Notre Dame Football: 5 bold predictions for September 2018

2. Notre Dame goes undefeated

Typically a 5-0 start to a season wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, especially considering Notre Dame’s status as a top 15 team. However, this predication ekes out a “bold” tag thanks to two matchups against top 15 teams in Michigan (Week 1) and Stanford (Week 5). Both of these programs have competitive histories with the Irish, so taking down the both of them will be no easy feat.

The Irish draw the Wolverines Week 1 in a matchup that will mark the 41st meeting between the two programs. Michigan had their fair share of struggles last season, but the addition of Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson may serve to be a source of potential upside at the quarterback position. Combine this with a similar defensive showing from last year and the Irish may have some trouble on their hands.

Notre Dame will then face Ball State, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest before closing out the month against Stanford. The Irish should be able to handle the first three teams listed above, but they’ll have to wake up in time to face a Cardinal team that has defeated Notre Dame in seven of their last nine meetings.

The Irish do have the advantage of playing four of these five games at home, but home field advantage can only take you so far in college football. Again, this isn’t the boldest prediction you’ll see, but rather serves to highlight the difficult path set for the Irish early in the 2018 college football season.