JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 5, 2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 5, 2025

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Eric Hansen

3:23

OK, that's going to do it for today. Thanks for all the great questions. And make sure you tune into our live reaction show Sunday on the blueandgold YouTube channel. The next chat will be back in our normal Wednesday noon ET time slot. See you then!

3:22

Roger, yes I have seen teams fake punt from their own territory, but not very often. ... You are correct about which teams to root for if you want ND in the field. We had a staff prediction exercise that I got pulled into, and I picked ND to make the field as the 10 seed. Spoiler alert: It was not unanimous. And I promise to stay warm!

Roger from Peoria

3:18

Eric. 11/30/24-Irish 7, USC 7, Irish fake punt from their own 25. My reaction - OMG what is Marcus doing! Then, wow!! What a great call!!! 11/29/25 Irish 14,Stanford 0, Irish fake punt from their own 16!!!!!!! My reaction was not OMG but WTF (pardon the language but . . . ) is Marcus doing? Then, WOW!!!!! WHAT A GREAT CALL!!!!! Had you ever seen a fake punt in a team's own Red Zone before? Second, there are many reasons I want to see the Irish in the CFP, but most of all I want to see Love again in an Irish uniform so his Irish career can end "with a bang not a whimper" which will only happen if the Irish are in. I believe we need one or possibly both of Georgia and Texas Tech to win. How do you rate the likelihood of that to occur? And, if both win, is ND in or will the Hurricane win over the Irish blow the Irish out? Thanks as always and currently, stay warm!! GO IRISH!!

Eric Hansen

3:17

Andy, thank you! I am actually glad Ole Miss stayed in the playoff picture, because the kids that worked their butts off deserve it. I do think CJ Carr will be the face of the program next year and will play at a level, and ND as a team, that will have him in those conversations. Yes.

Andy - Wilmette IL

3:16

Hello Eric. If FSU got pushed out of the playoffs because they lost their QB, how can Ole Miss still be in the playoff picture without a head coach? If ND gets left out this year, next year they will kick butt. Lastly, do you think CJ ("Jet") Carr will be in the running for an award next year. Thanks for your work this football season...It has been awesome.

Eric Hansen

3:16

I think if Marcus Freeman had said in the press conference that Love was done for the year, the committee would have considered that, but they've also seen Jadarian Price play, and he's elite too.

Ed from Sayville NY

3:15

Thanks Eric, actually l could have been clearer. I was thinking about Love’s star standing, but perhaps the answer would be the same.

Eric Hansen

3:14

As far as the ACC campaigning against Notre Dame, that was bush league. But it's annoying, not divorce worthy. Kind of like when we forget to throw our dirty sweats in the hamper.

3:13

Hi Scott. I think it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the ACC. Remember if ND did bail in football, then all of its other sports teams except for hickey get stuck playing an independent's schedule. No bueno. The Miami drop wasn't a drop. it was a move into another year, which Notre Dame was happy to accommodate. The Florida State game was also off the books for years, and also fine with ND. And when ND needed to play in a conference in 2020, remember the ACC welcomed the Irish with open arms. So let's be fair. The ACC schedule was made to be equitable to all ACC teams and yet the ACC is open to ND scheduling more games against its top-tier teams. (more)

Scott, From Louisiana

3:09

Good Day Eric, I have a few questions that have been eating away at me for a few weeks now and hope you can maybe shed some light on all or some of them. 1. what recourse does ND have for the ACC publicly politicking against them as a partial member with the CFP? Are there any outs or escape clauses that can/would benefit ND in that area? Also we have seen in back to back years ACC teams drop our games for whatever reason. Miami/FSU. Are we allowed to do the same? and if so why haven't we taken the opportunity when we get loaded with bottom feeders that affect our SOS. Always look forward to these chats although usually only ever get to read after the fact. Thanks for these Eric!!!

Eric Hansen

3:09

I think if he comes back next year, Ryan, he'll be in the mix for a lot of playing time, especially if Jadarian Price goes to the NFL.

Ryan Frankfort Illinois

3:08

Good afternoon Eric what do you think about the play of Aneyas Williams vs Stanford He looked good GO IRISH ☘️☘️☘️🏈🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

3:08

Hey Lorne, happy early Festivus. And thank you for not exercising that holiday's tradition of airing of grievances! Great question, but I do not think that was the rationale.

Lorne

3:06

Lorne from Reno. Thank you for the chats, and I hope it doesn't get too whiny today. It's time to have the "serenity to accept the things [we] cannot change." My question has to do with Love going back in against Stanford: do you think there was an element of Jordan Travis/FSU in the decision? That is, let's not give the committee an argument to downgrade us because our star is hurt?

Eric Hansen

3:06

Hi Berk, love you style. I know the "crap" schedule hasn't been released in its entirety, but here's a good rule of thumb if you're Notre Dame. Go 12-0 or 11-1 and you're in the field. Go 10-2, and you've put your destiny in someone else's hands.

Berk

3:04

Hey Eric, Berk coming to you from Mempho again!!!!! I am preparing myself for us to be left out of the playoffs. NO fault but our own. If D-rock and the offense would have just leaned on J-LOVE #4 in Miami we probably wouldn't be in this situation! Anyways on to my questions. Judging by our numbers, who we could lose and who returns, and on top of the great class we just signed......Where do we open in the polls to start the '26 season and with the crap schedule we have next year, will we have to go undefeated to make sure we are IN? GO IRISH FOREVER!!!!!

Eric Hansen

3:04

Hi Ed. I think name recognition plays a part, but maybe not intentionally, as you suggested. Navy is a better team than either of the ones Miami lost to, but Louisville and SMU play stronger in people's minds because of the brand name. I really like South Florida, for instance, for how they played on the field, but there will be folks that are more impressed by a 5-7 Auburn team, because of the name. It's not intentional. It's just how people tend to think of those teams.

Ed from Sayville NY

3:01

Greetings and salutations Eric. Deciphering the CFP is beyond me. I just want more opportunities to watch number 4 in an ND uniform. What a pleasure that has been to date. Do you think the committee takes name recognition into account, either on purpose or otherwise? I bet tv executives would like them to, and we sure know they have juice. J. Love sure got the playoffs off to a great start last year! Go ☘️

Eric Hansen

3:01

TE Ian Premer, almost all of the DBs, maybe one of the linebackers depending on KVA's timeline, both edge players on defense, Dunham and Ewatade. I think Finley and at least one of the other WRs will get into the mix and one of the running backs, likely Walton.

Jeremy from Goshen

2:59

Which of these newly signed HS recruits have the best shot at playing time in 2026?

Eric Hansen

And happy Friday, Kevin!!!

2:58

Someone spike the punch bowl?

Kevin from Calgary

2:58

Happy Friday, Eric!!! Well, just like the Grinch it looks like the committee has heard the NOISE, NOISE, NOISE. Dropping ND a spot and potentially putting them perilously close to Miami is either and indication they may make that first game of the season the deciding factor, or they’re just assuring Alabama gets into the playoffs (or both). What’s your take on the logic behind the Irish snub?

Eric Hansen

2:57

OK, for those of you who don't follow Paul's and my Italian thing going on here, that is not Italian for Happy Cyber Week. ... Buon Avvento to Paul and everyone else! I did answer the Alabama part, but let me get to the metrics.
3rd down offense: 18th in 2025, 61st in 2024
3rd down defense: 38/12
4th down offense: 67/8
4th down defense: 30/9
RZ offense: 119/88
RZ defense: 69/18
So they are worse off in five of the six, but much much improved in third-down conversions. However, this team is better in some more pivotal categories like pass efficiency and run defense. Those matter more, but the ones you asked about are no irrelevant.

Paul from Knoxville

2:48

Ciao Eric: Buon Avvento! Last week I recall your comparing the 2025 and 2024 Irish teams in the 5 key championship metrics, so I'd like to ask whether you could also share a comparison of both squads on 3rd and 4th down success rates and red zone efficiency. My perception is that this year's team has not been quite as good in these areas, but I would be curious to know whether this perception is accurate or not. I'd also like to ask for your thoughts on the playoff committee's moving AL above ND in the most recent ranking. Personally I don't think the committee chairman's explanation passes the giggle test, but maybe I'm being overly skeptical. Since you may have gotten a number of questions about this, please disregard if you have already answered.

Eric Hansen

2:48

On that pragmatic side, the only P4 conference whose teams are going to be eager to play ND in November is the ACC, so there's much more of a demand for those teams to schedule in August/September than late October of any time in November.

2:47

Hi Scott, and thanks for the compliment! I actually think scheduling tough teams on the front end isn't the bad idea that it might seem. Had ND lost those two games in November, no way are they in the field. And there are years where ND's team is composed different and it might be an advantage to play a national power that needs to evolve into its personnel in September, because they'd be a handful later on. (more)

Scott, Bloomington IN

2:40

Eric, who would have thought that this would be such a good year for football in the great state of Indiana. Norte Dame is dominant again, IU is a nationally relevant program, and Purdue stinks. However this great achievement can all come crashing down if ND is pushed out of the playoffs. You often give great metrics that the CFP committee evaluates outside of the head to head, matchup but it is seems Miami is poised to leapfrog ND. If ND does get pushed out of the playoffs do you feel that ND needs to rethink scheduling? Should they play a softer schedule to start the season and is that even possible with the constraints of being an independent and the mandatory ACC slate? Thanks for always doing this. You are the best on the beat. Hope you aren’t pulling for tOSU this weekend. I figure IU has suffered for so long. Could be first outright BIG10 football title since 1945.

Eric Hansen

2:39

Absolutely, they've done a great job on both fronts. And more to come in 2027, I believe.

Irishdowski

2:39

Irishdowski from The Burgh or Pittsburgh. I always feel great when former Irish players sons join the Irish program but even more when former NFL players sons choose the Irish as well because I feel it shows the great respect for what the the Irish are currently doing. Lately I feel we have done a great job of capturing those types of recruits. Would you agree

Eric Hansen

2:38

I think Texas Tech is very motivated to win that game. I don't think they are motivated to play their starters in the fourth quarter if they're up by 20.

RayF Wenatchee, WA

2:37

Thank you for doing these chats and all the great information about the Irish!
Do you think that Texas Tech will be fully motivated for the game against BYU? Knowing that TT is likely in the CFP, will they rest their starters / limit their reps to avoid injuries? There is no doubt in my mind the Irish would prevail in a head to head match up with BYU

Eric Hansen

2:37

Notre Dame did an incredible job of inviting 28 players for official visits and signing 27 of them. So the prioritization not only worked, but reading the room as far as genuine interest did as well.

2:36

Mo/Mike !^! I go through this is greater detail on a day where the queue is not so full and my brain/finger coordination isn't so challenged. But Notre Dame extended 192 scholarship offers in the just-signed 2026 class and so far have extended 154 in the 2027 cycle. with more to come. Now, not all offers are created equal. Some are convertible offers, meaning the prospect has the green light at any time to commit. Most have some conditions. And there's an art and science to prioritizing and synching that up with the official visit schedule for instance. (more)

Mike AKA Mo from Maumee OH

2:30

Hi Eric !^! What an incredible 2026 signing class! I was wondering- on average, how many scholarship offers does Notre Dame hand out to each year's class? Assume it's significantly more than the 27 who signed on the dotted line. And then what is the process that the ND staff goes through to determine mutual interest, and after that to weed out those who only look at ND as their "safety scholarship school" until a better offer comes along? Thanks!

Eric Hansen

2:29

Hi Terry, you make some good points, but I'll challenge the one in the Texas A&N game, and that is, if A&M got called for holding, they still would have gotten to replay the down. The game as not over. But more importantly, if you want the committee to calculate bad officiating into their formula, then in fairness, you'd have to go over every call in that game and see where the discrepancies were. So for me, you live with the results on the field. And even then, I think ND is a playoff team. The funny thing is I expected the CFP commish to say Texas A&M's loss to Texas affected their thinking, but they didn't say that at all.

Terry, Huron, SD

2:26

Hi Eric. My question deals with the SEC bias of Alabama moving ahead of ND. The committee chairman’s explanation was WEAK!!!!!!! Alabama struggled to beat a BAD Auburn team and ND blew out a bad Stanford, although they played better at home, unlike Auburn. What are your thoughts? This looks like the committee is protecting Alabama so when they lose to Georgia, they won’t drop them out of the playoffs. Everyone can bitch about Miami and Alabama all they want, but don’t lose to BAD teams and you would not be in this predicament!!!!! I may be bias for ND but they should be ranked 8 and looking to host in the first round but that obviously is not happening. Nobody is taking about the SEC crew swallowing their whistle/flag on the last play when Hinisch was tackled by an A&M lineman. I am just sick this committee and officials will find a way to keep ND out of

Eric Hansen

2:26

Jordan thank you! I hope to chat with Mike Martin down the road and get you some of those answers. In talking to a couple of agents, in general most player contracts are one-year deals, with a few being two years. And I think there's an expectation that those are based on performance as you go from one year to the next. So I am answering this way more generally than Notre Dame-specific — for now, but hope to get more info down the road. ... Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Now to Jordan's question. I'll get this all cleaned up in the transcript.

2:19

Man, what is wrong with me today LOL

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