Sam Hartman, Wake Forest transfer, played a senior year — the Irish's first year with a true veteran quarterback in the post-Rees era. The offense ran 415 yards per game; the defense finished top-20 in scoring.
2023 — The Freeman Era Finds Its Floor
Notre Dame went 10-3, finished in the top-15 for the second consecutive year of the Freeman era, and set the roster conditions that produced the 2024 title-game run.
The Shape — week-by-week · cumulative W–L below
Who carried it
- Sam HartmanQB2,689 passing yards
- Steven AngeliQB504 passing yards
- Audric EstimeRB1,341 rushing yards
- Jeremiyah LoveRB385 rushing yards
- Jadarian PriceRB272 rushing yards
- Chris TyreeWR484 receiving yards
- Mitchell EvansTE422 receiving yards
- Rico FloresWR392 receiving yards
- JD BertrandLB76 tackles
- Howard Cross IIIDL65 tackles
- Jack KiserLB52 tackles
- Javontae Jean-BaptisteDL5 sacks
- Jordan BotelhoDL4 sacks
- Nana Osafo-MensahDL3 sacks
Season leaders, 2023.
September 23, Durham. Notre Dame 21, Duke 14 — a close call against a Mike Elko team, the kind of game the Irish had historically either won comfortably or lost outright. The 'still asks the question' register tightened around the midseason.
Sun Bowl, December 29. Notre Dame 40, Oregon State 8. Riley Leonard's arrival via the transfer portal from Duke was announced a week later; the 2024 roster architecture began taking shape.
"The question is still there. So is the program."
2023 is the bridge chapter between the first Freeman year and the 2024 title-game run. A 10-3 season without a CFP bid is not a peak chapter in a program whose identity phrase asks whether they can still be the standard they once were. The chapter's load-bearing fact is the roster construction it allowed: Riley Leonard's transfer-in, Mike Denbrock's hire as offensive coordinator, the defensive front's draft-deferring decisions. The 2024 championship game appearance could not have happened without this specific 10-3 season producing the depth chart and the staff it produced. The dynastic-with-question-mark register was still asking the question at the end of 2023. The question moved in 2024; it was rephrased, not answered. 2023 is the year the rephrasing started.