Sure, there are excuses for a slow start.
It's not just a rumor, it's pretty much a fact that opponents bring their best games when Notre Dame comes to town. The games are often played under the lights and in front of a national television audience. Experiencing this a couple of times in the space of a few weeks can be exhausting, not just physically but mentally as well.
But that's also one of the main selling points for anyone coming to Notre Dame: Every freshman game is going to be huge, they're basically a traveling circus every time they play in a visiting stadium, and just about everyone will consider their matchup the Super Bowl.
But if Notre Dame wants to go 11-1 or 12-0 in 2024 and follow that with a home playoff game, they can't afford to make any big mistakes on the road.
A slow start at the Los Angeles Coliseum cost Notre Dame a chance to play in a New Year's Six bowl game in 2022. The Irish will need to get off to a strong start and end of the season.
Notre Dame's 2024 football season will begin and end with road games at Texas A&M and USC, arguably the two toughest games of the three Notre Dame will play.
The Fighting Irish have also traveled to play Army, Navy and Georgia Tech, but a trip to Purdue on Sept. 14 will be their only true road game of the season. For Marcus Freeman and his staff to reach the heights they hope for in 2024, they will have to overcome some negative trends from 2023.
Every time Notre Dame has played a road game in 2023, it has gotten off to a slow start offensively.
At NC State, the Irish were thwarted on third down for the second straight game, but managed a field goal on their third try to take a 3-0 lead.
Notre Dame scored a touchdown on a fake punt on Duke's first possession, but the offense struggled throughout the game and didn't get into the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter.
A trip to Louisville a week later started with an interception, followed by two punts, a lost fumble and another punt. Notre Dame went into halftime tied 7-7, but the Cardinals dominated the second half.
Against Clemson, Notre Dame opened the game with a field goal, then had two punts, a field goal and a pick-six to take a 24-6 lead. They fought back but ultimately lost, 31-23.
And to close the regular season at Stanford, even the lowly Cardinal made Notre Dame suffer before the game was a blowout win: The Irish lost two fumbles in their first three possessions and were coming off a 13-7 loss to one of the worst teams in the Power 5 a year ago.
With Texas A&M and USC off to sluggish starts this year, Notre Dame may not get a valuable home playoff game, or even worse, the Irish may not make the playoffs this year at all.
– Notre Dame football 2024 schedule: Ranking the toughest games
