Tag: 2020 football schedule

Notre Dame Football: Add BYU to 2020 schedule?

Notre Dame has a blank hole on their schedule September 19. Would having BYU come to South Bend make sense?

Some have asked through e-mail, other through comments on the Fighting Irish Wire Facebook page, why we act like there is going to be a college football season.

Simply put: until news comes out otherwise, what do you think we should do?  Get stuck with our heads buried in a deep, dark place?

As of now Notre Dame and the ACC are scheduled to start playing football games the second week of September.  Obviously that could change at any moment but as of right now the games are still set to be played so we’ll get ready for a season just like we would if we weren’t living in a pandemic.

With that in mind, Notre Dame doesn’t yet have an out-of-conference opponent scheduled since the MAC canceling their season meant the Western Michigan game on September 19 isn’t happening.

Searching the internet I stumbled into a post from Vanquish the Foe, a BYU blog.  There they were hoping for Notre Dame and BYU to meet up on that September 19 date since BYU is trying to find any Power Five opponent and Notre Dame suddenly has an open spot.

I’d be more than happy to see BYU come to South Bend the second week of September.  Despite the Cougars being responsible for stealing Rocket Ismail’s 1990 Heisman Trophy and messing up the opener in 2004, what has BYU ever really done to make you that upset?

I like that BYU plays football as an independent, just like how I like that Notre Dame does the same in any year that isn’t struck by a global pandemic.

The folks at Vanquish the Foe bring up compelling points that BYU feels owed to have the Irish come to Provo and as much as I’m not holding my breath waiting for that trip to happen, it’s the right thing to do to help BYU this season.

Sure Notre Dame could likely easily get a game scheduled against pretty much any Group of Five member who doesn’t have their season canceled.  BYU might not be the powerhouse they were under LaVell Edwards but it’s a heck of a lot bigger name brand than anything else that is likely to be out there.

BYU is hurting for a big opponent and wasn’t gifted the chance to join a conference like Notre Dame was.  With the rest of the ACC playing the likes of UAB, VMI, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, Samford, UCF, Old Dominion and Liberty as out of conference opponents, why not be different and schedule someone that’s of at least some interest?

Sorry UCF fans, that was mean.  Props to Georgia Tech for scheduling that game that will almost certainly be a Yellow Jackets loss.

You get my point though, there is a whole lot of uninteresting match-ups outside of ACC play this season.

Just because Notre Dame isn’t an independent in 2020 doesn’t mean they can’t throw a bone to an independent they’ve had a little bit of a history with before, having played the Cougars eight times before.  The game would have to be played in Indiana due to ACC guidelines for 2020 and I’d be fine with that.

It’s not the kind of game that would make me want to go perform cartwheels in the street, but it’d do a lot more for me than a UAB or Charlotte coming to South Bend.

Consider me in for BYU coming to South Bend in 2020 but yeah, I’ve still got no interest in that return trip to Provo happening anytime soon.

Navy finds Notre Dame’s ’20 replacement, yet extends Notre Dame series

Notre Dame and Navy won’t be playing for the first time in almost a century. So who did the Midshipmen replace the Irish with this year?

For the first time since 1926, Notre Dame and Navy won’t be meeting up in football this fall.  I discussed this and how it will just be weird and I won’t like the game not taking place this year, even if it is about as non-traditional as a rivalry can be.

The Naval Academy was probably aware how difficult it would be to pull off the necessary changes in order to pull off the game after the ACC’s requirement of only one non-conference game that had to be played in the ACC team’s home state.  That eliminated Notre Dame from being able to travel to Annapolis for the first time in the history of the series and sadly meant there wouldn’t be a Notre Dame/Navy match-up in 2020.

Notre Dame instead plays Western Michigan as their only non-ACC game and it didn’t take long for Navy to find a replacement in independent BYU, who will now travel to Annapolis on September 7.

Related:  Predicting Notre Dame’s Game-by-Game Results for 2020

Navy also announced an extension to the Notre Dame series that will run through 2032.

Assuming 2020 is the only year that Notre Dame and Navy are unable to play, they will have played in 105 of 106 seasons after the contract runs out in 2032.

Notre Dame Finally Gets 2020 Football Schedule

Notre Dame’s 2020 football schedule is officially out. Check it out here and find out what longtime rivalry sadly ends…

Notre Dame and the ACC unveiled their 2020 football schedule on Thursday with some significant changes compared to what it looked like just a month ago.

Here’s how 2020 shapes up for Notre Dame:

Notre Dame 2020 Football Schedule:

September 12 vs. Duke
September 19 vs. Western Michigan
September 26 at Wake Forest (Charlotte)
October 3 BYE
October 10 vs. Florida State
October 17 vs. Louisville
October 24 at Pitt
October 31 at Georgia Tech
November 7 vs. Clemson
November 14 at Boston College
November 21 BYE
November 27 at North Carolina
December 5 vs. Syracuse
December 12 or 19 ACC Championship in Charlotte

There it is – Notre Dame’s first schedule as a member of the ACC.

As you may notice, the Navy game was unable to be worked out, marking the end of a consecutive series that dates all the way back to 1927.

Notre Dame vs. Alabama in Week One?

With the rearranging going on in college football scheduling, could Notre Dame and Alabama be meeting up? One man with some power says yes.

Everything is clearly up in the air in regards to college football in 2020.  As Notre Dame fans know, cancellations of all out-of-conference games by the Big Ten and Pac-12 in the last week or so have created quite the fallout in terms of scheduling.

That’s not just for Notre Dame but for literally any team that was scheduled to play a Big Ten or Pac-12 foe out-of-conference this fall.

Another team that lost their date with USC is Alabama, who had their week one fling in Dallas cancelled.  However, according the President and CEO of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, a replacement for USC might come in the form of Notre Dame.

Gary Stokan is the President and CEO of the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game and is a man that would at least certainly know if those conversations have been had.  He made those comments above on the Thom Abraham Show on Friday afternoon.

Brian Kelly admitted earlier this week that Notre Dame wasn’t worried about filling out a schedule because their “phone was ringing off the hook” with different schools looking to add the Irish.

Was Alabama or the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game one of those calls?

I both love and hate the idea of potentially playing Alabama in the first week of the season.

I love it because of what Brian Kelly and many others have said about scheduling at Notre Dame – the three A’s:

Anybody, anytime, anywhere.

Powerhouse Alabama in Week One in Tuscaloosa, South Bend or Dallas would certainly fit that mold.

And it provides a chance for a marquee win right out of the shoot, something Notre Dame has had very few of in recent decades.

But it could also end in a loss, either a heart-breaker or complete blowout, that could send the 2020 season into a tailspin quickly.

As intimidating as it would be to see Alabama in Week One of the regular season, why run from it?

If the goal is a national championship, you’ve got to get by Alabama or the SEC Champion at some point anyway. Why not do that to start the year?

For now I’ll just hope we get college football in any capacity this year before I start the “We Want Bama!” chants.

77 days until Notre Dame football returns (hopefully)

Notre Dame football returns to action in 11 weeks. Don’t miss the countdown today as we remember a national championship team!

There wasn’t a lot of great news in the world of sports on Friday as seemingly everywhere you looked, a professional league or college football team was announcing a handful or more of players had been hit with the coronavirus.

If you’re looking for optimism, it was a tough day in that regard, but good things happened in other avenues as Notre Dame’s football team celebrated Juneteenth by having an on-campus march that brought more attention to social injustices in the United States.

Today marks just 11 weeks until Notre Dame is scheduled to take on Navy in Week One of college football.

We looked back at a Notre Dame bowl record as we counted down the 78 days until kickoff Friday, now let’s remember a legendary season.

(19)77: Notre Dame Wins National Championship

Led by the likes of Bob Golic, Ken MacAfee, Ross Browner, Luther Bradley and some guy named Joe Montana, the 1977 Notre Dame team overcame an early-season loss at Mississippi and a large deficit at Purdue to win the national championship.

An October thrashing of USC in the iconic “Green Jersey Game” took the Irish from 11th to fifth in the national ratings, the same spot they’d hold while eventually meeting No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

A 38-10 thrashing of the Longhorns on that New Year’s Day afternoon vaulted Notre Dame all the way to number one and gave Dan Devine a national championship in a truly magical year.

If you haven’t seen it before and have the time, the 22 minute piece Notre Dame put together highlighting the ’77 squad is very well done.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKGyQPufHVc&w=560&h=315]

In 77 days we get to watch Notre Dame football again.

At least we hope.

Let’s go!

Related – Way too early game-by-game predictions for Notre Dame football in 2020

Help is on the way, Texas wide receiver set to return from suspension

Redshirt freshman receiver Kennedy Lewis is rejoining his teammates for summer workouts after serving a suspension.

Wide receiver will be one of the most intense position battles to watch at Texas this offseason. Continue reading “Help is on the way, Texas wide receiver set to return from suspension”

Toughest four-game stretch for Texas football this season

Texas must start the season out strong if they hope to become national title contenders.

Texas head coach Tom Herman can rid the monkey off of his back in regards to consistency if he can find a way to power through a few tough stretches of games this season. Continue reading “Toughest four-game stretch for Texas football this season”

Will Notre Dame not be playing in NFL stadiums in 2020?

Will Notre Dame be playing schedule games in NFL venues in 2020? Brian Kelly spoke to Mike Tirico about potentially changing that Tuesday.

For playing a plenty respectable schedule in 2020, Notre Dame has a very kind set of games in terms of where they’re played.

Sure they have to play Wisconsin who is almost always in the top 15, but they get them at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers instead of at Camp Randall in Madison.

Wake Forest doesn’t present the most difficult of places to play but the Irish are slated to play the Demon Deacons in Charlotte, home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers instead.

And the meeting with Georgia Tech on Masters weekend is currently set to be played in the Atlanta Falcons stadium, not on Georgia Tech’s campus.

That only helps things for Notre Dame in terms of the of the likelihood of a victory in each of those games by not having to go play a true road game.

But it all might be changing according to Brian Kelly, who spoke on Mike Tirico’s new show on NBCSN Tuesday.

The one thing worth mentioning there is that Pitt does not have a stadium on their campus as they play at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wisconsin would then come to Notre Dame Stadium as well since it is technically a Notre Dame home game in the Shamrock Series.

I can’t at all get upset about any of it.  One, the Badgers having to come to Notre Dame Stadium, even if the crowd is nowhere near capacity only does Notre Dame favors.

College football is made to be played on campus, though.  I know some of those in Georgia and Florida or Oklahoma and Texas will discuss how great their rivalries are when they’re played annually on neutral fields, but is there anything better than a football Saturday in the fall on your favorite college campus?

As cool as it is for teenagers to get to play in NFL venues and as much as Notre Dame promotes doing so, there is nothing like college football being played on campus and not in neutral or watered down professional stadiums.

Some might get upset because Notre Dame doesn’t play as many games in NFL venues but to me, this would be more how college football is meant to be played.

“Notre Dame is back” says 247Sports

It’s fearless prediction time across the college football world and Notre Dame found mad-praise from one respected outlet recently.

If you recall the thrilling but heartbreaking finish to Notre Dame’s season opening loss in 2016 at Texas you may remember the television call that went, “Texas is back, folks!”

Well, 247Sports made 20 bold predictions for the 2020 college football season and in them discredit Texas a bit but think very highly of Notre Dame’s chances in the upcoming season.

From Brandon Marcello of 247Sports:

Notre Dame/Clemson Line Update After Ross Injury

Justyn Ross’s injury certainly won’t help Clemson in 2020 as they contend for another national title. How does it effect their odds vs ND?

Yesterday we received news that Clemson star receiver and potential first round NFL Draft pick Justyn Ross won’t play in 2020 due to a congenital fusion that will require surgery and leave his future in football very much in jeopardy.

Obviously the sad news of this is the star player possibly not realizing his full potential on the football field all because of something he has no control whatsoever about.

I was curious what the odds-makers thought about the injury to Ross and if it changed the way Clemson was viewed at all.

Back when we looked over Notre Dame’s odds in seven games listed by BetMGM in April the Irish were a 7.5 point underdog against Clemson.

Checking back today we see that, well, not a lot has changed in that department whatsoever as Clemson is still listed as a 7.5 point favorite for the November 7 showdown at Notre Dame Stadium.

Odds via BetMGM. Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated June 2 at 6:15 p.m. ET.

If you look at where Notre Dame has the biggest questions on defense you’d think this may matter a little bit more considering it’s a secondary that comes with virtually no experience playing together.  However, if the Notre Dame front seven is unable to to take care of business up front it could just be a Travis Etienne show.

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