Notre Dame Football: The Biggest Obstacles Of The 2018 Season
By Ben Belden
Making the College Football Playoff is never easy. For the 2018 Notre Dame football team, there are a few obstacles that could complicate their route to Santa Clara next January.
Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame team is poised to be one the of the nation’s best in 2018. The Irish return a lot of talent from last year’s 10-3 squad. That team surged to 3rd in the College Football Playoff rankings before hitting its biggest obstacle — injuries and a lack of depth that made for a disappointing November for Notre Dame football players and fans alike. Those obstacles shouldn’t be as much of an issue this year, as the Irish have seemingly strengthened each position group, with the exception of the offensive line.
Success seems to be the expectation, but what could get in the way Notre Dame’s ability to contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff?
Week One
Notre Dame has usually had success in opening week matchups, but this year they open with a formidable opponent in Michigan. The Irish should win this game, but that doesn’t mean they will. The opening week game against the Wolverines is going to be a slugfest that will require Chip Long’s offense to execute in crucial situations. If the Irish aren’t sharp offensively, it will be hard for them to walk away victorious.
The Irish have high expectations this year. In week one, there is the added pressure that those expectations could fall by the wayside before this team even gets out of the proverbial starting blocks.
Two neutral site games against “trap” opponents
In the second half of the season, the Irish play Navy in San Diego and Syracuse (a scheduled home game) at Yankee Stadium. Both of these games present unique challenges for the Irish.
Navy is a challenge for Notre Dame every year. That almost doesn’t need explained at this point. The Midshipmen are disciplined and execute their offense really well. What that likely means for Notre Dame is fewer possessions and less room for error. The Irish are off the week before this game, which could be either good or bad. They have an extra week to prepare for the option–that’s the good part. They also run the risk of being a little rusty offensively in a game where they will need to be efficient.
And then there’s Syracuse. The last time Notre Dame played in a baseball stadium the second-to-last week of the season, things didn’t go particularly well. The Irish were able to eventually hang on and beat a limited Boston College team, but it was undoubtedly their ugliest win of the 2015 season. The Irish turned the ball over five times in that game, but Boston College was pretty hapless offensively in their own right. Against a much better offense in Syracuse, the Irish won’t be able to get away with lackluster ball security.
The Schedule
The powers that be really didn’t do the Irish any favors when working out this year’s schedule. It’s not that the opponents are unusually daunting–Notre Dame is used to playing a difficult schedule. It’s the travel that might do the Irish in toward the end of the season.
To their benefit, the Irish host many of their toughest opponents, as Michigan, Stanford, and Florida State all make their way to South Bend in 2018. The Irish travel to Blacksburg, Virginia for a battle with Virginia Tech on October 6th and then wrap the schedule with a trip to USC on November 24th.
But the reality is that Notre Dame’s schedule amounts to only two real home games through all of October and November. Notre Dame’s scheduled home game with Syracuse on November 17th has been moved to New York’s Yankee Stadium as part of their Shamrock Series.
In all, Notre Dame will travel a total of 6238 miles (and that’s just one way) for away games this season.
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As there always seems to be, the path to the College Football Playoff is a little fuzzy for the Irish. Here’s to hoping Brian Kelly’s squad can overcome the obstacles to put together a solid 2018 season.