Over the course of the next several weeks, the SoBros Network crew will be previewing the upcoming American tackle football season. Up next, the 2019 Notre Dame preview!
2019 Notre Dame Preview
Coming off an appearance in the college football playoff the question for Notre Dame in 2019 will be “Are you a real contender?” The Irish lost legit core guys like Drue Tranquill, Te’von Coney and Julian Love will be greatly missed. Thankfully, the Irish cupboard is full of talent looking to take the step towards filling those roles.
Ian Book returns for his senior year after a breakout 2018 season. The Sacramento product will look to improve on his numbers (19 touchdowns, 7 interceptions) as he’ll be the guy from day one this year after not making his first start until week 4 last season. Book isn’t returning alone as the Irish offense brings back eight starters including four on the o line. From a playmaker stand point the losses of Dexter Williams and Miles Boykin sting but with Chase Claypool, Jafar Armstrong and Tony Jones Jr. all still in South Bend it could be a faint sting. Armstrong has been hampered by injuries but can be a game changer when heathy.
The biggest losses were on the defensive side no doubt. Still, with the pass rush ND will bring thanks to Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara this isn’t gonna be a pushover bunch. Heck, the Irish may just have one of the best safety tandems this season with Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott back to create chaos. Troy Pride, Jr. will be the CB1 but there is some competition for that CB2 spot. Houston Griffith looks to be the best bet with Shaun Crawford having the nickel locked up. Crawford brings great ability but has also faced injuries all three of his seasons in South Bend. The line backing group will probably the weakest link early on. Aside from senior Asmar Bilal there isn’t a lot of experience across the crew. The young guns will have to get it going early for this defense to reach the highs from last year that included finishing 13th in the country in scoring.
2019 Fighting Irish Schedule
9/2 @ Louisville: Should be a breeze if this team is gonna be as good as projected. Expecting a ton of rushing yards from the Irish.
9/14 vs. New Mexico: Big, big, big blowout in the home opener.
9/21 @ Georgia: This is the game where everyone finds out what ND is made of. If the Irish are gonna be perennial playoff contenders they have to win (or at the very least keep close) these kind of games. I think we get a tight game but I’m leaning towards Georgia. Of note-The Jake Fromm story started in Notre Dame stadium two years ago in a nail biter that the Bulldogs won.
9/28 vs. Virginia: This feels like a land mine game especially coming off whatever happens against Georgia. The Cavaliers should enter the game undefeated and possibly ranked. ND wins but they’re gonna need to keep Bryce Perkins in check.
10/5 vs. Bowling Green: Another breezy week with some impressive numbers put up by both the offense/defense.
10/12 vs. USC: Probably gonna be another down year for the Trojans (Yay!) but as we saw in the 2018 regular season finale that doesn’t mean much for this matchup. I’d love to say Irish by fifty but my gut says it may be closer to twenty.
10/26 @ Michigan: Another big time road test for the Irish as they trek to The Big House. These games in Ann Arbor make me nervous but I just feel like ND is the better team.
11/2 vs. Virginia Tech: Another Virginia team that I hate the season placement of. This will be a closer game than last year but I believe ND gets the dub.
11/9 @ Duke: ACC play continues as the Irish travel to Durham. It should be an easy trip as the Blue Devils defense shouldn’t be a challenge for this Irish fire power.
11/16 vs. Navy: I absolutely love this rivalry y’all. It’s a game I’m always somewhat nervous for but the respect of it all really gets me going. That said this game in 2019 should be all Irish.
11/23 vs. Boston College: BC will be in that mid grade level of the ACC meaning this should be another W for the home team.
11/30 @ Stanford: Brian Kelly’s teams have, in the past, seemed to run out gas in November. It didn’t happen last year though the USC game was closer than anyone would have liked. I think he makes it two years in a row though I’d love to see ND go out with a big, blowout win to finish a (possible) stellar year.
Prediction
The only game I would chalk up as a loss would be Georgia and even that could be super close. What worries me is the couple of landmine games across the landscape of the year. If ND manages those and comes out of the regular season with a close loss on the road to Georgia they could very well find themselves in playoff contention again.
OTHER 2019 SEASON PREVIEWS
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arkansas Razorbacks
Auburn Tigers
Florida Gators
Georgia Bulldogs
Kentucky Wildcats
LSU Tigers
Memphis Tigers
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Missouri Tigers
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Volunteers
Texas A&M Aggies
Vanderbilt Commodores
John Mosley is the independent wrestling correspondent of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose.
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