The 2025 Blue-Gold game will be played in Notre Dame Stadium this Saturday, April 12. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 PM.
Last year the Blue defeated the Gold 28-21. On display that day was the quarterback play of Steve Angeli (17-25-0, 228 yards, 2 TD), Kenny Minchey (12-19-1, 123 yards, 1 TD) and CJ Carr (8-13-0, 99 yards, 1 TD). Notably, not active in last year’s game was eventual 16 game starter, Riley Leonard. Leonard was rehabbing from ankle surgery.
Fast forward to 2025 and the quarterback battle between last year’s three participants will be the same and will be at center stage. At the start of this year’s spring camp head coach Marcus Freeman promised an equal rep competition between Angeli, Carr, and Minchey to determine the successor to Leonard.
Fans will have their chance to assess where the three stand with their own eyes in the scrimmage. Early entry freshman Blake Hebert is also expected to take snaps.
Besides the quarterback battle, this year fans will also get their first public display,of ND’s new defensive coordinator. Chris Ash, who comes over most recently from scouting and defensive coaching positions in the NFL also has significant college experience on his resume. He started his coaching career at Drake in 1997 and has served stints in defensive roles at Iowa State, San Diego State, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Ohio State and Rutgers. He was the co-defensive coordinator for the 2014 Ohio State team that won the national championship and was the head coach at Rutgers from 2016-2019.
In total between transfer portal additions and early entry freshman 18 new faces have joined the Irish since the conclusion of the 2024 season. Ash in particular will be looking to that group to fill holes left in his defense. Lost to graduation are front line defenders Howard Cross, Rylie Mills, Jack Kiser and all-Americans Xavier Watts and Benjamin Morrison. Key newcomers to watch in the scrimmage will be cornerback Devonta Smith (Alabama), defensive tackle Jared Dawson (Louisville) and freshman linebacker Madden Faraimo. The 6-3, 230 pound Faraimo was ND’s highest ranked prospect in its 2025 recruiting class.
Notre Dame’s spring game tradition started in 1929 when Knute Rockne, was looking for a way to promote his team and make the end of spring football practice a bit more fun for his players. He hit on the idea of conducting a scrimmage between his returning players against the outgoing seniors who would be soon graduating.
That concept continued until 1937, when under Coach Elmer Leyden many former players returned to campus to honor former player and Coach Johnny O’Brian. O’Brian had tragically died in an auto accident on March 12, 1937. The game took on the moniker “the old timers game”, and that spring in a match that included participation by the Four Horseman and many others, the varsity defeated the “old timers” 7-6.
In 1953 a most unlikely of participants, lined up for a few series on defense for the old-timers. Future Senator Ted Kennedy was visiting South Bend the weekend of the game. Kennedy, who had lettered in football at Harvard and his family was acquainted with head Coach Frank Leahy. Kennedy accepted Leahy’s invitation to play. He lined up alongside greats such as Johnny Lattner, Leon Hart and Frank Tripuka. The varsity prevailed that day 34-7.
Ara Parseghian was not a big fan of the format because he felt it did not present ideal competition for his team. In fact in the three games played from 65-67, the varsity ran up large margins and was not scored upon. The last “old-timers” game was played in 1967, and was actually carried on TV nationally by ABC opposite the Kentucky Derby. The Varsity won that day by a score of 39-0. In the 37 year history of the “old-timers’ format, the varsity won 30 times.
The game took on the present format of intra-squad scrimmage known as the Blue Gold Game in 1968. Over the years, different formulas have been used since to keep score and for the allocation of players between the two squads.
The tradition of Fighting Irish spring football continues this Saturday, with thousands fans gathering for a first look at what lies ahead in the fall. While some schools in recent years have moved away from their spring game traditions, Marcus Freeman reaffirmed his commitment to the Blue-Gold Game in March, “It’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program.”
The 94th edition of the Blue-Gold Game presented by Meijer will kickoff Saturday, April 12, 2025, at 2 p.m. ET in Notre Dame Stadium and will be broadcast live on Peacock.