Notre Dame set strong baseline in Week 0, now aim to have impact on College Football Playoff race

Notre Dame made the statement of Week 0 with their 42-3 win over Navy in Ireland. Now, as the rest of the college football season gets kicked off this week, On3’s J.D. PicKell can’t help but be fascinated by the impact that the Fighting Irish could make the rest of the way.

PicKell spoke very highly of Notre Dame during his recap of their opening victory on Sunday. If what they did to the Midshipmen in Aviva Stadium is the ground that they’re building their season upon, he excused any excessive excitement that might still currently be taking place in South Bend.

“The first test now? That has passed. Check it off, no such thing as a bad win, let’s keep on rolling here, baby,” said PicKell. “But, if I’m Notre Dame, the question is how good can they be? And based on yesterday? I think it’s all about this steady, upward trend from what they did.”

“It may not be linear. It may not be a smooth sailing climb to the top of the mountain for them and what they could be in 2023,” said PicKell. “But when you look at what they did yesterday? If that’s the base they’re setting? If that’s the foundation for which they’re building on the rest of the season? It’s hard not to be excited.”

Notre Dame posted over 40 points thanks to an incredibly efficient debut from QB Sam Hartman with 251 passing yards and four touchdowns on an 82.6% completion rate. They also did so with 191 rushing yards and two more scores from their run game which was led by Audric Estime.

Mix in a defense that only allowed 12 first downs overall to Navy and held their triple-option to 2.7 yards per carry and the Fighting Irish couldn’t have asked for much better from across the pond.

As they return home, the question now, as PicKell said earlier, is how good can they be? Still, regardless of the answer to that, this weekend’s performance proved to him that they can end up as either a legitimate playoff contender or a possible postseason spoiler with who else they have on their slate.

“If they continue to take positive steps forward? If they continue to trend upward? It is very, very difficult to speak with absolute certainty about Notre Dame being outmatched in any of the games that they’ve got coming up ahead of them,” PicKell said. “They’re going to have a large impact on this College Football Playoff race.”

“We’ve said it before on our live show. They will impact the College Football Playoff race. Whether they find their way in there, run the table, and get in. Or whether they impact it for any of those three other teams, whether they play a spoiler for a USC, an Ohio State, a Clemson,” PicKell continued. “They’re going to impact the race.”

Last season did not start off on the right foot for the Irish under Marcus Freeman. What a difference a year makes, though, as his program flashed some potential makings of greatness in themselves during their opener this time around.

“For Notre Dame, going forward, if they keep trending up? They’re going to be a problem for everybody else,” said PicKell. “Don’t look now – Here come the Irish.”