Notre Dame Football: Irish can’t afford to overlook Ball State

Notre Dame football is in a good place after defeating Michigan in their season opener. Could the Irish be on upset alert against Ball State in Week 2?

145 Miles separate Notre Dame and Ball State. It will take less than three hours by bus for the Cardinals to make the trek north to play their Week 2 game against the Irish. Notre Dame fans are still reveling in their epic victory over the Michigan Wolverines on opening weekend and might be looking past their next opponent. They shouldn’t.

Every coach refuses to admit publicly they’ve already written off any opponent as an easy win. But with games against Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Stanford this month it’s easy to envision a scenario in which Notre Dame does give 100 percent effort into their preparation for Ball State, instead opting to place their focus on other things.

An upset of this magnitude would go down as the biggest of the year in college football. It would be another tough blow for Brian Kelly who’s team has College Football Playoff aspirations again this season. It’s not likely, but it’s still possible.

Here are a few reasons Notre Dame should be on upset alert against Ball State in Week 2.