 to November 29.
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