Notre Dame football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2023

Marcus Freeman’s first season as Notre Dame football’s head coach can be dubbed a success. The Irish finished the season 9-4 with a Gator Bowl win over South Carolina and they were No. 18 in the final AP Top 25.

Notre Dame will likely enter the 2023 season with even higher expectations as Freeman has brought in Sam Hartman to help solve the quarterback inconsistencies.

Tommy Rees is gone, but the Irish will be more dangerous offensively and the defense should improve, too.

How would the season play out if it started today?

Ken Niumatalolo will no longer be patrolling the sidelines for Navy which will be weird and Brian Newberry will get a crack at taking down Notre Dame in Ireland. I don’t think that’s going to go over well with the new head coach, however.

The Midshipmen just don’t have the firepower to hang with a revamped Notre Dame team and I can see the Irish getting people to believe in them as a top-five team after a comfortable win in the season opener over in Ireland.

Prediction: Win (1-0)

OK, this one doesn’t need a ton of explanation. Notre Dame will win this one comfortably after coming home from Ireland and it’ll be a nice confidence booster before facing a tough stretch in the coming month.

Tennessee State will barely make a dent in the Irish. But seeing Eddie George on the sidelines will be fun.

Prediction: Win (2-0)