Notre Dame Must Capitalize on 2024 Schedule Break

The Fighting Irish catch a great scheduling break, will they maximize it?

Notre Dame offensive lineman Billy Schrauth participates in a drill during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame will not have a repeat of 2023's brutal schedule run

The first two years of the Marcus Freeman era at Notre Dame featured legitimately tough schedules—not just in terms of the teams they played, but also where and when.

For example, last year's slate included eight straight games to start the season with no break, an overseas trip, and four consecutive night games in prime time, including back-to-back road games against undefeated opponents.

Notre Dame won’t face such an uphill battle with the schedule this year. The games are spaced out well, allowing the Irish to gear up for their "big" matchups and have some breathing and recovery room between them and the next one.

2024 Notre Dame Football Schedule ☘️🏈 pic.twitter.com/xVuRQpyklc

— Here Come The Irish (@herecometheiris) July 1, 2024

Notre Dame must take advantage of this schedule quirk

It’s one thing to have your "big game" moments spaced out nicely throughout the schedule, but the location of the games is also a major factor, and it favors the Irish in 2024. Notre Dame only faces three true road games all season, with the rest being neutral-site matchups.Notre Dame opens at Texas A&M, closes at USC, and only plays at Purdue in between.

That’s it.

I can't recall the last time an Irish schedule was this favorable. The question now is, can Notre Dame take advantage and make a CFP run?

2024 Notre Dame Football Schedule

Aug 31 at Texas A&M
Sept 7 Northern Illinois
Sept 14 at Purdue
Sept 21 Miami University
Sept 28 Louisville
Oct 5 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 Stanford
Oct 19 at Georgia Tech
Oct 26 vs Navy (in East Rutherford)
Nov 2 OPEN DATE
Nov 9 Florida State
Nov 16 Virginia
Nov 23 Army (in Bronx)
Nov 30 at USC

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