We’re under seven weeks until the ball goes in the air and college football returns nationally.
Can Notre Dame return to the College Football Playoff for the third time in four seasons?
To do so they’ll have to navigate a schedule that may not be categorized as brutal, but presents plenty of challenges.
What are Notre Dame’s perceived easiest games and which ones will be the toughest challenges? You’re about to find as we rank the games from easiest to most difficult.
12. vs. Navy – Nov. 12
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Some will certainly get upset over this ranking for Navy but it should be the easiest win on the schedule for Notre Dame in 2021. The fact is that Notre Dame has outscored Navy 96-42 over the last two meetings and this is a Midshipmen squad coming off a season that saw them go just 3-7.
11. vs. Purdue – Sept. 18
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For the first time since 2014, Purdue is back on the schedule for Notre Dame. Two years ago this looked like a program that was about to turn a corner in the Big Ten, but has been more of a conference bottom-feeder again as they’ve gone 6-12 the past two seasons.
10. vs. Georgia Tech – Nov. 20
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Jeff Sims looks like he’s going to be a pretty good piece for Georgia Tech at quarterback but the reworking of the offense to a more pass-happy scheme is taking time. The Yellow Jackets will be better in 2021 but that’s a very relative term for a team that went 3-6 in a fairly average ACC last season.
9. vs. Toledo – Sept. 11
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I know most of you will look and ask “how can you put a MAC team above Navy, Georgia Tech and Purdue?” Because Toledo will probably be better than those three and will bring an incredible amount of experience to South Bend as they lose only a tight end from their starting lineup a year ago that went 4-2 in the shortened year. It should still be a relatively easy win for the Irish but don’t be surprised if Toledo is the MAC champion in 2021.
8. at Stanford – Nov. 27
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It took Brian Kelly until his fifth trip to Palo Alto to pull off a victory but with these two programs seemingly headed in different directions in recent years, that late-November trip out west doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as it did a few short years ago.
7. at Virginia – Nov. 13
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Virginia shouldn’t be as good as the team two years ago that went to the Orange Bowl but they should be better than the .500 record they put up in 2020. The offensive line should be strong but there remain many unknowns on this roster. For those that believe in the “post-Navy problem”, this game takes place a week after the Irish host the always physical Mids.
6. at Florida State – Sept. 5
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Former UCF star McKenzie Milton should help the quarterback position and Florida State will undoubtedly come out with an extra bit of energy to start the season under Mike Norvell but the offensive line remains a big issue for the Seminoles as they continue their road to recovery.
5. at Virginia Tech – Oct. 9
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Going on the road to Blacksburg is never ideal but under Justin Fuentes, Virginia Tech has gone just 19-18 over the last three seasons. This game coming after Wisconsin and Cincinnati and before USC and North Carolina scares me as much as anything.
4. vs. Cincinnati – Oct. 2
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The storylines for this one are obvious with Brian Kelly, Marcus Freeman, and Mike Mickens coaching against their former team but the Bearcats are an incredibly talented team that returns a bunch from a squad that went unbeaten in the 2020 regular season and nearly upset Georgia in the Peach Bowl.
3. vs. USC – Oct. 23
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USC has a Heisman-candidate at quarterback in Kedon Solvis and is a threat to win the whole Pac-12. The good news for Notre Dame is that this one comes at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Trojans haven’t won since 2011.
2. vs. North Carolina – Oct. 30
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North Carolina and USC are similar in terms of talent but the fact that the Tar Heels come to South Bend a week after the Trojans concerns me about Notre Dame’s ability to stay a high level for a stretch of games that features Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, and USC in the four weeks previous. Can Notre Dame slow down Sam Howell and the Tar Heels for a second season in a row? If the answer is yes then we may be talking about CFP in November.
1. vs. Wisconsin (Chicago) – Sept. 25
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The Jack Coan Bowl takes place at Solider Field in Chicago on September 25. Notre Dame has a month to gain experience in several key places before the first of a month-straight of difficult opponents. We’ll know a lot about Notre Dame’s abilities on both lines of scrimmage against a Wisconsin team that is always among the most physical teams nationally.
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