Ranking Notre Dame's ACC Schedule: Top 5 Opponents In 2020
Notre Dame is set to play a conference schedule for the first time in program history, as the Fighting Irish have joined the ACC for the 2020 season. Notre Dame will play 10 conference games in 2020, which is supposed to be the program’s only season in the league.
Overall, the Irish won’t play as difficult of a schedule in 2020 as they originally scheduled. None of the programs added to the schedule are likely as good as the top two programs Notre Dame lost (Wisconsin, USC). There is some quality depth to the schedule, however, and that will add its own unique challenge.
Notre Dame’s ACC opponents combined for a 70-59 record last season, but if you remove Clemson the record falls to 56-59. Half of the opponents finished with a losing record in 2019, and only Clemson won more than eight games.
Yesterday we began breaking down the 2020 schedule by ranking the opponents, worst to best. The first installment broke down the teams ranked 6-10, and now let’s move onto the top five programs.
The information from the preseason magazines refers to their division projection.
5. WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
2019 Record: 8-5
Athlon: 4th Atlantic (7-5 record)
Lindy’s: 4th Atlantic
Street & Smith’s: 3rd Atlantic
The Deacons are a bit difficult to project. They suffered some heavy losses on offense, and much of the credit for their success on that side of the ball has been credited to quarterback Jamie Newman. He has since transferred to Georgia, and the Deacons lost a grand total of eight starters on offense, which includes three starting linemen.
What truly drove the offense last season was the play of wide receiver Sage Surratt, and when he went down Newman was a sub-50% passer. Surratt is back, and Newman will be replaced by Sam Hartman, who twice threw for 300 yards in relief last season. Hartman also passed for 1,984 yards and 16 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2018.
Surratt is arguably the best wide receiver in the ACC, and he’ll be flanked by rising sophomore Donavon Greene, who could be poised for a breakout campaign. If the offensive line can get gel early the Deacons could have an outstanding offense.
Wake Forest finished in the bottom half of the conference in scoring defense and total defense last season, but that unit returns nine starters. Defensive end Carlos Basham Jr. is an outstanding edge player that racked up 18 tackles for loss and 11 sacks last season. The question is the secondary, which struggled for much of last season and must replace its best player.
4. PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
2019 Record: 8-5
Athlon: 4th Coastal (7-5 record)
Lindy’s: 4th Coastal
Street & Smith’s: 3rd Coastal
I was a bit surprised to see the Panthers projected below Wake Forest and Virginia Tech in the preseason magazines. The Panthers tied for third last season and return 15 starters. Pittsburgh also heads into year two of Mark Whipple’s offense, which should result in a big jump on that side of the ball.
Also boosting the offense is the return of four starting linemen, including standout center Jimmy Morrissey, as well as quarterback Kenny Pickett. If the skill players can step up I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pickett finish his career on a very high note.
My optimism is partly due to expecting the offense to improve from its woeful 2019 performance. The main part, however, is the defense, which should be one of the ACC’s best. Pitt ranked third in scoring defense and total defense in the league last fall, and it returns arguably the best line in the conference.
Starters Patrick Jones III, Jaylen Twyman and Deslin Alexandre combined for 34.5 tackles for loss and 24.5 sacks last season. The unit welcomes back Rashad Weaver, another talented end that racked up 14.0 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2018. Weaver missed last season, and his return gives an already talented and productive line a major boost.
Pitt has a chance, if the offense really steps up, to be the second best team on Notre Dame’s schedule. Since that game is on the road I thought about moving them ahead of Louisville on this list, but the offense still has too much to prove before I do that.
3. NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
2019 Record: 7-6
Athlon: 1st Coastal (9-4 record)
Lindy’s: 1st Coastal
Street & Smith’s: 1st Coastal
I usually try to avoid jumping on the bandwagon of barely .500 teams, but I get why so many think so highly of the Tar Heels. All six of North Carolina’s losses last season were by seven points or fewer, and the Tar Heels ended the season by beating NC State and Temple by a combined score of 95-23.
Sophomore quarterback Sam Howell had a brilliant freshman season, passing for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns while throwing just seven interceptions. The running back position needs work, but the pass catchers are talented and deep. Howell has nine other starters coming back alongside him, including four starting blockers.
If the talented young quarterback can avoid a sophomore slump this could be one of the best scoring units in the ACC.
North Carolina returns seven starters on defense, but it must replace three starting linemen. The Tar Heels ranked fourth in scoring defense and sixth in scoring defense last season, so any improvement would result in the Tar Heels being very difficult to beat next season.
Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book made his first career start when the Irish traveled to Chapel Hill in 2017. His counterpart that day was Chazz Surratt, who has since moved to linebacker. It was a great move for Surratt, who racked up 115 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks last season.
2. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
2019 Record: 8-5
Athlon: 2nd Atlantic (8-4 record)
Lindy’s: 2nd Atlantic
Street & Smith’s: 2nd Atlantic
I predicted Louisville would go from 2-10 in 2018 to a bowl game in 2019, and first-year head coach Scott Satterfield made me look good. His encore performance could be even better. Satterfield is an excellent coach, but he also inherited a much better roster than people realized, and we saw that last season.
Only Clemson scored more points per game last season, and the Cardinals return eight starters from that unit. That includes rising sophomore running back Javian Hawkins (1,525 rushing yards in 2019) and talented junior wide receiver TuTu Atwell (70 catches, 1,276 yards, 12 TD’s last fall). They aren’t alone as the Cardinals return five of their top six pass catches from last season, and quarterback Micale Cunningham should have a breakout season if he can stay healthy.
Louisville gave up 33.4 points per game last season, which ranked last in the ACC. That was actually a 10.7 points per game improvement over the Brian VanGorder led travesty from the 2018 season. With seven returning starters coming back and a bright young coach leading the unit, I expect the Cardinals to make another significant jump.
The key to that will making dramatic improvements up front. Louisville ranked 13th in the ACC in rushing defense (205.8 YPG) and 12th in sacks (27), and both were due in large part to a struggling defensive line. If that unit can improve at all the Cardinals should see a jump on defense, and with the offense they return it won’t take much from the defense to add another win or two to the record.
1. CLEMSON TIGERS
2019 Record: 14-1
Athlon: 1st Atlantic - ACC Champs (13-0 record)
Lindy’s: 1st Atlantic
Street & Smith’s: 1st Atlantic
Clemson is the best team in the ACC, and it’s not even close. Having said that, I don’t think this Tiger team will be the juggernaut we’ve seen in recent seasons. Clemson must replace six starters on offense, including four starting offensive linemen. They lost just five starters on defense, but two of those starters were first round picks, another went in round three and another went in round four.
On offense, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne form the nation’s best tandem in the backfield. Backup running back Lynn-J Dixon is a talented runner as well. Yes, Clemson lost wide receiver Justyn Ross, but there will be plenty of weapons for Lawrence. Amari Rodgers returns, and sophomores Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson are extremely talented and capable of putting up impressive numbers.
The concern for the offense is the line, which lost a lot of experience and talent. One good thing is Clemson played a lot of blockers last season, so the new starters aren’t exactly neophytes with no playing time. How quickly that unit gels will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Tigers once again have an elite offense.
The defense is where I could see the Tigers taking a bit of a step back. I expect the defensive line to still be outstanding, but I have questions about the linebacking corps and the secondary. Clemson must replace three starters on the back end, and while some of the new starters have talent, the unit could have a hard time being as good as it’s been the last five seasons.
I expect the Tigers to win the ACC, but I don’t believe they’ll steamroll through the league the way they have in recent seasons.
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