Notre Dame Football: Irish remain their own biggest obstacle
At the midpoint of the 2018 season Notre Dame football is in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. Their biggest threat remains themselves.
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Notre Dame football has been here before. After falling by a single point to Georgia in Week 2 of the 2017 season the Irish went on a seven-game winning streak which propelled them to the No. 3 spot in the polls entering a juicy matchup with No. 7 Miami at Hardrock Stadium. With a spot in the final four on the line, the Irish imploded.
The 41-8 smackdown orchestrated by the Canes was a brutal reminder of something that Notre Dame fans have come to know all to well. This team has the talent to hang around with every team in the nation, but every once in a while they just can’t seem to get out of their own way.
Fast-forward to 2018 and Notre Dame finds themselves in an eerily similar position. This time the Irish are undefeated. There is no “Miami” looming, rather Notre Dame does not have another game scheduled against a team currently ranked inside the Top 25. Blueblood programs like Florida State and USC will be expected to give this team a challenge, but Notre Dame stands head and shoulders above each of those teams on both sides of the ball.
If nobody else is going to truly test the Irish, the onus falls onto themselves. If Brian Kelly’s team, under the leadership of newfound starting quarterback Ian Book, can hold serve they’ll find themselves as a shoe-in for the College Football Playoff.
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One loss, especially to an upstart Syracuse team or a hot and cold Northwestern squad, could send those dreams down the drain. Right now the Irish control their own destiny. Can they handle the pressure?