Bold Predictions For The Notre Dame Offense In 2020
Notre Dame is a week away from kicking off the 2020 football season! With the campaign right around the corner its time to make some bold predictions about the Irish offense. Below are the four boldest predictions I can make about the Irish offense. It is a combination of being realistic, but also looking at things from a “best case” scenario, which means things really click.
1. NOTRE DAME WILL WIN THE JOE MOORE AWARD …. AGAIN
All of the other bold predictions are predicated on the first coming true, and that is Notre Dame will have the nation’s best offensive line in 2020. There isn’t a position group on offense with a better combination of talent, experience and attitude than what you see from the big boys.
Left tackle Liam Eichenberg and left guard Aaron Banks are getting preseason All-American recognition, and right tackle Robert Hainsey is about as steady as you can get at the position. Center Jarrett Patterson is expected to be one of the nation’s top centers, and if healthy expectations are that right guard Tommy Kraemer will finish his career off with a bang.
Top backup Joshua Lugg would start at tackle for at least half of the teams in the ACC, and as a guard he would start for even more. Then there’s the sophomore class, which was considered one of the nation’s best units when they signed with Notre Dame.
There’s no reason for Notre Dame’s offensive line not to be elite as pass blockers and run blockers, and if they live up to that standard, and block to their potential, they will anchor an elite offensive football team.
2. THE IRISH WILL AVERAGE AT LEAST 220 RUSHING YARDS PER GAME
The transition from the nation’s best line to rushing for at least 220 yards is seamless. Perhaps I’m underselling this prediction a bit, and a more bold of a pick would be something like the offense will rush for at least 250 yards per game. The point, however, is that I fully expect Notre Dame - who averaged 179.0 and 182.6 yards the last two seasons - to easily get to at least 220 yards per game on the ground this season.
This prediction is based on two factors. The first being that Notre Dame should have a truly elite offensive line this season. Second, Notre Dame’s schedule is filled with defenses that struggled to stop the run last fall. Notre Dame’s 11-game schedule has just two teams (Clemson, Pittsburgh) that ranked inside the top 50 in run defense last fall.
In fact, there are more defense that ranked between No. 100 and No. 117 (five) than those that ranked in the top 70 (four). Four opponents allowed more than 200 yards per game last season (South Florida, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Syracuse) and two more (Duke, Boston College) gave up more than 180 yards per game.
There’s simply no reason for this combination to result in anything less than at least 220 yards per game.
3. CHRIS TYREE WILL SET THE FRESHMAN RUSHING RECORD
Continuing the theme, another bold prediction is that freshman running back Chris Tyree will shatter the Notre Dame freshman rushing record of 835 yards. That record was set by Josh Adams back in 2015, and I don’t expect that record to last as long as it has in the past.
Jerome Heavens (756) set the record back in 1975, and the record wasn’t broken until Darius Walker rushed for 786 yards as a first-year player in 2004. That record held for 11 seasons before Adams surpassed it, but I predict Tyree will break that record just five years later.
Adams had to split carries with 1,000-yard rusher CJ Prosise for much of the 2015 season, but Tyree is expected to be more of a focal point of the offense …. at least he needs to be. Like Adams, Tyree won’t need 20 carries per game to get to that level. If the line plays to its potential, the speedy Tyree should benefit by ripping off a number of long runs this fall.
4. NOTRE DAME HAVE ITS BEST POINTS PER GAME AVERAGE OF THE KELLY ERA
Notre Dame averaged 36.0 points per game last season, which was by far the best mark of the Kelly era, and best scoring output since 2005 (36.7). The Irish did that against a schedule that had five top 50 scoring defenses and two top 25 units. Notre Dame’s current schedule is filled with just one top 25 defense (Clemson), two top 50 scoring units (Pittsburgh) and just four that ranked in the top 70 last fall.
The Irish return five starters up front, a third-year starter at quarterback and they have a deep and talented group of pass catchers. Combine that with a pair of young, talented emerging backs (Tyree, Kyren Williams) and a relatively soft schedule, there’s no reason Notre Dame shouldn’t rack up big numbers in 2020.
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