Notre Dame football: Can the Irish shock the college football world?

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 01: Head coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish smiles during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 01: Head coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish smiles during the first half of the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame football team takes on Ohio State in Week 1 of the college football season with a real chance to shock the college football world.

Can Notre Dame football first-year head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish shock the college football world in Week 1?

Today, Notre Dame football will look to have one of the biggest wins in the last 20 years for the program, when the No. 5 ranked Irish travel to the Horseshoe and take on the No. 2 Ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. The Irish will head into this top-5 matchup as a 17.5-point underdog, so it is clear what the narrative is going into this primetime matchup.

Outside of the Notre Dame football players and coaches, no one in the media thinks the Irish have a shot on tonight and many think this game will be over by halftime. All week leading up to the big-time matchup you’ve been hearing the same old sayings from the past about how overrated Notre Dame is and how they never show up for big-time games.

Can Notre Dame football shock the world in Week 1?

Honestly, it’s been accurate and deserved most of the time just take a look back at the previous year’s big games and playoff games most of these games were snoozefest and painful to watch under the previous regime. The narrative of Notre Dame lacking talent and speed in these games has been far overblown by the media and just hasn’t been true the last couple of years, in all reality, it’s been the lack of coaches getting the players ready for this type of matchup and not just treating it like just any other “game”

Yes, Ohio State is an incredibly talented team and has multiple first-round talents on their roster, but so does this Notre Dame football team. The Irish have outstanding coaches, big-time playmakers on both sides of the ball, and are a team looking to shed the narrative that they cannot win big games, so this is not going to be the cakewalk many feel it will be for the Buckeyes.

Games are won and lost between the white lines, not on paper, so get ready for what should be an exciting Saturday night Irish fans! Can the Irish shock the college football world? I do not see why not.