Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 PRESEASON 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FAN FORUM BE WARY OF A&M As I read in Blue & Gold Illustrated and in other sources of information, I get an unsettling feeling of unbridled optimism about the upcoming football season. Yes, some opponents should go down easily, but not all are pushovers, including the first, Texas A&M. There will be 100,000 screaming Tex- ans making so much noise I hope the Irish are practicing hand signals, else I foresee a slew of illegal procedure pen- alties. In any case, for those who think ND is a shoo-in to make the 12-team playoff I have one word to remember — Marshall. Gene Wytrykus Mr. Wytrykus, there is no doubt that the Irish will have their hands full with the Aggies in their season opener. Texas A&M, which went 7-6 in 2023, was picked to finish ninth in the SEC by the league's media this summer — but it's not hard to imagine a scenario in which the Aggies outperform that projection. This is a program with SEC-level talent and resources, and the head coaching change from Jimbo Fisher to Mike Elko cannot be overlooked. Regarding your comment referencing that 2022 Marshall game — an embar- rassing 26-21 Irish home loss that was followed up by an equally stunning 16-14 home defeat versus a struggling Stanford program — Notre Dame took steps to put that in its rearview mirror last year. The Irish went 7-1 against unranked foes in 2023, with the lone defeat coming on the road against a talented Clemson team. Not only did the Irish win the other seven contests against unranked foes, but they did so in convincing fashion (by an aver- age score of 49-12). The Irish have proven that they can take care of business against inferior opponents. Making the College Football Playoff is certainly not a sure thing, but if the Irish can win two out of three against Texas A&M, Florida State and USC, you have to like their chances of earning a bid. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters, Blue & Gold Illustrated, P. O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 or e-mail to: sdowney@comanpub.com In July, with fall camp fast approaching, Fighting Irish fans began to set their sights on the 2024 season. After getting a look at the BGI staff's predictions, Irish fans chimed in with some of their own on our message board at BlueandGold.com. Here is sampling of what some of them were predicting: SpaddyND: Could this be the biggest home game in November that fans could attend since the 1993 game vs. FSU? ND is going to be 7-1 or 8-0 vs. a FSU team that will be 8-1 or 9-0. If both teams have 1 loss, this game could really be a game that the losing team will be left out of the playoffs. I hope we see the FSU team bring out the parkas. ND 11-1 … it's really hard to find a loss if ND beats Texas A&M, but I never predict a team to go un- defeated during the regular season. Urban Meyer at a P5 school only went undefeated 1 time. That's why the fans that think Kelly sucks makes me laugh. He went undefeated 3 times in the regular season in a 9-year span at ND. Bigteve79: I'm an optimist, but 12-0 is more believable than I think many are allowing for. GA Tech, Louisville and USC are probably the best capable of being an upset candidate, but they really aren't trap games because the team scheduled before them isn't a heavyweight opponent. Last year, both Duke and Louisville were trap games because they came after the very intense Ohio State game. There is no opponent on this year's schedule the quality of the Buckeyes, and the Irish get A&M first and a fairly weak opponent before all the other better teams. arrowfan: 11-1 and we get L$U in the Bad Blood Bowl in South Bend. Too much intersection and flirting between the programs. … We're finally going to date! apegambino: My prediction stays the same as last year. 11-1 with a floor of 10-2. Anything less than that and it's a disappointment IMO. Kcndmis97: I have this feeling we will go 10-2, bookend losses to A&M and USC. I think people could be overlooking USC. We have had a lot of trouble playing out there, the last game of the season. FightingMike87: I'll take any season that results in my butt sitting in ND Stadium on a mid-late De- cember day. Whatever the record will be required to reach that is my pick. I cannot wait for this season! BettisND: 11-1, lose in the semifinals of the Playoff! Toe Fuzz: My bold take in a thread a few weeks back was that ND would go 11-1 with that loss not belonging to FSU or TAMU. Defeating Texas A&M in front of more than 100,000 screaming Aggies fans at Kyle Field in the season opener Aug. 31 will be a monumental chore for the Fighting Irish. PHOTO COURTESY TEXAS A&M JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT BLUEANDGOLD.COM! New subscribers: Use Promo Code GoIrish2024 To SAVE 25% off your first year! FROM THE WEBSITE .com .com Publisher's Note Dear Faithful Readers, In the last 24 months, the U.S. Postal Service has implemented five separate rate hikes, rais- ing the average cost of mail by 22 percent. During the same time frame, our paper and printing costs went up 15 to 20 percent. To help offset these increases, we are in- creasing our annual subscription rates by 7 percent going forward. This averages out to a mere 25 cents per issue and will enable us to keep delivering the same great Notre Dame content that you crave. As always, we thank you for your readership and support. Go Irish! — Mark Panus