What Is Notre Dame Football’s Worst Case Scenario? ND on SI Noon Question

Notre Dame is supposed to be fantastic this college football season, but what if it's not? We give the worst case scenario in today's ND on SI Noon Question.

Louisville defensive players celebrated while running off the field as the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 33-20 on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 / © Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal and USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

Shock of shocks, not everything goes according to plan.

The world thinks Notre Dame will be fabulous - just about everyone has the win total at 10 wins or 10.5 - and the schedule is set up nicely enough come up with a season and a sure-thing trip into the expanded College Football Play…

What happens if it all blows up? What if Notre Dame is just okay, or what if it can’t seem to do anything right and it’s … it’s … 2007? (Too soon! Too soon!)

What’s the worst case scenario this season for the Irish? We try to come up with what might happen in today’s ND on SI Noon Question.

Notre Dame Football Worst Case Scenario? 9-3

Rich Cirminiello
@RichCirminiello

Nine regular season wins and a chance to stay in the back end of the final Top 25 with a bowl win.The Irish might be double-digit favorites in at least seven games – Northern Illinois, Navy, Army, Miami University, Virginia, Stanford, and Purdue. 



Mark ‘em all down as wins.

The remaining five games – Louisville, Florida State and at Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, and USC could be problems. BIG problems if Riley Leonard’s ankle, which required two procedures this offseason, is balky at any point in the fall.

The books have ND’s win total set at 10.5 so nine wins would miss the mark. But defense always travels well, and the Irish D will keep the team competitive every week, even if the offense stumbles. Worst case, lose three of the five toughest games to go 9-3.

Notre Dame Football Worst Case Scenario: The Irish Lose to the Good Teams

Pete Fiutak
@PeteFiutak

Riley Leonard gets hurt and this all goes kaput.

Perish the thought - I believe Leonard has first round NFL talent upside with a strong season - but the worst case scenario involves Notre Dame pushing the cart down the backup quarterback aisle and goes 8-4ish/7-5.

Or to do this more for real, Leonard stays healthy and the floor is being anything worse than 10-2.

Nothing else matters with no conference championship to play for. In this race with an expanded CFP, 9-3 might as well be 0-12 - it’s almost certainly going to be 10-2-or-bust to get in.

It's not crazy - the Irish could lose two nasty big road games and drop a home game ... you know, like last year.

And yes, even if everything is going just fine, Notre Dame could absolutely lose on the road at Texas A&M and/or USC, or could drop the date to Louisville again, or lose at Georgia Tech on the wrong day.

Notre Dame Football Worst Case Scenario: Health Issues and 8 Wins

Nick Shepkowski
@NickShepkowski

What if Riley Leonard can throw without pads but getting after in a full-go environment doesn't bring as good of news?

What if one of his favorite projected targets this year, tight end Mitchell Evans, isn't near 100%?

What if Benjamin Morrison's shoulder isn't recovered from spring surgery by the time the Texas A&M game comes around?

Notre Dame still has enough talent despite these possible shortcomings that it'll easily be bowl eligible but games at Texas A&M and USC would be that much more chalenging and Florida State's trip to South Bend in early November would be no slouch.

If all of this goes wrong you're looking at a team that could easily drop the three marquee games as well as a home slate against Louisville.

Just how deep is this Notre Dame roster?

If you're looking at 8-4 at worst then a lot of other things must be going right.

ND on SI Noon Questions

Should Notre Dame Open With Texas A&M or a Tune-Up?