Notre Dame football is religion to so many fans around the country, and those fans will get to see the 2017 team on the field this weekend.
For fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, college football is not something that happens from September to December each year. College football is religion, and after a tough 2016 season, fans of the program are chomping at the bit to see the talent on the 2017 squad. Their first glimpse of the 2017 Notre Dame roster will come this weekend, when the team will split in two for the Blue-Gold Spring Game.
The game will be played inside Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, and it will give each student-athlete the chance to make an impression on their head coach. This Notre Dame team is going into the season with inexperience at some of the key positions on the roster, which should make this matchup even more important. The Fighting Irish will kick off their 2017 regular season on September 2, when the Temple Owls come to South Bend for a 3:30pm ET kickoff.
Kickoff is slated for 12:30pm ET on Saturday, April 22. The game will be the eighth Blue-Gold game for head coach Brian Kelly, who is looking to rebound off of a season that saw them lose three of their last four games in pretty embarrassing fashion. Brandon Wimbush will take over for the departed DeShone Kizer, who will likely be selected in the first two rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft the following week.
In total, the Fighting Irish finished last season with a 4-8 record, which is a far cry from the team that went to the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2015 season. There are plenty of question marks, including on the defensive line, so there should be plenty of battles for starting spots up front. Keep an eye on running back Josh Adams, who will be the main ball carrier for Notre Dame this season.
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With Kizer gone, there is certain to be a lot of eyes on Wimbush on Saturday. There is a ton of hype surrounding him, and while Kizer was a legitimate first round NFL talent, he struggled at times last season. This Notre Dame team has the talent to be better than the 2016 unit, but it will be up to Kelly to prove that he can get the program back to the top of the college football landscape.