Countdown to Kickoff Day 37: #14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

My love for Marcus Freeman began when I realized he gets lined up by his barber once OR TWICE a week. Any coach or player that lives out the phrase “Look good, play good,” WILL win me over. A lot of critics doubted his age, his lack of experience blah blah blah, all you have to do is look at his haircut and you can tell if he is going to make it or not. A 9-4 start to his head coaching stint at Notre Dame is a good start.

With a year under his belt and a highly skilled QB in Sam Hartman coming in from Wake Forest, Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish are ready to make a run for the CFP this year ... .and then let everyone down by losing to Alabama by 30 points.

I’m kidding, If Notre Dame were to make the playoffs this year they would be battle tested and battle approved as they are scheduled to take on three AP Top-10 teams in the regular season (Ohio State, Clemson, and USC).

Last time Notre Dame had a QB that everyone in South Bend could put their confidence in was Brady Quinn in 2006. Now, there have been decent quarterbacks circled through the rotation, but none as good as Sam Hartman will be for this Irish team. He is a veteran’s veteran about to begin his fifth college football season, has thrown for over 12,000 yards, and has 110 touchdowns. The Catholic Air Raid is coming and opponents can only hope to contain it. Gerad Parker’s group on offense is also in great hands with the offensive line (as they always are) but there are some questions with the receivers. Deion Colzie, Tobias Merriweather and Jayden Thomas are all more than capable of being great pass catchers, but who will be the go-to for Hartman?

The defense will be stellar as they were last year. #32 in PPG, #18 in Yards/Game, and #13 in Sack percentage. They will be losing their sack leader in Isaiah Foskey, and a couple other trusty veterans, but a handful of young playmakers from last year are ready to step into a star player role. Howard Cross III, Gabriel Rubio, Rylie Mills, Nana Osafo-Mensah, Jordan Botelho, and Benjamin Morrison are all players who had an impact on last year's success and are going to be even better this year.

Prediction: I see another 9-3 season. 2 of the 3 Top-10 teams they play are at home so they might win two of those, but the other four ACC teams they play (excluding Clemson), three of them will be on the road, and all of the games are against scrappy teams who can pull off an upset (NC State, Duke, Louisville, and Wake Forest).

How Many Games Will Notre Dame Win In 2023?

• 9 or more
• 8 or less