As the Irish venture into the ACC for the season, their schedule was finalized finalized this morning along with finding out where they landed in the Amway Coaches poll powered by USA Today Sports. Here are a few thoughts on how the schedule is set up the Fighting Irish.
Clemson is still the toughest test for the regular season as they came in #1 in the Amway Coaches poll. The addition of #19 North Carolina will be tough, but the Tigers are still one of the best teams in the country. Dabo Swinney has recruited very well and his team is loaded with top-end talent led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Irish get an advantage by hosting the Tigers, but without fans, this might negate playing in South Bend.
Keeping on the Clemson game, the schedule sets up well for the Irish and they should be going into the November 7th game against the Tigers a clean 7-0. The most difficult game prior to facing Clemson will be Louisville, they will put up some points this season. Quarterback Micale Cunningham and wide receiver Tutu Atwell make up one of the best QB-WR tandems in the country, but the defense was atrocious last year. The Irish scored 35 points in the ’19 opener against the Cardinals which was two points over what their season average was last year. That effort put them 109th in the country and the Irish have plenty of time to find new skills position stars prior to that game.
The bye weeks come at a great time. We could nitpick a little bit about the six-game stretch between the first and last bye week, but it works out fairly well for the Irish. It would have been nice to see a bye before or around the Clemson game but having one in front of traveling to North Carolina is almost as good. Getting an extra week to prepare to go on the road and face a Top 25 team is ideal.
All in all, the Irish seem to have path that doesn’t pose many roadblocks to get back to Bank of America Stadium and compete for the ACC Championship. A split of the Clemson and North Carolina games while taking care of the rest of the lesser opponents would put the Irish at 10-1 which should be enough to be one of the top two teams in the ACC. Let’s hope it works out that way, with the Irish getting a chance to play for a conference title for the first time ever on December 12th and a College Football Playoff berth.