No. 10 Notre Dame looking for a solution to give its kicking woes the boot in Navy matchup

By Canadian Press on November 5, 2025.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has watched missed extra points and errant field goals for two seasons.

He knows it’s time to give that problem the boot.

The 10th-ranked Irish saw it happen again in last weekend’s 25-10 victory over Boston College as three different kickers missed attempts, and Freeman knows it must change if they hope to stay in the playoff picture.

“There’s a technique to kicking a football,” Freeman said. “But there’s a human element when all of a sudden, you’re out there on Saturday that can mess with your mind, mess with your head and get you to revert back to a technique that isn’t producing consistent results. So we have to really have a plan of attack for the human element that happens.”

The next chance comes Saturday when Notre Dame (6-2, No. 10 CFP) hosts rival Navy (7-1).

But this is hardly a new issue for the Irish.

Last season, Mitch Jeter struggled with injuries all year — and it showed as the Irish went just 15 of 27 on field goals including two that were blocked in a stunning 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. Still, Jeter delivered when it mattered most — making the decisive kick in the waning seconds against Penn State to give Notre Dame a 27-24 victory and a trip to the national championship game.

Could it happen again? Perhaps.

Injuries again have taken a toll on the Irish.

Noah Burnette, a transfer from North Carolina, sat out two games with a hip injury and then missed an extra point against Boston College. Things went from bad to worse when Freeman started using his other options. Erik Schmidt missed a 35-yard field goal attempt and Marcello Diomede missed an extra point.

At least all those misses didn’t cost them a victory, like the botched extra point after Notre Dame scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:53 left against then-No. 16 Texas A&M. The Aggies took advantage by rallying for a 41-40 victory.

“We owe it to the team to be able to make extra points,” Freeman said.

Notre Dame already has missed four extra points this season, compared with one in 16 games last year, and is 5 of 8 on field goals with a season long of 48. The misses came from 31, 31 and 35 yards.

Finding an in-season solution won’t be easy.

Burnette, Diomede and Schmidt are the only kickers listed on the roster and, given the circumstances, it seems unlikely they would give punter James Rendell a shot. Unlike a couple of years ago, adding a soccer player or holding an open tryout wouldn’t work either.

“It’s an NCAA rule that before the season, you set your rosters at 105,” Freeman said. “There are guys that you can declare grandfathered in that were previously on your roster, but once your rosters are set, you can’t add anybody to your roster, so that’s why we can’t do anything about that right now.‌”

Freeman doesn’t want to rotate his kickers even though the resumes are spotty.

Burnette is 20 of 22 on extra points and 5 of 6 on field goals. Schmidt, a freshman, is 12 of 13 on extra points and missed both of his field-goal attempts. Diomede, a junior, is 2 of 3 on extra points but has not yet attempted a field goal.

Freeman said they’ve looked good in practice. He just needs them to execute in games.

“It’s starting to trend more toward the mental side,” Freeman said. “There’s added pressure, and it’s easy to say, ‘Don’t feel the pressure. Don’t worry about the pressure.’ It’s easy to say, but that’s really hard to do. And we have to continue to equip them with tools that help them in that moment.”

He added: “We can try to simulate (the pressure) in practice. I can yell and scream. That’s one way to simulate pressure, but that has nothing — that’s not even close to the pressure they feel when they have to make a field goal, especially after you’ve missed some. It’s a challenge, but we’ve got to fix it.”

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Curt Rallo, The Associated Press

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