Notre Dame Footballs 2023 Schedule Early Analysis

The 2023 Notre Dame football season has begun and it’s shaping up to be an interesting campaign for the Irish. After a strong rally to end the 2022 cycle, many eyes will be on Marcus Freemans program heading into its second season.

A really early breakdown of the Irish’s opponents reveals a seemingly manageable schedule, but one that’s also uniquely poised to keep fans on their toes from week to week.

Games by date

The Irish begin their 2023 season on Aug. 26 against Navy in Dublin, Ireland. then they move on to a full September game before taking weeks off in October and November. The October bye falls between USC and Pitt, while the November bye falls between Clemson and Pitt. Wake Forest competitions.

Games by location

The season opener in Dublin serves as this year’s installment of the Shamrock series.

Most of the formal away games of the season are played in Carolina. The Irish will travel to North Carolina to face off NC State in Raleigh and Duke in Durham before traveling in early November to line up against Clemson in South Carolina.

The teams’ October games begin with a trip to Kentucky to meet Louisville and end the season with a trip to the West Coast to take on Stanford.

Some of the most anticipated matches of the seasons, Ohio StateUSC and Wake Forest are all playing at home in South Bend.

Early strength of schedule

It’s going to continue to be a crazy offseason for all CFB programs, and it’s definitely too early to make any serious claims about the strength of the 2023 opponents. Still, looking at the success of Notre Dames’ future opponents in 2022, it’s a smart move to start noodling.

The first four games of the season are poised to give the team a chance to figure things out early without crazy odds. Starting the 2022 campaign with Ohio State followed by Marshall shook us up in ways many of us hope to forget, but (knock on wood) I don’t think there will be too many similar concerns this upcoming season. The biggest challenge will likely come against NC State in the third game of the season.

Mid to late season things start to get very interesting. The Irish’s 2023 rematch against the Buckeyes will again likely be the teams most formidable opponent. But if the USC and Clemson programs come back with even comparable performance starting in 2022, they’ll be nail-biters as well.

ND’s remaining ACC opponents (Duke, Louisville, Pitt and Wake Forest) will likely pose significant challenges, but it’s hard to tell from this early vantage point. Of these ACC matchups, the Wake Forest game is likely the biggest wild card mostly because of the effects the quarterback switchero will have on both teams.

The team’s weakest opponent next year is predicted to be Stanford, which won only 3 games last season. Unfortunately, Notre Dame was one of those three wins, and regardless of how the Cardinal play next season, there will be a lot of pressure to follow up this rough loss with a decisive win.

Coaching Mysteries

Probably one of the most interesting features of the Notre Dames 2023 slate of opponents is the overall short tenure of head coaches.

The Irish will face three teams (Navy, Louisville and Stanford) who will be fielding new head coaches. The teams 2022 matchups against Navy and Stanford didn’t go the way we were hoping for, and it will be really interesting to see how Marcus Freemen and his staff prepare to face the newly driven programs next season.

Tennessee State, Duke and USC also bring second-year coaches to the table. Plenty of eyes will no doubt be on the USC game in mid-October as Lincoln Riley looks to repeat his first-season success against the Irish, only this time in South Bend.

Final thoughts

The Notre Dame Football 2023 dance card has a lot to be both excited and terrified about. Historical ties, both long-standing and recent, with many opponents make for great media and hopefully a competitive game (ND will hopefully come out on top more often than not). Throw in the shifting sands of mid-season and I think Irish fans are in for a really entertaining, albeit likely stressful, 2^n.d campaign of the year for Marcus Freeman and company.

Cheers and to Ireland!!