Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions vs. No. 6 Ohio State in Week 4
3. Notre Dame football will score 30-plus points
Since the start of the 2017 season, the Fighting Irish have managed to score 30 or more points against a top-10 team (rankings being judged on the final AP Poll of said season) just twice in nine opportunities. The first was a win against Clemson during the ACC/pandemic year of 2020. It was an enthralling 47-40 back-and-forth overtime victory for the Irish.
The second instance was in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl. That day, Marcus Freeman made his head coaching debut for the Irish. It was a pivotal time for the football program, as the team had been wounded by Brian Kelly’s lies, deceit, and abandonment in his shocking move to LSU.
However, Freeman successfully galvanized the Irish squad en route to taking a 28-7 first-half lead. Unfortunately, the shorthanded secondary (All-America Kyle Hamilton opted to sit out the bowl game, having already declared for the NFL Draft) eventually succumbed to Spencer Sanders’ aerial assault in the second half, and as a result, Notre Dame wound up losing the New Year’s Six bowl, 37-35.
Meanwhile, in the seven times that Notre Dame failed to reach the 30-point plateau, the Irish went winless and slogged its way to a meager scoring average of 12.3 points per game. Needless to say, the history doesn’t look particularly bright for Notre Dame’s offense. However, this year, this game will be different for the Golden Domers on the offensive side of the football.
A substantial reason for this is the addition of quarterback Sam Hartman. The grad transfer from Wake Forest has been nothing short of sublime since donning the Gold and Blue, and the difference between a Hartman-led offense to that of a Tyler Buchner, Drew Pyne, or even the valiant Ian Book is evident. Hartman’s poise in the pocket, field vision, passing accuracy, and overall self-confidence in his and his teammates’ abilities provide Notre Dame the proper platform to take the next step towards successfully competing against the very best across the country.
In addition, Notre Dame has a workhorse in the backfield with Audric Estime. The former Michigan State verbal commit has put the ‘Fight’ back into the Fighting Irish. His thundering form on the field puts fear in the minds of the opposing defense. No one wants to get in Audric’s way, because if he has any sort of leverage, then the defender is going to get run over.
As a result, the Irish offense will produce a proper balance between ground and pound, and success through the air on the way to scoring at least 30 points against the Buckeyes.