Bold Predictions For The Notre Dame Offense In 2021
Notre Dame is inching closer and closer to its official start to the 2021 football season. How much growth we see on the offense this season will have a significant impact on just how good Notre Dame will be this season.
Before the season starts Irish Breakdown has made five bold predictions for the offense. These predictions are sort of a "if everything goes right this could happen" scenario, but this season I'm more confident in my bold predictions coming true than I have been in the past.
Here are my five bold predictions for the Irish offense:
1. Notre Dame will top 40.0 PPG this season — I predict that Notre Dame will set a new school record for points per game. Scoring 40+ points is the new sign of an elite offense and I believe the offense has a chance to get there this season for a number of reasons. To begin this is a very, very talented Notre Dame squad. Notre Dame's schedule also isn't filled with many good scoring defenses. The 12 regular season opponents gave up an average of 28.7 points per game a season ago, and eight of the 12 opponents gave up at least 29.4 points per game a year ago.
2. Notre Dame will average more than 475.0 yards per game — I predict Notre Dame will do something this season that it has done just three times in school history, average over 475 yards per game. Notre Dame topped that mark in 1968 (504.4), 1970 (510.5) and 2005 (477.3). Notre Dame's explosive personnel, veteran presence at quarterback, anticipated schematic adjustments and relatively soft nature of opposing defenses all add up to this being an offensive squad that is both explosive and efficient.
3. Jack Coan will pass for more than 3,500 yards and 30 TDs — I predict quarterback Jack Coan will do something this season that has only been done once in program history, pass for at least 3,500 passing yards and throw for at least 30 touchdowns. The only other quarterback to do that is Brady Quinn, who passed for 3,919 yards and 32 touchdowns back in 2005. Of course, that offense was the last that topped 475 yards, so it should come as no surprise that I'm predicting these two results in the same season.
4. Kyren Williams/Chris Tyree will combine for more than 2,500 yards of offense — I predict that Notre Dame's top two running backs - Williams and Tyree - will combine for at least 2,500 yards of offense (rushing and receiving) this season. Last season the duo combined for 1,999 yards in 12 games, a number that would have jumped to 2,165 yards if that average held for 13 games. The 2,500-yard prediction is based on a 13-game season. I predict that Williams will see a slight jump in yards, but if he holds steady I wouldn't be surprised. I expect Tyree to see a jump of at least a couple of hundred yards, but the big jump will come with the pass game production. The duo combined for 378 receiving yards last season, but I expect that number to get past 500 yards this fall.
5. Michael Mayer will set a new single season TE touchdown record — I was actually surprised to find out this number was only six, something I realized in 2019 when Cole Kmet tied Ken MacAfee's (1977) program record of six. I'll actually be a bit surprised if Mayer doesn't surpass this mark, so perhaps it's not that bold after all, but any time you predict a tight end record at Notre Dame to be broken it's impressive.
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