Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1264448
16 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW UNDER THE DOME If there has ever been a year for Notre Dame's football team to be "thrown off schedule," 2020 is it. It already began when the regular season was supposed to commence in Ireland on Aug. 29 versus Navy. Because of the coro- navirus pandemic, though, the decision by the two schools was made in June that the game will be pushed up to either Sept. 5 or 6 — which had been a bye weekend for both teams — and played at Annapolis, Md., on Navy's campus, for the first time since the uninterrupted series began in 1927. Meanwhile, in mid-May, the Pac-12 dis- cussed playing an 11-game regular season against solely league members, meaning the Fighting Irish trip to USC Nov. 28 and Stanford's journey to Notre Dame Oct. 10 could be in jeopardy. As of mid-June that was merely idle spec- ulation while keeping all options on the ta- ble. Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick is realistic about such a possibility, but also confident that the show would go on with the 2020 schedule. "I'd be surprised if there wasn't any con- ference that wouldn't look at a conference- only alternative," Swarbrick said in May. "If it goes that way we'll be fine. "We'll be able to play a high-quality, full schedule, the same number of games other teams would play." The 2020 slate also features several neu- tral-site games in NFL Stadiums: Wake For- est on Sept. 26 in Charlotte, N.C.; Wisconsin on Oct. 10 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.; and Georgia Tech on Nov. 14 at Mer- cedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Part of the appeal to move to such venues is to help generate a larger audience, es- pecially because Wake Forest's on-campus stadium holds only 31,500, while Georgia Tech's Grant Field has a capacity of 55,000. SCHEDULE PLANNING IN 2020 TAKES UNIQUE TWIST 2023 Ohio State at Stanford USC 2024 at Texas A&M at Purdue Stanford at USC 2025 Purdue Texas A&M at Arkansas USC 2026 at Purdue Michigan State 2027 Purdue at Michigan State 2028 Alabama at Purdue 2029 at Alabama 2020 Schedule Date Opponent Sept. 5/6 at Navy Sept. 12 Arkansas Sept. 19 Western Michigan Sept. 26 vs. Wake Forest+ Oct. 3 vs. Wisconsin$ Oct. 10 Stanford Oct. 17 at Pittsburgh Oct. 31 Duke Nov. 7 Clemson Nov. 14 at Georgia Tech* Nov. 21 Louisville Nov. 28 at USC + at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; $ at Lam- beau Field in Green Bay, Wis.; *at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta 2021 Schedule Date Opponent Sept. 6 at Florida State Sept. 11 Toledo Sept. 18 Purdue Sept. 25 vs. Wisconsin* Oct. 2 Cincinnati Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech Oct. 23 USC Oct. 30 North Carolina Nov. 6 Navy Nov. 13 at Virginia Nov. 20 Georgia Tech Nov. 27 at Stanford * at Soldier Field in Chicago 2022 Schedule Date Opponent Sept. 3 at Ohio State Sept. 10 Marshall Sept. 17 California Oct. 15 Stanford Oct. 22 UNLV Nov. 5 Clemson Nov. 26 at USC Date TBA Boston College Date TBA at Navy Date TBA at North Carolina Date TBA at Syracuse One other opponent to be determined Notre Dame's Future Non-ACC Power Five Opponents In 2022-23, Notre Dame will face both Ohio State and Clemson in home-and-home series. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Notre Dame's NCAA Strength Of Schedule Rankings Under Brian Kelly NCAA Opponent ND Year Ranking Record* Record 2019 No. 28 90-64 (.584) 11-2 2018 No. 19 95-62 (.605) 12-1 2017 No. 3 97-63 (.647) 10-3 2016 No. 80 66-65 (.504) 4-8 2015 No. 26 85-62 (.578) 10-3 2014 No. 34 80-63 (.559) 8-5 2013 No. 23 86-63 (.577) 9-4 2012 No. 4 89-56 (.630) 12-1 2011 No. 32 78-63 (.553) 8-5 2010 No. 4 90-52 (.634) 8-5 * Wins by opponents against FCS opponents are not included