First Glance Look At The Notre Dame 2023 Football Schedule
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Notre Dame wrapped up the first season of Marcus Freeman's tenure as head coach in impressive fashion, beating South Carolina in the Gator Bowl (45-38) and winning six of their final seven games.
Notre Dame faced a challenging 2022 campaign, and the Irish fell short of expectations. The Irish regular season opponents finished the season with a combined 85-69 overall record, which made it one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
Notre Dame's 2023 schedule looks even tougher on paper. One positive is that Notre Dame's schedule seems to be lighter on the front end, which should give the 2023 squad a chance to get into rhythm a bit before things ramp up in a big way starting in late September.
2023 Notre Dame Schedule
Aug. 26 - vs. Navy (Dublin, Ireland)
Sep. 2 - Tennessee State
Sep. 16 - Central Michigan
Sep. 23 - Ohio State
Oct. 14 - USC
Oct. 28 - Wake Forest
Nov. 4 - at Clemson
Nov. 25 - at Stanford
TBA - at Duke
TBA - at Louisville
TBA - at NC State
TBA - Pittsburgh
Navy Midshipmen
Date: August 26th (Aviva Stadium - Dublin, Ireland)
Head Coach: Brian Newberry (1st season)
2022 Record: 4-8
2022 Result: Notre Dame beat Navy 35-32
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 81-13-1
Navy fired long-time head coach Ken Niumatalolo after its loss to Army. It marked the third straight losing season for the Midshipmen, who now turn to Brian Newberry, who has been running the defense for the last four seasons. Navy's athletics director said the team will remain a triple option squad, but Navy is short on talent on offense, and Newberry will need to work to rebuild that side of the ball.
Tennessee State Tigers
Date: September 2nd (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Eddie George (3rd season)
2022 Record: 4-7
vs. Notre Dame: First meeting
Former Ohio State and Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George will head into his third season in charge of the Tiger program. George led TSU to a 5-6 record in year one and went 4-7 this past season. The Tigers started the 2022 season with four straight losses but did manage to go 4-3 after that rough start. TSU ended the season with a 22-14 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce, who is coached by former Rice head coach David Baliff.
Central Michigan Chippewas
Date: September 16th (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Jim McElwain (5th season)
2022 Record: 4-8
vs. Notre Dame: First meeting
After going 9-4 in 2021, and 20-13 in his first three seasons, Jim McElwain's Chippewa squad struggled in 2022. CMU went just 4-8 and failed to make a bowl game, but that record can be a bit misleading. Central Michigan lost three games by six or fewer points, and they battled hard in a 58-44 loss at Oklahoma State. CMU is set to return quite a bit of its production in 2023.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Date: September 23rd (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Ryan Day
2022 Record: 11-2
2022 Result: Ohio State beat Notre Dame 21-10
vs. Notre Dame: Ohio State leads 5-2
Ohio State was expected to be a title contender in 2022, and to a degree the Buckeyes lived up to that billing, making the College Football Playoff for the fifth time. Ohio State took Georgia down to the wire but ultimately fell short, and it lost to Michigan for the second straight season, something that had not previously happened since 1999-2000. Ohio State will lose some very important pieces, but the Buckeyes will remain extremely talented.
Southern Cal Trojans
Date: October 14th (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Lincoln Riley (2nd season)
2022 Record: 11-3
2022 Result: USC beat Notre Dame 38-27
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 50-38-5
USC ended Notre Dame's four-game win streak in the series with a 38-27 regular season-ending victory over the Irish. It was quite the turnaround for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans, who went 4-8 the year prior to his arrival. USC brings back Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Caleb Williams and plenty of offensive talent, and the transfer portal will once again be a key roster building piece for the Trojans.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Date: October 28th (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Dave Clawson (10th season)
2022 Record: 8-5
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 5-0
The first-ever meeting between these two programs came in 2011, and the Irish won that contest and the four since. Clawson has built a very steady program in Winston-Salem, leading the Deacons to seven straight bowl games. Wake Forest has gone 19-8 over the last two seasons and should once again be a quality ACC opponent despite some key personnel losses on both sides of the ball.
Clemson Tigers
Date: November 4th (Memorial Stadium - Clemson, S.C.)
Head Coach: Dabo Swinney
2022 Record: 11-3
2022 Result: Notre Dame beat Clemson 35-14
vs. Notre Dame: Clemson leads 4-3
Notre Dame has now won two of the last three games against the Tigers. Clemson was the co-dynasty program from 2015-2020, making the College Football Playoff in each season and winning two national championships. Clemson has been good the last two seasons, going 21-6, but it has certainly slipped from its glory years. Swinney will look to ride the talent of quarterback Cade Klubnik back to the top of the college football world, but the Tigers just aren't the same program right now.
Stanford Cardinal
Date: November 25th (Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Calif.)
Head Coach: Troy Taylor (1st season)
2022 Record: 3-9
2022 Result: Stanford beat Notre Dame 16-14
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 22-14
Notre Dame's most devastating loss of the 2022 season was without question its 16-14 defeat at home against the Cardinal. It was the only bright spot of the season for Stanford, who saw long-time head coach David Shaw retire at the end of the season. He was replaced by Taylor, who went 30-8 in three seasons at Sacramento State. The Hornets ranked fourth nationally in scoring offense and this in total offense in 2022, but Taylor inherits a heavily depleted Stanford roster.
Duke Blue Devils
Date: TBA (Wallace Wade Stadium - Durham, N.C.)
Head Coach: Mike Elko (2nd season)
2022 Record: 9-4
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 5-2
Mike Elko did an outstanding job turning Duke around in his first season in charge. The Blue Devils beat UCF (30-13) in the Military Bowl to cap off a 9-win season. Duke hadn't had a winning record since 2018 and went just 5-18 the two previous seasons. Elko is an outstanding defensive mind, the Blue Devils went from giving up 39.8 and 38.1 points per game in the two previous seasons to just 22.1 this past season. We also saw the emergence of sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard, who passed for 2,967 yards, rushed for 699 yards and accounted for 33 touchdowns in his first season behind center.
Louisville Cardinals
Date: TBA (Cardinal Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)
Head Coach: Jeff Brohm (1st season)
2022 Record: 8-5
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 2-1
Notre Dame is returning to Louisville for the first time since 2019, a game the Irish won 35-17. Louisville will look a lot different this time, but there will be plenty of familiar faces. Louisville alum Jeff Brohm returns as head coach after he went 17-9 the last two seasons at Purdue. Brohm is known for developing highly productive pass offenses, and he'll bring quarterback Jack Plummer with him. Plummer has 25 career starts, including 13 for Brohm at Purdue.
NC State Wolfpack
Date: TBA (Carter-Finley Stadium - Raleigh, N.C.)
Head Coach: Dave Doeren
2022 Record: 8-5
vs. Notre Dame: NC State leads 2-1
NC State started the season ranked 13th in the preseason polls and climbed up to No. 10 after a 4-0 start to the season. The Wolfpack went just 4-5 over the next nine games, including three of their last four games. That included a 16-12 loss to Maryland in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. NC State was forced to play a lot of young players due to injuries, which could help the Wolfpack put a quality team on the field in 2023.
Pittsburgh Panthers
Date: TBA (Notre Dame Stadium)
Head Coach: Pat Narduzzi
2022 Record: 9-4
vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads 50-21-1
Pittsburgh had a quality 9-4 season despite losing a bunch from its ACC title team in 2021. The Panthers went through a rough stretch in October, losing three of four games, but a five-game win streak to end the season allowed Pittsburgh to finish strong. That streak included an impressive 37-35 win over UCLA in the Sun Bowl, a 42-16 beat down of Miami and a quality 28-26 win over Duke.
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