Is Notre Dame football good or a product of its schedule?

Notre Dame football didn’t look all the that dominant in getting to 4-0 on Saturday.

How good is Notre Dame football this year, if we’re being totally honest about the Irish?

The Golden Domers improved to 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in ACC play by defeating the Louisville Cardinals at home in Week 7. Though the Irish only allowed seven points to be scored on them, they only put 12 points on the board vs. Scott Satterfield’s team, who now falls to 1-4 on the year and 0-4 in conference play. The 12 points were the least in a home win since a 10-7 win vs. Purdue in 1978, so is Notre Dame a playoff team or a product of its soft schedule so far?

Notre Dame won’t be challenged until Clemson on Nov. 7

Though a team is what its record says it is, this hasn’t been an impressive 4-0 for the Irish. Their four wins this season are over the Duke Blue Devils, the South Florida Bulls, the Florida State Seminoles and now Louisville. Those four teams won a combined four games entering play on Saturday. Duke leads in its game, but South Florida also lost and Florida State will likely lose.

So we’re looking at potentially a combined 4-17 record through Week 7 between Notre Dame’s first four opponents this year. This assumes Duke falls to the North Carolina State Wolfpack and Florida State loses to the North Carolina Tar Heels. If Duke wins and Florida State shocks North Carolina, that combined record improves to 6-15. Two of those wins are against FCS teams, too.

While some of the Notre Dame faithful are celebrating being 4-0 and the No. 4 team in the land, those 12 points they put across on Louisville are the lowest number scored in a home victory for the Irish since they defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 10-6 back in 1978. Sure, the defense may be great for Brian Kelly, but how can he be pleased with this type of poor offensive production?

Notre Dame should get a worthy adversary in Week 8 when the Irish travel to Western Pennsylvania to take on the 3-3 Pittsburgh Panthers. Though there is potentially an upset bid brewing for Pitt, Notre Dame should be able to get to 5-0 (4-0) with a road victory over the Panthers. However, the Irish will be in for a rude awakening vs. the Clemson Tigers on Nov. 7.

Clemson has gone out and demolished just about every team it has played this year and in the last several years. The Tigers are the No. 1 team in the country and the runaway favorite to win the ACC for the sixth year in a row and reach the College Football Playoff. This date in South Bend vs. Clemson will finally let us know if Notre Dame is good or a product of its schedule.

4-0 is 4-0, but Notre Dame didn’t look like a playoff team vs. Louisville on Saturday afternoon.

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