Notre Dame Football: 3 reasons the Irish will struggle in 2020

1. Notre Dame football struggles against contenders

If there has been one consistent knock against Notre Dame it is the Irish have not come up with the goods against the better teams in the Power Five. Most recently, they lost against the two best teams on their schedule in Michigan and Georgia last season.

Notre Dame is 32-6 over the last three seasons. Their six losses: Georgia (twice), Clemson, Michigan, Stanford and Miami. All of those teams were ranked at the time they played.

If the Irish want to change the narrative this season, they need to hang with Clemson and beat USC, Stanford and Wisconsin.

For this to happen, everything mentioned has to come together. Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator has to be a good idea. Whether Ian Book being better is up for debate, but a dynamic playmaker on the outside — or at running back — would certainly make him look better.

Playing teams like Wisconsin, Pitt, Navy and Louisville means the run defense has to be better. Playing Clemson, Stanford and USC means the secondary and pass rush both have to come together.

The floor for this team this season is nine wins. Brian Kelly has the Irish good for 8-9 wins every season at this point in his tenure. If they want to move the needle, however, they need elite play.

If the defense is good, but not great and they are good, but not dynamic on the perimeter look for the Irish to beat the teams they are better than, have tough games against teams they are even with and lose to better teams.

That result would mean that Kelly has yet to change the narrative.