Notre Dame Football: Ranking 2020 opponents by toughness

Geoff Collins didn’t exactly “work wonders” in his first year with Georgia Tech, but he was facing a massive rebuild and still managed to pull off upsets over Miami and NC State. The Yellow Jackets did lose to USF and The Citadel along the way, but there’s something to build on.

James Graham returns at quarterback along with 17 starters combined on offense and defense, but this team has a long way to go. In fact, the Yellow Jackets ranked No. 89 nationally in total defense and 127th in total offense a year ago. This should be a cakewalk for the Irish.

After going 3-9 in 2018, it seemed as if Ken Niumatalolo’s momentum at Navy was halted. He had won just 10 games in two seasons after building the program up.

And then 2019 happened. The Midshipmen won 11 games along with a Liberty Bowl triumph over Kansas State. Everything seems to be back on schedule, but that doesn’t mean the Midshipmen will topple Notre Dame. A year ago, they lost to the Irish 52-20 for one of their two stumbles on the season.

Malcolm Perry is also gone. This could be another tough matchup for Navy.