Notre Dame Football: Phil Steele Still Believes in Irish in 2019
It’s mid-June, meaning arguably the best college football preview magazine is now available. Here’s what it has to say about Notre Dame football.
Last year, Phil Steele’s annual college football preview had pretty high hopes for the Fighting Irish. He predicted Notre Dame football to be the No. 1 surprise team in the country, along with a New Year’s Six Bowl appearance. They lived up the hype with an undefeated regular season and a College Football Playoff appearance.
I’ve already covered Street & Smith, Lindy’s and Athlon’s thoughts on the 2019 Irish, but what does the most accurate magazine over the last 21 seasons think?
While nobody from South Bend makes the first team as an All-American, Tommy Kraemer makes the second team, Alohi Gilman is on the 3rd and Julian Okwara is on the 4th team.
In terms of unit rankings, Notre Dame has Steele’s 14th best quarterbacks, 51st running backs, 33rd receivers and 8th offensive line.
On defense, Notre Dame has the 11th defensive line, 43rd linebackers, and 8th defensive backs.
Notre Dame’s special teams aren’t ranked in the top 57, which is understandable given how much they have lost there.
They’ll play the 53rd toughest schedule in the country, which Steele says is one of the most underrated in the country. In that schedule, they play two teams that have — according to Steele — an 81% chance of a better or same record than 2018 (Navy and Virginia Tech). They’ll also play Steele’s 9th (Virginia Tech) and 10th (Stanford) surprise teams. Virginia Tech, USC and Navy are among Steele’s most improved teams for this season.
As for other Notre Dame opponents, Michigan is ranked 3rd, Georgia is 4th, Stanford 22nd, Virginia Tech 25th, and USC is 32nd,
Notre Dame is Steele’s 9th ranked team, a team that falls to 98th on his experience chart, but is still a title contender capable of getting back to the Playoff.
Additionally, Steele says Notre Dame’s home field advantage is worth 4.75 points.
In a little bit of a fun fact, Steele points out that this is just the second season since 2008 that the Irish don’t play a neutral site game.
Ian Book is 10th in the preseason Heisman poll. Steele believes voters will take notice because of his status as the starting quarterback at Notre Dame.
Next. Does Ian Book have a shot at the Heisman?. dark
When the season is over, Steele has the Irish in a New Year’s Six Bowl yet again, this time in the Orange Bowl vs. ACC Coastal division champion Miami.