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Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will beat Louisville in Week 1

By Dante Pryor

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look on in the first half against the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look on in the first half against the Clemson Tigers during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

1. Notre Dame will look like an elite program again

Nos. 10,10,16, 8 and 3 — those are the recruiting class rankings for the Fighting Irish from 2017-21. Those numbers show they are recruiting with the elite programs in all of college football.

Brian Kelly said in the post game press conference after the Cotton Bowl that he felt they were closer to Clemson in terms of talent than the score indicated. That seemed a bit far-fetched, but those recruiting rankings say otherwise. This is Brian Kelly’s 10th season at South Bend (I know, right?), so the program has stability. He’s learned how to recruit in South Bend, and get not only some of the top recruits, but players that fit his system.

So, these are the games elite national programs win. Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State don’t lose games like this one. Sure, it’s a road game, but the Irish have two things that travel; an offensive line and a defense line which means their defense should travel and they should be able to run the ball. They’re the program with stability and Louisville is the one in transition.

Next. Top 50 college football players in 2019. dark

If Notre Dame wants to be seen as one of the nation’s elite, they win games like this one convincingly. Irish win 40-20.

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