Pod of Gold: Notre Dame Football

That's not how this season was supposed to go - not even close. Two games in, two losses for Notre Dame. We'll recap what didn't go right for Notre Dame in its come-from-ahead loss to Texas A&M and dissect why this Irish defense hasn't looked at all like the Irish defense should look.

Then, it's on to the next one. In this case, it's Purdue, a team Notre Dame beat last season in West Lafayette, 66-7. What makes the Boilermakers better this time around? Why is head coach Barry Odom the guy? Is playing well but coming up short this weekend enough to feel like a win for Purdue?

What three questions need an answer in our Speak Up segment? We'll wrap out Pod of Gold with one bold hot take and one prediction.

It will have been 13 days since Notre Dame football last played football by the time kickoff Saturday night arrives and the clash with No. 17 Texas A&M. The South Bend Tribune's Mike Berardino and Tom Noie and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill discuss what improvement we need to see from the Irish offense and defense after that loss to Miami (Fla.).

They also discuss if Notre Dame and head coach Marcus Freeman has this Southeastern Conference thing down as the Irish shoot for a fourth straight win against the mighty SEC, which dates back to 2020.

We then speak with Texas A&M beat writer Travis Brown from KBTX to get an inside look at the Aggies and what makes this team better than the one that lost to Notre Dame at home last season. We wrap the episode with one bold prediction and one game prediction. Can Notre Dame get to 1-1?

For the first time since 2022, Notre Dame football is 0-1 to start a season following Sunday's 27-24 loss at Miami (Fla.) The loss dropped the Irish from No. 5 to No. 9 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Miami moved to No. 5.

What happened in South Florida? How did it happen? Why did it happen? South Bend (Ind.) Tribune columnist Tom Noie and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill take a deep Tuesday dive into the hows and whys of the loss and what it means from a big picture perspective for the Irish.

Where does Sunday's loss rank on the angst meter? Right there with Clemson losing at home to LSU? Below Alabama being shredded at Florida State? We'll slot the Irish loss on the angst meter and answer pressing questions from our readers/listeners, then wrap by offering how the Irish will move forward the final 11 games of the regular season.

Need your football fix to carry through until September 13 when Notre Dame hosts Texas A&M? We've got you covered. 

It's game week. We made it. No more quick views of practices. No more talking season. The regular season is here for No. 5 Notre Dame, which opens Labor Day Sunday at No. 10 Miami (Fla.).

We set the stage for what we're going to see Sunday in South Florida with news of the week - Marcus Freeman, player comments, depth chart and injury updates before joining long-time Miami (Fla.) play-by-play radio voice Joe Zagacki, who believes Notre Dame is walking into a snake-pit like atmosphere similar to 2017 and 1989. Yikes. No bueno...

We wrap this episode with a readers/listeners question segment - name three Irish football players who might be able to help the basketball team this season - and some quick hitters predictions on the season, and for for Sunday's game. Are the Irish a 10-2 team? How about 11-1? Who are the offensive and defensive most valuable players and breakout standouts? Tune in...

It's done. It's over. Twelve days before No. 5 Notre Dame opens the 2025 regular season at No. 10 Miami (Fla.), the Irish have their starting quarterback.

Welcome to the role, CJ Carr.

No use burying the lead - we spend a good chunk of the show discussing/dissecting the Carr promotion. After battling Kenny Minchey, Carr was named the starter heading into the 2025 season. Why Carr? What's next for Minchey? Plenty of Irish quarterback talk early and often.

We also review the naming of the six team captains, which were announced Monday. Who was a lock? Who wasn't on the list?

We also touch a bit on the close of preseason camp. What did we learn? What didn't we learn? What's next as game week approaches? Don't look now, but we're almost there.

Tuesday's QB announcement is just one step, but it was a big one. Football's back. 

A new season of Notre Dame football brings the return of a new season of Pod of Gold, where the South Bend Tribune's Mike Berardino and Tom Noie and WNDU's Jackson Neill discuss everything Irish.

There was plenty to ponder in this early August episode. What are the early impressions of preseason  camp, specifically, how good can that Notre Dame defense be in 2025? How about the offensive line? Then, there's the little issue of the quarterback competition, and who might have the early edge between C.J. Carr and Kenny Minchey. We also discuss the future - or lack thereof - of the Notre Dame/USC rivalry.

With spring practice and the transfer portal in the rearview, NDI looks back on the last few weeks of Notre Dame football, which includes the transfer of a potential starting quarterback and the ascension of a possible starter that no one saw coming. We'll run through some of the highs and lows and positions of strength and of weakness following Notre Dame's 14 workouts.

What's the latest with the new Irish coaching staff? The NFL draft? The regular season schedule? It's been too long since we talked Notre Dame football, so listen as we make up for lost Irish time.

The 12-team College Football Playoff field is set. Notre Dame gets a No. 7 seed and a home game against No. 10 Indiana. Did the selection committee get it right? How could the format be tweaked, even now, to better improve the process/product?

What about the weather? Tickets? Hotels? We discuss everything that surrounds the first-ever CFP post-season game at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, December 20 game - but not the game itself. That hype train will pick up serious steam next week.

For now, we look back on the 2024 regular-season finale against USC and take a peek and what the next week holds for the Irish.

We go Army heavy in this week's Pod as No. 6 Notre Dame (9-1) hosts No. 17 Army (9-0) at Yankee Stadium as part of the Shamrock Series game. We talk with Ken Kraetzer of the West Point Football Report on what makes the Black Knights so dangerous this season - it's more than just quarterback Bryson Daily, who's really good. We also talk former Granger, Indiana resident Richard Cacioppe, author of the book “Black Knights and Fighting Irish: A Rivalry, a Game, and America One Year After the End of World War II” about what this rivalry once was so many years ago.

We briefly review the Virginia game (particularly the fake punt call), muster up a Pod of Old that included a memorable escape against Army in the Meadowlands in 1995 (the Ivory Covington game), and close with one hot take and one prediction for this weekend's game.

NDI's Tom Noie and Mike Berardino and WNDU's Jackson Neill preview this week's game against Virginia, review the win over Florida State, talk College Football Playoff rankings, take a trip down Memory Lane with our Pod of Old segment, answer the question of the week and spend some time with former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush on a variety of topics.

Wimbush touches on life in the spotlight as the Notre Dame quarterback, on if he had as much play-calling/changing freedom as Riley Leonard and how Leonard has adjusted to being the Irish starting quarterback.

We close with one hot take and hot prediction from each of the three hosts heading into Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium.