Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will avoid hangover vs. Ball State

2. Notre Dame has avoided trap games over the last few years

Excluding Notre Dame’s disaster of a 2016 season, the Irish haven’t lost to an unranked team since 2014. In 2015 and 2017 combined, Brian Kelly’s only losses came to No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 Stanford, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 15 Georgia, No. 7 Miami, and once more at the hands of No. 20 Stanford.

In fact, the last Notre Dame loss in anything even resembling a trap game came in 2013 when Notre Dame took a 7-2 record into an eventual three point loss against Pitt. Outside of that, there hasn’t been much within the last five years to warrant a breakdown in this week’s matchup with the Cardinals.

For some Notre Dame fans, Ball State may be the cause of an underlying fear that they can’t quite identify. If this is the case for you, perhaps you’re being reminded of the last time Notre Dame faced off against Ball State. Not in football, but in basketball. Yes, the Ball State Cardinals were the nearly 20 point underdogs that took out Notre Dame in a game that ended up deciding their tournament fate.

But let’s distant that memory for now. The sport of football lends itself to fewer upsets due to the nature of the game, and there are few signs that point to a possible upset of any sorts here. Plus, Notre Dame football carries an even higher spread than their basketball counterparts did, so a 2-2 record for Ball State against the Irish is even less likely.