Marcus Freeman and the Irish have a tremendous opportunity to make the College Football Playoffs this upcoming season. The program will seek its 3rd appearance overall and first with Coach Freeman. With the addition of Sam Hartman, the Irish have a chance to be one of the best teams in the country. Notre Dame will certainly need the experience of the ACC’s all-time passing touchdowns leader to make it back to the playoffs. With the official 2023 Notre Dame football schedule released, here’s a quick look at every game.
Navy (Dublin, Ireland), August 26th
Notre Dame kicks off the 2022 season in Ireland, where they will once again face their longtime rival, Navy. The Midshipmen will now be led by former defensive coordinator Brian Newberry who was promoted to head coach.
Last season, the Irish survived a late comeback for a 35 to 32 victory over Navy. This will be the first time Notre Dame fans see Sam Hartman in action, and it will be necessary not to overlook the Midshipmen this time.
Tennessee State, September 2nd
The Fighting Irish will lose their historic streak of only facing FBS opponents when Head Coach Eddie George and Tennessee State visit South Bend. The Tigers went 4-7 in the FCS in 2022, including a 16 to 3 loss to Jackson State.
I am not here to write about Notre Dame losing its streak of FBS opponents. The Irish just need to take care of business. The Irish have enough top-tier teams on their 2023 schedule to make the playoffs.
At NC State, September 9th
Notre Dame will travel back to Raleigh for the first time since the monsoon of the 2016 season. The NC State Wolfpack were ranked the entire season last year and climbed as high as #10 in the polls.
NC State finished the season 8-5 with a loss to Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. However, Wolfpack fans will be eager to upset the Irish on the road, and they have a capable team.
Central Michigan, September 16th
The Chippewas from the MAC will come to South Bend in September for the first time in program history. Central Michigan finished last season 4-8, and this matchup will be the final test for Coach Freeman before the highly anticipated rematch with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Notre Dame must put Central Michigan away early and not overlook the Chippewas before the massive game the following week.
Ohio State, September 23rd
The Buckeyes are coming off an 11-2 season with a historic game against Georgia in the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals. I believe the Peach Bowl was essentially the National Title, and the winner of that game would defeat TCU in the actual championship matchup (I hope I am wrong).
A win in this matchup would be one of the most significant victories for Notre Dame Football this century. The challenge will be difficult, but if Jim Harbaugh and Michigan can knock off the Buckeyes in back-to-back seasons, there is no reason Coach Freeman cannot pull off this upset in South Bend.
At Duke, September 30th
Former Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Mike Elko had a tremendous year for the Duke Blue Devils in 2022 with a 9-4 record and a Military Bowl victory over UCF. He is a defensive-minded and turnover-oriented football coach. This could be a tough showdown on the road.
At Louisville, October 7th
Former Louisville Quarterback Jeff Brohm is back as the Cardinals’ Head Coach. He will be with transfer quarterback Jack Plummer who he coached at Purdue. Plummer faced the Irish in 2021 (at Purdue) and 2022 (at California) and will likely be the starter in 2023 at Louisville.
Coach Brohm is known for trick plays, pass-first offenses, and an excellent football mind overall. This could be a tough road test for Notre Dame.
USC, October 14th
The rivalry is undoubtedly back, as the Trojans knocked off Notre Dame 38 to 27 in November. Caleb Williams wrote a derogatory statement to the Irish on his fingernails to add fuel to the fire, which fans and players should take personally in this year’s matchup.
Lincoln Riley is known for a high-powered offense, while the Irish are known for physicality in the trenches. Last year, USC outplayed Notre Dame, and this time around, the Trojans visit South Bend. This will be one of the top matchups in the 2023 football calendar.
Pittsburgh, October 28th
Pat Narduzzi is hungry for a victory against the Irish. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh always plays Notre Dame better in South Bend. The Panthers always scare me when they face the Irish on the road.
The Fighting Irish may face former quarterback Phil Jurkovec in this matchup as he transferred to Pittsburgh in the offseason. For those who do not know, the former Notre Dame Quarterback had some salty posts on social media regarding Irish football traditions that seemed uncalled for and did not sit well with the South Bend community.
At Clemson, November 4th
The schedule gets more challenging as Notre Dame visits the Clemson Tigers late in the season. Clemson has yet to have the national championship caliber team most expect the past several years, but they finished a respectable 11-3 and still won the ACC Championship. The Tigers also bring back a solid young quarterback in Cade Klubnik.
If the Irish are undefeated at this point or even have a quality record, one can expect Memorial Stadium to be rocking when the Irish visit late in the season.
Wake Forest, November 18th
On October 28th, Sam Hartman will be squaring off against his former team. Wake Forest finished 8-5 last fall with a signature victory over Missouri in their bowl matchup.
The Demon Deacons will have revenge on their mind and hope to beat the Irish for the first time in program history.
At Stanford, November 25th
Stanford will be without Head Coach David Shaw for the first time since 2010. It is too early to tell whether that will be better or worse for Notre Dame. The Cardinal have always been a thorn in the side of the Fighting Irish. Even when the Irish are favored, the upset-minded Cardinal always find ways to win.
After a 16 to 14 upset in South Bend last season, Marcus Freeman must be prepared for Stanford to close the 2023 calendar.
Final Thoughts
With the addition of Sam Hartman, the 2023 Notre Dame Football schedule will be exhilarating. He is the best quarterback in South Bend since Brady Quinn. In addition, coach Freeman finished with a top-10 recruiting class and has added several vital transfers this offseason. As a result, the future looks bright in South Bend, and the schedule will provide excellent matchups.
The Fighting Irish had one of the most demanding schedules in the country last fall, and this season will be no different. Notre Dame will face competition that will prepare them for the playoffs. If Marcus Freeman and the Irish can navigate this schedule and remain undefeated or suffer only one loss, they will be in a tremendous position to make the 2023 playoffs.
ND doesn’t just win Heismans for other folks anymore!
Lance Guidry just got the gig as DC at Miami with Cristobal. His 2022 season as Marshall’s DC actually got him two jobs: he just left Tulane, where he was DC there for the past 3 weeks.
How did Guidry become the recipient of such attention? Well, the one high point of the whole year was beating a highly ranked ND on the road early on, and beating up its starting QB in the process.
That’ll get your defense noticed, even if the rest of your team is bad.
In related news, Charlie Strong is currently unemployed….
Fun fact:
Marcus Freeman has already now taken more time replacing his OC than ND took to name a new head coach.
True story
Rumor has it Charlie Weis jr will be named the new OC for the Notre Dame football team. Homerun hire.?
Wait it gets better. Package deal dad and son will be named Co OCs. Great things right around the corner.
Notwithstanding this not being at all funny, it’s not really a good moment to be trying BEING funny.
Next season went from looking pretty darn good to currently in some doubt. And if another shoe were to unexpectedly drop, I might be right back to checking the SEC schedule for my Fall Saturday football viewing.
And like anyone named Weis, not looking back.
I’ve actually seen his name on a few lists. It might not actually be a bad hire. I don’t think it would happen though
I’m hearing Byron Leftwich and the TE coach.
Isn’t Google wonderful?
1-2 will be as good as it gets next season regardless of who the next OC is for ND. 8-4 is more likely with or without TR. Not a big fan of Rees but was looking forward to seeing what he could put together with a QB of Hartmans caliber. Now that he is going to Bama I don’t see how he could fail there. Best program by far in college football. He will be surrounded by the most talented coaches and players practicing and playing at the best facilities. No Brainer decision for Rees. Plus nicer weather and prettier sluttier woman. As much as I hate Kelly to the same degree as David I feel he will be more successful than Freeman and reach the playoffs sooner.. We will find out soon enough. Is it to late for Hartman to change his mind and renege on his transfer and go elsewhere? Working hard on plan B situations for next season..
10-2 typo
So you’ve set the table pretty good….
If he succeeds, it’s entirely because of it being Bama.
And if they fall anywhere short of another championship this year, it’s “See? He couldn’t even do it with Bama’s talent!”
This is just version 2.0 of the same, No Win scenario he faced every miserable day of his coaching life in South Bend.
I note that at least SOME posters on the football board now have the guts to break with the mobthink, and actually post modestly positive words about Rees…..attempted revisionism that’s too little, too late.
If he even goes on to become Saban’s successor, I’ll guaranteee there will be idiots who will never grant him one iota of credit.
After all the blood, sweat and tears he LOYALLY put in over a decade at Notre Dame.
….and yet there are STILL more than a few idiots who physically ache for the biggest lying POS fraud who ever darkened te ND sidelines to come back. AND they want anyone who wants to remind them what a complete asshole he is to just shut up and stop talking bad about him.
I don’t think anyone would say that Kelly wasn’t an asshole. He’s a politician. A chameleon. That’s his whole thing.
But he won a lot of games and built the program in to one of the top 5-6 programs in the country. Who cares if he was a disingenuous asshole? You act like he was touching kids in the grotto or something
You’re so emotionally blinded by your personal hatred of the man that you can’t have a rational conversation about sports. You bring him up in every thread—everything bad is his fault, everything good was in spite of him. It’s so wild and bizarre. You can’t let it go
You’re just a schizophrenic idiot. That’s your whole thing.
My hatred of that fuck was consistent and is completely rational.
And the “analysis” of my opinions by a dumb fuck like you doesn’t matter one bit.
He exercised his Plan B rights.
God bless Tommy Rees.
No, this is his Dream Plan, AAA.
He’s gonna start off making high six figures.
Coaching at a program where they lose more sheer football talent after every season than ND has on its entire roster.
He’s going to learn EVERYthing about how an elite, championship football program works.
And if all goes well enough, eventually interview for a Big Time HC job anywhere…not just Central Michigan or Miami of Ohio.
Couldn’t be happier for a guy who quietly took so much unrelenting shit and abuse.
I can’t see Hartman wanting to change his mind. ND is still going to run a more pro style offense and give him the exposure he needs to raise his draft stock.
Hopefully he trusts Coach Freeman to make a strong hire here. I think Freeman has done a really good job with his staff so far, so hopefully he brings in an OC Hartman can get excited about.
I know a lot of people are talking about promoting Parker, but I’d like to see him bring in someone more proven at developing QBs.
As long as Freeman is smart enough to ignore, or just get a laugh from your opinions, everything could turn out okay.
To eventually become a head coach, it’s obviously best to work with and learn from a consistent, proven winner. Both for the skills, and for the future resume.
For that guy to be the indisputably best in a generation ? A goddamn dream situation.
And with the exact same logic, it’s a slower, riskier process to apprentice with a HC who is unproven, and still in the early stages of learning to be one himself.
Thank you and good luck, Tommy Rees.
Sorry for all the shit you had to take from these mentally ill assholes.
…and kick the living shit out of that purple-and-piss colored fat little fuckstick.
Non-brain damaged ND fans will be rooting for ‘Bama on November 4th.
It is definitely a good career move. Any other coaches for ND would be smart to make a similar move if the offer presents itself
And that’s a problem
Her’s how you avoid that problem:
Don’t fuck up your head coaching hires for 25 years, letting the aura of a preminent national powerhouse decay to the extent that a fucktard loser like Brian Fucking Kelly can be revered as a savior.
Think this will help convince Swarbrick to loosen up those purse strings? I’m not going to hold my breath
I think it’s time for us all to accept that Notre Dame is no longer a destination for elite coaches. It’s a stepping stone on their way to something better
Honestly, I heard the Irish were willing to match the salary and he still left. Don’t know if that true, but for some reason it stings more if it is
Good luck Tommy! I wasn’t his biggest fan, but I would have liked to see him stay
You aggravatingly dumb fuck.
I said two years ago that Rees would have to leave ND before he’d ever have any chance of EVER getting qny respect from ND fans.
He was ridiculed relentlessly as a QB with a limited physique. That baggage carried right over when he was put on the coaching staff, and he was never given ANY respect, or even the “benefit of the doubt”, when he was named OC.
With a bare QB cupboard (thanks for that, shithead!), that situation just got upgraded in the best way one could possibly hope for! —- but the disrespect never missed a beat, and continued right up to this very surprising news.
And THAT is how you smug assholes treat a “Notre Dame Man”. Shame.
(Aside: I don’t EVER recall Kelly ever once giving Rees a public pat on the back or vote of confidence when that shit was at its worst. Only when he was leaving, and tried to bribe Rees into going with him….like a wife-beating alcoholic telling Junior to go get in the car.)
Every fucking Saturday night: “fire that idiot Rees!” Meanwhile, the college football was coming to the very opposite opinion, considering him a top up-and-comer in the game.
And if he doesn’t take that job, you fuckers will be right back to calling for him to be fired.
I’d like to see Rees finally get to coach a real talent at QB. For my sake, I’d prefer it was at ND.
But for his sake, it’s probsably best if it’s somewhere else.
It would be some sweet kharna if Ree ended up at Alabama….facing that fat purple fuck every year until he gives up.
After all the shit he’s taken here for his whole career, from delusional fucking lunatics who couldn’t find their own assholes using both hands.
But instead of realizing what fucking mindless, irritating idiots y’all are, no doubt the spin wil be “I never thought Saban is really that good, you know, He just heats at recruiting and Alabama standards are a joke.”
…and if he doesn’t either get or want the job, I hope to God he at least shares some recruiting stories about old Brian that Saban can weaponize down on the bayou.
Because I fucking hate that lazy con artist.
Saban is the best coach and has the best program in college football (Georgia is catching up, obviously).
The true Karma here is that our brain dead administration is going to lose another coach to a lateral move because they refuse to run the football program like it’s 2023.
Until ND starts paying assistants, embracing NIL, more actively exploiting the transfer portal, and upgrading facilities on par with other major programs, we will continue to evolve into a stepping stone school
The days of ND being a destination job are coming to an end, and Swarbrick is doing his best to speed that progress along
We lost our winningest all time coach to LSU, we might lose our former QB OC to Alabama. If Freeman proves competent, how long will he stick around?
He’ll be ours until he fails or succeeds, I guess. Maybe he’ll go 9-4 every year and be our coach for a decade. That’s what fans like David seem to really be hoping for
Replace ‘…winningest..’ with ‘…losingest, backstabbing, opportunist, self-absorbed prick…’
And then try some crack.
Pyne just got a new friend in the QB room at ASU.
I hope he’s efficient at signaling in the play calls to Drew.
At Raleigh early in the season could turn into a tough road test. No one knows if ND’s ’23 roster will be road warriors. TBD each season. The big three, tOhio State, $C and @ Clemson will determine how far this team will climb. Either of the back to back road games following Ohio State and leading to $C could be trap games, with Coaches Elko and Brohm certain to have them ready for the Irish. Eight in a row and then the potential return of Jurkovic and Pitt after a week off followed by @ Clemson, never an easy game there, with revenge on their mind for last year’s beatdown. I’ll be looking for blowouts vs. Wake and @ Stanford. Seven challenges, and of course, avoiding the unexpected loss. I’m not putting a total # of wins defining success this season. A challenging schedule. I’ll be watching for improvement as a measure with the road game @. Clemson might turn out to be the ultimate litmus test for this ’23 season’s evaluation. I do feel better having an accomplished veteran to lead the QB room, with a very capable back-up, if needed. Scoring early and often is what’s needed to be elite this century.
Bit early.
Wait for spring practice to start hand-wringing, a short break, then last 2 weeks of August for pearl clutching.
Then it’s clear sailing to Labor Day weekend…and demanding heads to roll.
“….The former Wake Forest signal-caller is the most valuable Power Five player over the past two seasons, according to PFF’s wins above average metric. The redshirt junior’s 92.5 grade in that span trails only Bryce Young among Power Five quarterbacks….”
—————————
I sure hope he can crack ND’s two-deep. Maybe even get some mop-up snaps.
Morons.
Reality check:
Urban Meyer just declared his effusive praise for what DJ Jazzy Jeff will mean in Colorado.
Of note, he predicts that in the first year, he should probably manage to “get 8 or 9 wins and a bowl game”.
After all the TV air time and internet articles dissecting every aspect of his hire, THAT’S the opinion of an experienced, successful ex-coach.
While at ND, the sophomore coach has been given his marching orders for “10 wins or else! And the playoffs would be nice!” ….by completely delusional La-Z-Boy indenters, living in the highlighted moments of old timey days.
We just had a coach deliver 5 10 win seasons in a row.
If the new guy can’t maintain that level excellence, he has to go. It’s not that hard, David. If your new coach doesn’t win as many games as your old coach, you fire the new coach.
Simple, simple stuff
Your La-Z-Boy is financed, and has shit on both arm rests, no doubt.
Translating the latest “Davidism”…..”Now that KELLY isn’t coaching it’s alright to miss the playoffs and lose big bowl games.”
Sounds eerily like Chunkie Charlie…who said in the post-bowl blowout room upon his hiring, “hey, you guys are a 6-6 team. That’s what you are, and it’s not good enough.” But 5 years later we were (still) 6-6…but now that was suddenly “good enough” for CC to collect a 20 million payout.
Maybe David is actually Chunky Charly venting anger and frustration.
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My posts are in simple english….no “translation” required.
Again: If they make you sad, or your brain hurts, don’t read them.
Chunky Charlie. Sick burn, gramps.
Not your typical “back in my day” ND football time capsule reference.
Seems you forgot your genteel “elder statesman” bullshit, and dropped a dookie in your diaper.
Translating the latest “Davidism”…..”Now that KELLY isn’t coaching it’s alright to miss the playoffs and lose big bowl games.”
Sounds eerily like Chunkie Charlie…who said in the post-bowl blowout room upon his hiring, “hey, you guys are a 6-6 team. That’s what you are, and it’s not good enough.” But 5 years later we were (still) 6-6…but now that was suddenly “good enough” for CC to collect a 20 million payout.
Maybe David is actually Chunky Charly venting anger and frustration.
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10-2 and a New Year’s Six bowl win will convince me. Anything less is just more of the same no matter how you all spin it.
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Turning optimism into an absolute, angry ultimatum.
Maybe being unhappy is your happy.
As I said “no matter how you spin it”
BTW: The goal is not 10-2. The goal, as ever, is 12-0 then 2-0 in the playoffs. But 10-2 seems reasonable for this year, with 14-0 in Freeman’s third year.
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You happily put up with Shithead Kelly’s frustrating, unsatisfying, occasionally enraging shitshow for almost a decade of Fall Saturdays beyond his expiry date.
Spin that.
Get past beoing another W-L simpleton like “Mensa Keith”.
Consistent, entertaining, competitive football would be be like winning the goddamn lottery.
Possibly 10-2 but more likely 9-3 or 8-4.
9-3 is continued progress, 10-2 would be great.
If the football is entertaining, and the losses aren’t embarrassing, all’s well.
What? If they don’t win 10 games this year, Freeman has to go.
He was handed the keys to perennial 10-win program and he dropped the ball a little bit in year one and then recovered. We can probably consider year 1 a success because of that recovery but if he can’t keep deliver 10 wins in year 2, it will be obvious he isn’t the guy moving forward.
Anything less than the playoffs this year will be a disappointment. Anything less than 10 wins will be abject failure of the program to recover from the loss of Brian Kelly under Freeman
Hopefully, this will all be moot, but there are no excuses for Freeman this year. Too many other coaches excelling early on with elite programs
You’re beyond embarrassing yourself. Now it’s your family.
There will be three games that i see where ND will be the underdog. All the other games i feel like ND should and will win. The problem is which two games will the ND coaching staff fail to have this team prepared. It seems to take Heistand about 4 to 5 games to get his Oline playing like they should. Still not sold on Rees. Will he become pass happy with Hartman and forget that he has two stud RBs. Will Freeman show any kind of emotion on the sidelines or is he more medicated than Purple guy. Will SteelFanRob be freed from his moms basement and bring this site back to life. Cant wait.
LSU accidentally overpaid Brian Kelly by $1 million last year.
To go along with the millions it overpaid him on purpose.
I know high school highlights aren’t the end all be all but this Kenny Minchey is really impressive both as a runner and passer. Hopefully, Notredame has found elite quarterbacks going forward. Sam Hartman definitely, Minchey, Carr hopefully and maybe Buchner. My feelings changed somewhat with Buchner after the Gator bowl. He maybe just lacks playing time and development. I hope he doesn’t transfer.
Take a moment and enjoy realistic, genuine hope.
It hasn’t come by here in a long time.
If you have shit in one hand and hope in the other—you’ve still just got a fistful of shit.
I’d rather have wins
You’re the shit expert.
Every time I get excited about High School highlights, I remind myself of Brandon Wimbush and try not to get too excited, lol
I think it’s very hard to project a teams record from one year to the next. So many factors, injuries ,schedule, transfers in and out, incoming freshman, returning players breaking out or not. I feel Notredame potentially can be a playoff level team. The key will mostly be Hartman who I’m very confident will be really good. The big question marks are the receivers and can Tommy be consistently good every week with the game plans, play calling, in game adjustments, utilization of the talent. I like Tommy and believe he has been somewhat handicapped these last 3 years with the lack of an elite quarterback, game breaking explosives receivers, poor line coaching and recruiting with Quinn. That is all changing now with Harry, Stuckey and Hartman coming in. It will be interesting to see if Freeman brings in an offensive analyst guru to support Tommy.
The quarterback is very important but he can’t do it alone. If his offensive line is weak and cant run block or pass protect,receivers can’t get open and drop passes and the offensive coordinator isn’t elite as far as game planning, play calling making in game adjustments the offense and team isn’t going to win much. Also, how good the defense and special teams are directly impacts the quarterback and offense with field position, take aways giving the offense short fields forcing opponents to play from behind. Bryce Young and Cj Shroud were the 2 best quarterbacks in college football this year and neither one won the national championship.
Links in a chain…..the weakest link determines how strong the chain is.
For years, a “sticky link” was the dumbass leader on the sidelines. That link got replaced, and is still being tested and inspected after every game. So far so good. .
A more visibly weak link has been QB, for many years. Next season, a new link will perhaps be the strongest in the chain……making the NEXT weakest links the “limitation on potential”.
Bruce still thinks Ian Book was an outstanding QB… of course that’s because Bruce is results oriented. Arm strength takes a back seat to winning percentage and Total Offense every time in Bruce’s world.
Perhaps that’s a feature of bipolar one distortion of facts. So no scolding here…I’d just say Brady Quinn, then Book, then a couple guys who only played one or two years, then Clausen somewhere near the bottom, along with his winning percentage.
BTW: If Clausen gets some sort of mulligan for 2007, why doesn’t Kizer get a pass for 2016? And why do blow out losses in major Bowl games count against IAN BOOK, but blow outs in major Bowls don’t seem to count against Brady Quinn? Parse that, guys: then do your own scolding!
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Great Bob Dole impression.
I was surprised on the Clausen vs Quinn takes. Ultimately I think Clausen was the better talent but Quinn the better QB. To be fair though it was a dumpster fire around Clausen.
Quinn did have the best O line in ND history.
“Gorgeous” George Santos, Anthony “Holder” Devolder, Tony “Zabby” Zabrovsky and Kitara “KO” Ravache.
We’ll never see 4 guys like that ever again.
At least not at the same time
Not at all happy about having to play an FCS team. One point of pride for the Irish is we were one of the only teams (if not only team now) that only played FBS teams. Some traditions should be upheld IMO. Sometimes you have to go with the times, but not in this case.
ND knowingly participates in a professional, quite corrupt football league.
You want things to be upset about? Start with that.
clausen was so overated, average arm losing seasons never won 1 big game. took nd to 2 toilet bowls his brothers were better than him. Quinns teams had winning records & major bowl games, Clausens best win was a blowout of Hawaii in the hula bowl!! WOOO HOOO
And as we all know, the QB controls every team’s destiny. You could have little girls, amputee war vets, and small rodents at every other position….but with a great QB, the championship is yours!
Fooking idiot.
MJT,
This is one of the most absurd takes I’ve seen on here to say Clausen was overrated. He had some of the worst defenses by ND I’ve ever seen since following them which is why it was difficult for him to win the big games.
Clausen was a better QB than Quinn
Way better. Not even close.
You can’t say that. Bruce will scold you.