Notre Dame Football Must Overcome Slow Road Starts in 2024
There are excuses for the slow starts, sure.
It's not just a rumor, but pretty much a fact that when Notre Dame comes to town the opponent will put on its best show. The game is often played under the lights and in front of major national television audience.
Put a couple of those together in a few short weeks and the physical as well as emotional exhaustion can add up.
But that's also one of the main selling points when someone comes to Notre Dame. Each of a recruit's games will be huge, they'll essentially be the traveling circus in every road stadium they play in, and just about everyone will consider their matchup their Super Bowl.
But if Notre Dame is going to challenge 11-1 or 12-0 in 2024 and the likely home playoff game that would follow, it can't make any big mistakes on the road.
A slow start at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2022 kept Notre Dame from earning the spot in a possible New Year's Six bowl game. The Irish have to get off fast early in the season, and at the finish.
Notre Dame's 2024 football season bookends with road games at Texas A&M and USC, arguably two of the three toughest games it will play.
The Fighting Irish hit the road to take on Army, Navy, and Georgia Tech as well, but their trip to Purdue on Sept. 14 will be their only other true road game of the season. In order to reach the heights Marcus Freeman and his staff want to in 2024, a damning trend from 2023 must be overcome.
Notre Dame started slow offensively every time they took its show on the road in 2023.
At North Carolina State, the Irish were forced into two-straight three-and-outs before kicking a field goal on their third possession to take a 3-0 lead.
A fake punt helped set up a Notre Dame touchdown on its first possession at Duke, but offensive struggles all night would keep it out of the endzone again until very late in the fourth quarter.
Their trip to Louisville a week later started with an interception, followed by a pair of punts, a lost fumble, and another punt. Somehow Notre Dame hit halftime still tied at seven in that one, although the second half would be all Cardinals.
At Clemson, Notre Dame was able to start with a field goal before two punts, another field goal, and a pick-six to put itself in a 24-6 hole. It fought back but ultimately fell 31-23.
And to close the regular season at Stanford, even the lowly Cardinal gave Notre Dame early fits before the game turned into a rout. Two lost fumbles on the first three Irish possessions had them down 13-7 to one of the worst Power Five teams from a year ago.
Slow starts at Texas A&M and USC this year could keep the Irish from hosting one of those valuable home playoff games - or worse - keep them out of the playoff altogether this year.
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NICK SHEPKOWSKI