Notre Dame Looks To Continue Its Dominance Over The ACC
Notre Dame kicks off its 2023 slate against the ACC today when the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish take on NC State. It will be a tough test for the Irish, who are looking to continue their dominance over the league.
Notre Dame became a partial member in the ACC back in 2014, joining the league for all sports except for football and hockey. For football, that partnership has resulted in Notre Dame playing at least four ACC teams per year.
Notre Dame went 9-6 against the ACC in the first three seasons (2014-16), but since then the Irish have absolutely dominated the ACC on the gridiron. From 2017 to the present, Notre Dame has gone 32-1 against the ACC in the regular season, and 32-3 overall.
Of course, that success includes a current 28-game regular season win streak against the ACC. Notre Dame has not lost a regular season game to an ACC foe since 2017.
Notre Dame has been convincing in that dominance, winning 22 of those 28 games in the current win streak by double figures. Twelve of those games were decided by at least 20 points and nine of those 28 wins were decided by at least 30 points.
The Irish have beaten those 28 straight ACC opponents by an average score of 37.8 to 17.7.
I read a petty article this week in a North Carolina newspaper that tried to downplay Notre Dame's success in the league. The impression the author tried to leave was that Notre Dame has primarily beat up on the bottom half of the league.
From 2018-22, a span of five seasons, Notre Dame has twice defeated the ACC Champion (Clemson in 2022 and 2020), and three times the Irish defeated the ACC runner up. Notre Dame was the runner up in the league back in 2020.
Last season, Notre Dame played both the ACC champ and the runner up. Notre Dame blasted ACC champion Clemson by a 35-14 score, and the Irish went on the road to beat North Carolina by a 45-32 score. Notre Dame led that game 45-20 in the fourth quarter before the Tar Heels added two late scores.
Notre Dame outscored the Tigers and Tar Heels by an average score of a 40-23, and out-gained the two best teams in the ACC by an average of 462-324.
Head coach Marcus Freeman led the Irish to a 4-0 record in his first season in charge, with the Irish winning all four games by double figures, beating opponents by an average score of 41-3 to 17.5.
Notre Dame has gone 13-0 in road games against ACC foes and also beat Syracuse 36-3 in a game played at Yankee Stadium.
There have been some close calls, but by and large Notre Dame has thoroughly dominated the ACC in the last six seasons. The whole "they haven't played a tough schedule" nonsense will certainly be dismissed after this season. Notre Dame plays six ACC teams in 2023, and four of those games are road contests, beginning with NC State.
Notre Dame also has to play at Clemson, at Duke and at Louisville, and they play home games against Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. There will be no excuses for the ACC if the Irish go another full season without losing a game against an ACC foe.
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