SerpApi.Org
At this point of the preseason, Notre Dame’s biggest questions don’t surround if it will make the College Football Playoff, its more along the lines of how far of a run will it make.
ESPN recently postured “What if’s” for all its perceived contending teams, and the Irish, along with eight other teams landed in the top group of just three questions to be answered. Bill Connelly assembled the list, and his first question for Notre Dame is if it can be a second-half of the season team.
It has everything to do with the schedule, unlike last fall where the first two games were against ranked opponents, the Irish should be able to ease their way into the year. Starting off against Wisconsin in Lambeau Field, then home games against Rice and Michigan State, before in the intrastate matchup against Purdue. Notre Dame should be 4-0 heading into its game at North Carolina, and a win over Stanford should have them 6-0 before traveling to face BYU. Miami a few weeks later, then SMU to finish off the home slate. Hard to say that Connelly is wrong here, as the Irish should be able to win all of its games before mid-October.
The second question is if “the new run game clears the bar.” Another big one for Notre Dame is how they’ll work around Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price no longer being part of the program. There is plenty of talent in the room, but it’s unproven at the moment. With the elite offensive line, the Irish still should be in good hands at the position, but its still a big unknown as to who will take the next step as the starter.
Finally, Connelly questions if “a big-play receiver emerges” from the group. Like the backs, the talent is there, it’s the experience that isn’t. He mentions the fact that Malachi Fields, Will Pauling and Eli Raridon, the top-three players with 20-plus yard receptions are gone, so there are holes to fill.
It seems to me that Connelly’s questions are fair, as those are some of the bigger ones that many of us have for Notre Dame this year. Hopefully the Irish can answer each one of them with flying colors, and if they do, the championship drought could come to an end.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: ESPN names 3 hurdles for Notre Dame to jump to win the CFP
