Notre Dame Looks To Continue November Dominance At Home

We're reaching the point in the college football season where the contenders and the pretenders start to separate. After their 31-24 victory over the then-ranked No. 1 Miami Hurricanes, the 5th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish have vaulted themselves into the 'contenders' category, confirming what we believed to be true back in August. Now, it's about handling your business down the stretch. 

The Irish have three games left in the regular season, two of them at home and head coach Marcus Freeman's mantra of 'Leave No Doubt' will be put to the test against Boston College tomorrow afternoon, SMU next weekend and Syracuse on the road the weekend after that. Fortunately, November football isn't something that Notre Dame has struggled with, especially during the Freeman regime. 

Since 2022, the Irish are 14-2 in the month of November with their only two losses coming on the road against USC in 2022 and Clemson in the first week of November in 2023. Since that loss, they are undefeated in the month of November and the games they've played haven't been overly close. Since that loss to Clemson, Notre Dame has beat every opponent in November - home, away or neutral site - by double digits with the exception of Miami this season who they just defeated 31-24. 

Their dominance overall in November under Freeman has been exceptional, but when you look at what they've done in the final month of the regular season in South Bend, that's when the numbers start to get a little more crazy. 

At home in November under Freeman, the Irish have outscored their opponents 361 to 79 and that includes this year's matchup with the Hurricanes. Coming into last weekend, Notre Dame had outscored their opponents in November at home 330 to 55. The level of dominance we've seen from this program has been outstanding, but it doesn't stop there. 

Since November of 2022, the Irish have only allowed two teams to achieve over 100 passing yards and over 100 rushing yards when playing in Notre Dame Stadium. In 2024, Virginia rushed for 128 yards and passed for 178 yards. This past weekend, Miami passed for 269 yards and rushed for 101 yards. All other opponents they've faced at home in November in Freeman's tenure have been held to under 100 rushing yards or 100 passing yards. 

There have been two occasions where the Irish have scored in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams) at home in November. In 2022, Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison had a pick six, linebacker Prince Kollie returned a blocked punt for a touchdown and the offense did its part against Clemson. Last season, cornerback Leonard Moore and safety Jalen Stroman each returned a pick six, safety Luke Talich returned a blocked punt for a score and the offense, once again, did their part against Syracuse. 

Over the course of their eight home games in November since 2022, the Notre Dame defense has forced 20 total turnovers and in most instances, forced more than one. This stat doesn't include turnovers on downs either. Their average margin of victory at home in November under Freeman is 35.2 points, average final scores being 45.1 to 9.9.

This has been an utterly dominant run in November by Freeman and the Irish and they'll need it more than ever this season. They should handle their business soundly against Boston College tomorrow, but with SMU coming into town on Senior Day, the regular season tests are far from over. Notre Dame is in a position to compete for, and win, a national title in 2026 but they'll have to handle business in November first and if history tells us anything, it'll be another dominant November for the Fighting Irish. 

------ 

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER 

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook