Notre Dame Football: What can we expect from the Irish in 2020?

How will Notre Dame football fare in 2020?

Notre Dame, after initially being in quite the bind after a wave of intraconference scheduling announcements, find themselves in a great position with their newfound ACC schedule. While the Irish are still in search of an opponent willing to travel to South Bend to fulfill their interconference matchup, they remain in a good position to go forward with their season.

As for now, the Irish will begin and end their season with home matchups against Duke and Syracuse, respectively. The following is a game-by-game prediction for each and every Notre Dame game set to be played this fall.

• Game 1: vs. Duke (W) — While the consensus is that the Blue Devils will improve upon their 2019 product, it likely won’t be enough to take down the Irish in South Bend.
• Game 2: at Wake Forest (W) — The Demon Deacons have put up surprisingly high offensive numbers against the Irish in their last two meetings, but it has yet to be enough to put them over the top. Don’t expect much different in 2020.
• Game 3: vs. Florida State (W) — Theoretically, the Seminoles could be a very tough out for the Irish if first year head coach Mike Norvell can turn the team around quickly. However, that result is far from a given and most likely ends in a fairly mundane Notre Dame win.
• Game 4: vs. Louisville (W) — While not reflected by the final score, Louisville played the Irish very tough in the 2019 opener. A chance for a similar outing in 2020 exists, but the Irish are far too talented to be outplayed by a team that allowed over 33 points per game last season.
• Game 5: at Pittsburgh (W) — This would certainly be considered a trap game if Pitt wasn’t already locked on Notre Dame’s radar. With seven of the last eight meetings between these two ending as one possession games, look for it to be a tight one if the Irish do pull it off.
• Game 6: at Georgia Tech (W) — The Irish will continue on the road (and likely in the win column) against a Georgia Tech team that experienced one of the worst point differentials in college football last season.
• Game 7: vs. Clemson (L) — Will the Irish finally be able to take down a top 10 team when it matters most? A unique 2020 season likely levels the playing field a bit, but Clemson simply has too much firepower on both sides of the ball to be dethroned as the ACC’s best.
• Game 8: at Boston College (W) — While fairly average by ACC standards, Boston College boasts a surprisingly capable offense with significant scoring potential. Will that be enough to carry them against an Irish team coming off a potentially frustrating loss? Not likely.
• Game 9: at North Carolina (W) — Depending on how each team is trending heading into the week, this could easily be a loss for the Irish. UNC took Clemson to the wire in 2019 and will be looking to do the same against a Notre Dame team vying for an ACC Championship appearance.
• Game 10: vs. Syracuse (W) — The Orange underwhelmed both against the Irish and as a whole in 2019. If Clemson is the Irish’s only loss at this point in the season, don’t expect Syracuse to be the team that hands them their second.

Prediction: 9-1

While the Irish currently only have 10 teams on their schedule, they are still actively scouting an 11th. Whatever team that is isn’t likely to be too large of a thorn in Notre Dame’s side, giving the Irish a real good chance to contend for the 2020 ACC Championship.

Anything short of an ACC Championship appearance should be considered a failure for an Irish team that has been on the brink of contention for the College Football Playoff over the past few years. While Clemson is one of the toughest outs in all of college football, any sort of success against the Tigers could go a long way for Notre Dame’s program as a whole.

There’s enough talent on this team to dismantle any ACC team outside of Clemson, but the pressure is bound to be on with little margin for error. Notre Dame should be grateful to be in this situation given their Independent status, which means they should be giving it all they’ve got the whole season through.