Notre Dame Football: What the preview magazines have to say

Athlon

The second page of this magazine has a two page spread of Ian Book throwing against Navy, noting Book is 36 touchdowns short of Brady Quinn’s record.

Athlon has Notre Dame in the top 10, ranked at number 9. Like Street & Smith, they project Clemson to win it all this season. Only three teams on the schedule are in the top 25, Clemson, Wisconsin at 12 and USC at 19. Western Michigan is ranked lowest at 102.

One of the thing that really separates this magazine from the rest is projected win/loss records of each team. According to Athlon, Notre Dame will face only one 10 win team, four 8 win teams and 9 bowl eligible teams.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is the only Irish player to make any of the three All-America teams, cracking the second team.

As for position rankings, the Irish have their number 8 quarterback room and 5th ranked offensive line. None of the other units cracked the top 10.

In their 15 things to watch piece, question number 8 asks “how good is good enough” as it pertains to College Football Playoff hopes under Brian Kelly. They note Kelly’s struggles in big games, stating that’s partly to blame for why the Kelly era hasn’t felt as big as previous generations. The book says the next elite victory for the team will be its first.

Ian Book is the lone player in the top 50, coming in at number 24. Notably, Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler is ranked ahead of Book despite having not started a single college game.

Overall, Athlon has Notre Dame going 10-2. It doesn’t say who the losses will come to, but considering Clemson is projected at 13-0, they’re definitely one. Through process of elimination, it’s safe to say the other loss will come at the hands of USC, who Athlon projects for one non-conference loss. USC’s top non-conference opponent, Alabama, is projected to go undefeated in non-conference games. Wisconsin is projected at one non-conference loss and their schedule includes Southern Illinois and Appalachain State.

Athlon finishes their Notre Dame pages by saying “nothing short of a playoff berth….will achieve the newly established expectations” in South Bend.

Notre Dame is projected to the Cotton Bowl against defending National Champions and 10-2 LSU, which would be the programs’ 3rd postseason meeting in seven years.