Notre Dame football: 5 bold predictions for 2020

2. Passing defense falls outside top 30

Notre Dame’s passing defense was one of the best in the country last season. They held Georgia standout Jake Fromm to just 187 yards in the air despite a tight matchup. Bryce Perkins was caught with two interceptions as he attempted a second-half comeback for his Virginia Cavaliers. In their bowl game, they held Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy to just 222 yards, his second-lowest output of the season. Those performances led to Notre Dame ranking third in the entire nation in passing yards allowed per game.

This season, only two Fighting Irish cornerbacks have any real playing experience, including Shaun Crawford who announced his return earlier this year. Junior TaRiq Bracy is the other player to keep an eye on, but he still has a lot of question marks surrounding him.

Notre Dame is also going to see a heavy supply of ACC teams on their schedule. One of their matchups include a date with Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers. That in of itself might skew their passing defense, but with inexperience on the outside, we see a lot of these ACC quarterbacks taking advantage.

On top of all that, we have a lot of teams going to conference only schedules. That might skew things in favor of certain teams in more run-friendly conferences like the Big Ten. The passing defense just isn’t going to be the strength it was last season. It’s hard to ask a unit that’s so young to be in the top 30 in the country, let alone top five.