The Notre Dame football team finished its regular season against the USC Trojans on Nov. 30 and won 49-35. The Irish earned an impressive 11-1 record and secured the seven seed and will play their first-round playoff against Indiana one week from tommorrow.
The Irish and Hoosiers will face off for the 29th time and the first time since 1991. Notre Dame controls the series lead with a record of 23-4-1. The Irish look to make a deep playoff run and win their first major bowl game since 1994.
5 Biggest X-factors for Notre Dame football ahead of the 2024 CFP
Winning the trenches, quarterback play and coaching is essential parts of winning in the playoffs, and the Fighting Irish will need everyone at the top of their game to take down not only Indiana and their stout rushing defense, but Georgia and others.
Here are five of the Notre Dame football players biggest X-factors heading into the 2024 CFP.
5. Howard Cross
Cross has been sidelined for the last two games for the Irish due to an ankle injury from week 11. Cross has been a dominant for the Irish and has helped lead the Irish to lead the nation in interior sacks with 19. Cross has recorded four sacks on the season with 23 tackles and 13 of them being solo ad 5.5 of them were for a loss.
Cross stands at 6-foot-1, 288-pounds and is a versatile defender who can line up in many positions on the defensive line. Cross will most likely be good to go and play against Indiana, but the Irish will need him at 100% and back to not only the production he was at before the injury, but back to 2023 Cross, where he earned second-team All-American.
Cross is the difference in the pass rush and when he is on the field this Irish defense is much better than when he is off the field. Irish fans hope he can get healthy and attack the opponent’s quarterback and take the some of the pressure off of the Notre Dame secondary.
4. Jadarian Price
The Irish have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation as they average 224.8 yards per game on the ground. The run-game is led by a three-headed monster in Jeremiyah Love, Riley Leonard, and Jadarian Price. Love was sidelined in the Irish final game against USC where he wouldn’t return. Irish fans hope Love is able to play, but in case he isn’t 100%, Notre Dame football will need Price to step up like he has all year.
Price stepped up when Love went down against the Trojans as he had a career high with 111 rushing yards on 12 carries, including a 36 yard rushing touchdown to open the third quarter.
The Junior out of Texas, has been a spark on the Irish offense all season as he provides explosive runs and finds the end zone often on long runs. Twenty of Price's 89 carries have gone for 10 or more yards, which is tied for 4th best among running backs. Price has 651 yards on the ground for the Irish and averages 7.3 yards per carry. In the Irish opening game at Texas A&M, it was Price who found the endzone first and put the Irish up 13-6 in the third quarter on a 47 yard touchdown run.
Price found the end zone on two rushing plays over 60 yards, as in week 3 against Purdue, he ran for a 70 yard touchdown right before halftime, and in week 13 he found the end zone against Florida State on a 65 yard run.
With or without Love, Price has been the sparkplug on the Irish offense in big games all year. The Irish will need Price to continue his explosive runs to keep the load off Leonard and Love and to help tire out Notre Dame opponent’s defensive front.
3. Mitchell Evans
Notre Dame starting tight-end, Mitchell Evans was on the 2024 Associated Press Preseason All-American second team and was expected to be Riley Leonard favorite target in the redzone. Evans had a slow start to the 2024 season, as it took him until week 13 to find the endzone for the first time. The preseason All-American only had 16 catches for 133 yards.
However, since week 13 against Florida State, it seems Riley Leonard and Evans chemistry and connection has been growing. From week 13 to week 16 against USC, Evans has had 13 catches for 139 yards with three touchdowns. He best came against the Trojans where he brought in five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.
The Irish average 196.4 yards through the air and rely heavily on their three-headed monster on the ground. However, if the Irish want to make a deep playoff run, they have to go through statistically the best run defense in Indiana, and experienced defense in Georgia. Riley Leonard will be tested and someone that will need to step up is Mitchell Evans. Evans recent games is the tight-end Irish fans were hoping to get and need the numbers and productivity to carry into the postseason now.
2. Christian Gray
While Gray had a game-changing 99-yard pick six against USC, the sophomore struggled against the Trojans high-powered offense for most of the game. The Irish passing defense suffered a huge loss early in the season when All-American, Benjamin Morrison, suffered a hip injury and has been sidelined for the season. Gray, with big shoes to fill, has had to step up and cover the opponent’s best receiver and has had a solid season.
Gray has had a lot of positive moments in the season, as he has 19 tackles, one for a loss, two interceptions and eight pass deflections, and by numbers had a solid game against the Trojans. He had career-high seven tackles, six were solo and had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup along with his 99-yard pick six to put the Irish up 14 late in the fourth quarter.
However, with all that when Irish fans watched the film, they saw Grey was being targeted time after time and struggled immensely against the best offense he has faced so far. He gave up nearly 100 yards in the air, a couple touchdowns against USC and had a couple pass interference penalties.
If the Irish want to go far, they are going to face the best offenses in the nation and will need Grey to stay poised and reload.
1. Mitch Jeter
The Irish have been one of the worst teams in field goals this season since their placekicker, Mitch Jeter, suffered a hamstring injury in September. The main concern for Notre Dame football is the kicking from Mitch Jeter. Jeter is a perfect 45/45 on extra points, but is 6/12 on field goals which is 50% and is 1/5 in his three games since his injury. He most recently went 0/1 against USC and missed from just a 27 yard field goal. The senior kicker is struggling with longer kicks, as he only converted just 4 of 7 attempts from 40-49 yards and missed his only attempt from 50+ yards this year.
Jeter needs to just get healthy and be the reliable kicker he was in his past. Jeter was near perfect in 2023 and was perfect in 2022. As Notre Dame Football looks to to begin its postseason run, the key to their postseason success may rest on the health and performance of Mitch Jeter. Notre Dame offense won't be able to dominate every defense they face in the playoffs, and Irish fans have to assume there will come a time that they need Jeter to make a field goal to either cut the deficit, add to the lead for comfort or even to tie the game.