Pete Thamel, Rece Davis predict Notre Dame will make College Football Playoff

Notre Dame clocked in at No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll earlier this month. That means they’re expected to make an appearance in the College Football Playoff for the third time in program history.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Rece Davis broke down their predictions for the first-ever 12-team CFP. For Thamel, he slotted the Irish at No. 11.

Unexpected questions along the offensive line prevent him from putting them higher on his list.

“We did just find out in the last week or two that that Notre Dame’s starting left tackle, who was supposed to be extremely talented, but also was supposed to replace Joe Alt,” Thamel told Davis. “Look, they’ve recruited really well at that position, and they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. There are some crazy statistics of like consecutive tackles drafted and how much money they’ve made at Notre Dame. That was Charles Jagusah, who was hurt in the first week of camp and gone for the season, a torn pec.”

Thamel figures Sullivan Absher, a four-star recruit from the 2023 class, will slot in for Jagusah at left tackle. Perhaps Tosh Baker could move over from the right side to protect quarterback Riley Leonard‘s blind side.

Fellow ESPN analyst ‘Stanford’ Steve Coughlin recently spoke with On3’s Andy Staples, where he spoke on the fact that Notre Dame has always been able to rely on their big boys up front. With talent added throughout the offensive unit this offseason, he believes the offensive line will make or break the Irish in 2024.

From Rece Davis’ perspective, his worries stem from who the front five is going to have to block in Notre Dame’s season opener.

“You mentioned the offensive line, and it has always been good, but it’s also one of the least experienced offensive lines in the country,” Davis said, responding to Thamel. “And opening at [Texas] A&M will not make it easy because they have a strong defensive line, but they sort of bookend their season, they start with A&M, and they’ve got to go to USC at the end. But obviously, the huge game, which, unless they’re undefeated when they get there, it’s a huge game that might tell the tale about whether they get in [the CFP] when Florida State comes in on November 9.”

Notre Dame’s season opener against the Aggies is set for Aug. 31 with the opening kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.