Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions for November 2020

1. Notre Dame beats Clemson, loses to North Carolina

Notre Dame has a massive matchup this weekend against Clemson in South Bend and while many believed the Tigers would roll the Fighting Irish weeks ago, this game got a little more interesting with the news that Trevor Lawrence would be out after testing positive for COVID-19.

With Lawrence out and a true freshman — albeit an elite one — in DJ Uiagalelei starting in his first road game against a top-10 opponent, I see the Irish pulling off this upset.

That will be huge for Notre Dame’s playoff hopes as they’ll be 7-0 and potentially jump into the top two of the AP rankings.

But don’t get too excited if you’re a Notre Dame fan. There are two tough road games remaining to round out the month with former backup Phil Jurkovec’s Boston College Eagles and North Carolina, led by Sam Howell. Jurkovec might be out for blood, but expect Notre Dame to take care of the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, but I don’t see the Irish having the same luck in Chapel Hill.

Howell and the Tar Heels will pull off the upset of the Irish and potentially knock Notre Dame out of the playoff race — at least for the time being.

A win in the ACC title game would make up lost ground, however.