Notre Dame Football: Irish 2019 home schedule full of duds
Given the aggressive nature of Notre Dame football’s annual scheduling, the 2019 home slate is drastically underwhelming. The Irish did their fans no favors this season.
Notre Dame plays several top-tier opponents in 2019 including Georgia, Michigan and Stanford. For the Irish, a schedule with multiple of the sports’ traditional powers is nothing new.
The administration knows that in addition to the TV draw, they need to play a rigorous schedule if they want to return to the College Football Playoff any time soon. On one hand, they’ve achieved that goal, but not in a way that benefits the school or the fans.
All three of those games against the more premier opponents on the schedule will take place outside of South Bend. The national will get their fill of Notre Dame on the national stage, but their own fans will have to settle for a home schedule which fails to pack much of a punch.
Beyond an October date with an erratic USC squad, there isn’t another home event with much intrigue on Notre Dame’s schedule. They play New Mexico, Bowling Green, Virginia, USC, Virginia Tech, Navy and Boston College. A program as storied as Norte Dame shouldn’t be listing middle-tier ACC foes among their most exciting home matchups.
A fixture in every preseason Top 25, Notre Dame will be favored to win all of those home games. The task of winning those marquee road games could be one even Brian Kelly’s best coaching efforts are unable to summit. That’s a shame. After an incredible 2019 season, the Irish are one miscue away from a rather lackluster season.