Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Unveils Creative Scoring System for This Weekend’s Spring Game

The annual Blue-Gold Game will take place despite a bit of a short roster for Notre Dame

Nick Shepkowski

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman greets his players during a Notre Dame football spring practice at Irish Athletic Center on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in South Bend.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman greets his players during a Notre Dame football spring practice at Irish Athletic Center on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Notre Dame's annual spring football game is this Saturday as Fighting Irish fans will get a glimpse of the 2025 squad. It will be only a shell of what the actual Notre Dame football team will look like when it opens the season in Miami on August 31, but let's be honest: any football at all is better than no football.

Because of several players being limited or unavailable at all this spring, Notre Dame has had to tweak way the game is played. No longer will it be a pair of assistant coaches holding a draft, but now it will be a game of offense vs. defense and points will be rewarded for different accomplishments.

Notre Dame released the details of exactly how that will go on Thursday.

OFFENSIVE SCORING:
6 points for TD
1 point for PAT
1 point for each first down
2 points for each play over 20 yards
3 points for Field goal
2 points for 2 point conversion

DEFENSIVE SCORING:
1 point for forcing a punt
5 points for takeaway in plus territory
7 points for takeaway in minus territory
12 points for defensive score
1 point for TFL
2 points for sack
3 points for blocking Field goal attempt
2 points for PAT returned for score
2 points for failed 2 point conversion
2 points for 4th down stop in plus
territory or missed Field goal
3 points for 4th down stop in minus

Marcus Freeman coaches Notre Dame during the 2024 spring gam
Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman watches pre-game warmups Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA TODAY NETWORK

And worth noting, it is said in the release that "Scoring will be determined at the discretion of the head coach, and will generally follow the (above) system, with situational exceptions.

Notre Dame's spring game kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, and can be seen on Peacock.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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