Notre Dame Football: 5 biggest concerns for Fighting Irish in 2019

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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 02: Sharif Finch #6 of the Temple Owls intercepts a pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the third quarter of a game at Notre Dame Stadium on September 2, 2017 in South Bend, Indiana. The Irish won 49-16. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

4. The turnover margin

There are plenty of concerns on the defensive side of the football for Notre Dame this year. My biggest concern for this year is the turnover differential. I’m afraid that they are going to force fewer turnovers on defense while also committing more turnovers on offense.

This is for a few reasons. In the running game, Dexter Williams was a reliable back. He will be hard to replace. You also will see more of the passing game, which will likely lead to more interceptions from Ian Book.

Defensively, there were only 12 interceptions last year. Most of the secondary is coming back, which is a good sign. However, their leader in forced fumbles is no longer on the team. With all of the changes on both offense and defense, I’m afraid their turnover differential will be worse this year.

Now, it wasn’t necessarily a great margin last season. It was only +4 for the whole year. Any positive turnover margin is nice, but I’m sure they would like to have it be closer to double digits.

Also, they will have a tougher schedule this year. If you put the same effort into a +4 margin this year, it would probably be a negative margin. In those tough games against Michigan and Georgia, every possession will count. They might only win if they can win the turnover battle against key teams. Without Tillery and the trust in Williams, I’m not sure if they can win the turnover battle.

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