2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Rose Bowl (CFP semifinal), L 14–31 vs. Alabama
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 5
AP No. 5
Record 10–2 (9–0 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees (1st season)
Defensive coordinator Clark Lea (3rd season)
Base defense 4–2–5
Captain Ian Book
Shaun Crawford
Robert Hainsey
Daelin Hayes
Adetokunbo Ogundeji
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium
Uniform
2020 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 Notre Dame y^   9 0     10 2  
No. 3 Clemson y$^   8 1     10 2  
No. 22 Miami (FL)   7 2     8 3  
No. 18 North Carolina   7 3     8 4  
NC State   7 3     8 4  
Boston College   5 5     6 5  
Pittsburgh   5 5     6 5  
Virginia Tech   5 5     5 6  
Virginia   4 5     5 5  
Wake Forest   3 4     4 5  
Georgia Tech   3 6     3 7  
Louisville   3 7     4 7  
Florida State   2 6     3 6  
Duke   1 9     2 9  
Syracuse   1 9     1 10  
Championship: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 10
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by Brian Kelly in his 11th season at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish played their home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Because the Power Five conferences enforced restrictions on non-conference games in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame played a full Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schedule for the 2020 season, expanding upon an existing relationship in all other sports besides football and ice hockey. This was the first season in several decades that Notre Dame did not play its traditional intersectional rivalry games against Navy (previously played every season since 1927), USC (since 1946), or Stanford (since 1997).

After the cancellation of the Wake Forest game scheduled for December 12 by the ACC, due to an evaluation of the three teams in contention to play in the ACC Championship Game, Notre Dame clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game, which they went on to lose to Clemson.

The Fighting Irish were subsequently ranked fourth in the final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, securing a spot in the Rose Bowl, a CFP semifinal game, against top–ranked Alabama. Notre Dame lost to Alabama on New Year's Day, the eventual national champion, ending the season with a 10–2 record.

Offseason

Departures

NFL

Transfers out

Other

  • OL Cole Mabry (medically retired from football)

Transfers in

Schedule

The 2020 schedule was officially released on December 7, 2017.

Due to suspensions of athletic programs nationwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team called off the 2020 edition of its spring Blue-Gold Game. The Emerald Isle Classic game against Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland was tentatively rescheduled for Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, and three games were scrapped after the Big Ten and Pac-12 elected to restrict play to conference opponents only. This included a game scheduled against Wisconsin on October 3 (which was to be played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay as a Shamrock Series game), the team's rivalry game against Stanford, and the team's rivalry game against USC (resulting in its postponement for the first time since World War II).

In regards to replacing the canceled games, head coach Brian Kelly told ESPN's Mike Greenberg that "our phone is ringing off the hook right now in terms of teams looking for games", and that Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick had been communicating with ACC commissioner John Swofford; as per its membership in most other sports, Notre Dame typically plays five games against ACC opponents per-season. On July 29, 2020, the ACC officially announced that Notre Dame would play its 2020 season within the conference, with 10 games against ACC opponents, a non-conference game of its choice played in-state, and being eligible to compete for the conference championship. The team contributed revenue from its broadcast rights with NBC into the conference's shared pool, split between all ACC members and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's opening game against Duke marked the first time that the Fighting Irish had ever competed in, or won a conference game.

Original

Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Source
August 29 2:00 p.m. vs. Navy ESPN No contest
September 12 2:30 p.m. Arkansas NBC No contest
September 19 2:30 p.m. Western Michigan
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC No contest
September 26 at Wake Forest Rescheduled
October 3 7:30 p.m. vs. Wisconsin NBC No contest
October 10 7:30 p.m. Stanford
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBC No contest
October 17 at Pittsburgh Rescheduled
October 31 3:30 p.m. Duke
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC Rescheduled
November 7 7:30 p.m. Clemson
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC No change
November 14 at Georgia Tech Rescheduled
November 21 2:30 p.m. Louisville
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC Rescheduled
November 28 at USC No contest

Revised

Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source
September 12 2:30 p.m. Duke No. 10 NBC W 27–13 10,097
September 19 2:30 p.m. South Florida* No. 7
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
USA W 52–0 10,085
October 10 7:30 p.m. Florida State No. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBC W 42–26 10,409
October 17 2:30 p.m. Louisville No. 4
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC W 12–7 10,182
October 24 3:30 p.m. at Pittsburgh No. 3 ABC W 45–3 5,451
October 31 3:30 p.m. at Georgia Tech No. 4 ABC W 31–13 11,000
November 7 7:30 p.m. No. 1 Clemson No. 4
NBC, USA W 47–40 2OT 11,011
November 14 3:30 p.m. at Boston College No. 2 ABC W 45–31 0
November 27 3:30 p.m. at No. 19 North Carolina No. 2 ABC W 31–17 3,535
December 5 2:30 p.m. Syracuse No. 2
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBC W 45–21 6,831
December 12 3:30 p.m. Wake Forest No. 2 ABC No contest
December 19 4:00 p.m. vs. No. 3 Clemson No. 2 ABC L 10–34 5,240
January 1, 2021 5:00 p.m. vs. No. 1 Alabama* No. 4 ESPN L 14–31 18,373

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Final
AP 10 10* 7 7 5 5 4 3 4 4 2 (2) 2 (1) 2 2 2 2 4 5
Coaches 10 10* 7 7 5 5 4 3 4 4 2 (4) 2 (3) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 4 5
CFP Not released 2 2 2 2 4 Not released

Personnel

2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 0 Braden Lenzy Jr
WR 3 Avery Davis Sr
WR 4 Kevin Austin Jr. Jr
QB 7 Brendon Clark So
RB 8 Jafar Armstrong Sr
QB 10 Drew Pyne Fr
WR 11 Ben Skowronek GS
QB 12 Ian Book (C) GS
WR 13 Lawrence Keys III Jr
QB 14 J.D. Carney Sr
WR 15 Jordan Johnson Fr
RB 16 Cameron Ekanayake Sr
QB 17 Cole Capen Jr
WR 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. Jr
RB 20 C'Bo Flemister Jr
RB 22 Kendall Abdur-Rahman So
RB 23 Kyren Williams So
TE 24 Tommy Tremble Jr
RB 25 Chris Tyree Fr
WR 26 Leo Albano Jr
QB 27 Chase Ketterer Fr
WR 28 Griffin Eifert Fr
WR 32 Matt Salerno Jr
RB 34 Jahmir Smith Jr
WR 37 Henry Cook Fr
WR 43 Greg Mailey Jr
TE 48 Xavier Lezynski GS
TE 49 Jack Henige Sr
OL 52 Zeke Correll So
OL 53 Quinn Murphy So
OL 55 Jarrett Patterson Jr
OL 56 John Dirksen Jr
OL 61 Colin Grunhard Sr
OL 62 Brennan Wicks Fr
OL 64 Max Siegel II Jr
OL 68 Michael Carmody Fr
OL 69 Aaron Banks Sr
OL 70 Hunter Spears So
OL 72 Robert Hainsey (C) Sr
OL 73 Andrew Kristofic So
OL 74 Liam Eichenberg GS
OL 75 Josh Lugg Sr
OL 76 Dillan Gibbons Sr
OL 77 Quinn Carroll So
OL 78 Tommy Kraemer GS
OL 79 Tosh Baker Fr
WR 80 Micah Jones Jr
WR 81 Jay Brunelle Fr
WR 82 Xavier Watts Fr
TE 83 Charlie Selna Fr
TE 84 Kevin Bauman Fr
TE 85 George Takacs Jr
WR 86 Conor Ratigan So
TE 87 Michael Mayer Fr
WR 88 Javon McKinley GS
TE 89 Brock Wright Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 2 Jordan Genmark Heath Sr
S 3 Houston Griffith Jr
CB 4 Nick McCloud GS
CB 5 Cam Hart So
LB 6 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Sr
DL 7 Isaiah Foskey So
DL 9 Daelin Hayes (C) GS
S 10 Isaiah Pryor GS
CB 11 Ramon Henderson Fr
S 12 DJ Brown Jr
LB 13 Paul Moala Jr
S 14 Kyle Hamilton So
CB 15 Isaiah Rutherford So
S 16 KJ Wallace So
DL 17 Jordan Botelho Fr
DL 18 Nana Osafo-Mensah So
DL 19 Justin Ademilola Jr
S 20 Shaun Crawford (C) GS
CB 21 Caleb Offord Fr
S 23 Litchfield Ajavon So
LB 24 Jack Kiser So
S 25 John Mahoney Sr
CB 26 Clarence Lewis Fr
LB 27 JD Bertrand So
CB 28 TaRiq Bracy Jr
DL 29 Ovie Oghoufo Jr
S 30 Chris Velotta So
LB 31 Jack Lamb Jr
S 32 Patrick Pelini Sr
LB 33 Shayne Simon Jr
LB 34 Osita Ekwonu So
LB 35 Marist Liufau So
S 36 Eddie Scheidler So
S 37 Chase Love Jr
LB 40 Drew White Sr
DL 41 Kurt Hinish Sr
CB 43 Marcus Thorne Jr
DL 47 Kofi Wardlow Sr
LB 50 Reed Gregory Sr
LB 52 Bo Bauer Jr
DL 54 Jacob Lacey So
DL 55 Ja'Mion Franklin Jr
DL 56 Howard Cross III So
DL 57 Jayson Ademilola Jr
DL 91 Adetokunbo Ogundeji (C) GS
DT 92 Aidan Keanaaina Fr
DL 93 Zane Heemsoth So
DL 94 Giovanni Ghilotti Fr
DL 95 Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa Sr
DL 98 Alexander Ehrensberger Fr
DL 99 Rylie Mills Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 19 Jay Bramblett So
P 30 Jake Rittman Jr
K 38 Dawson Goepferich GS
K 39 Jonathan Doerer Sr
LS 44 Alex Peitsch Fr
LS 46 Axel Raarup Jr
LS 65 Michael Vinson Jr
K 98 Harrison Leonard So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Duke

Duke at Notre Dame
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 3 3 7 0 13
No. 10 Fighting Irish 0 10 7 10 27
    
Pregame line Over/under
ND –21.5 51.5
Statistics Duke Notre Dame
First downs 18 24
Total yards 338 441
Rushing yards 79 178
Passing yards 259 263
Turnovers 4 0
Time of possession 26:36 33:24
Team Category Player Statistics
Duke Passing Chase Brice 20/37, 259 yards
Rushing Deon Jackson 15 carries, 52 yards
Receiving Eli Pancol 3 receptions, 78 yards
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 19/31, 263 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Kyren Williams 19 carries, 112 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving Kyren Williams 2 receptions, 93 yards

South Florida

South Florida at Notre Dame
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 0 0 0 0 0
No. 7 Fighting Irish 14 21 10 7 52
    
Pregame line Over/under
ND –23 49
Statistics South Florida Notre Dame
First downs 11 21
Total yards 231 430
Rushing yards 106 281
Passing yards 125 149
Turnovers 0 2
Time of possession 27:33 32:27
Team Category Player Statistics
South Florida Passing Jordan McCloud 8/14, 64 yards
Rushing Johnny Ford 6 carries, 70 yards
Receiving Latrell Williams 2 receptions, 48 yards
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 12/19, 144 yards
Rushing C'Bo Flemister 13 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Tommy Tremble 3 receptions, 61 yards

Florida State

Florida State at Notre Dame
(rivalry)
1 2 3 4 Total
Seminoles 17 3 6 0 26
No. 5 Fighting Irish 14 21 7 0 42
        
Pregame line Over/under
ND –21 53.5
Statistics Florida State Notre Dame
First downs 18 26
Total yards 405 554
Rushing yards 153 353
Passing yards 252 201
Turnovers 0 4
Time of possession 32:08 27:52
Team Category Player Statistics
Florida State Passing Jordan Travis 13/24, 204 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Jordan Travis 19 carries, 96 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Tamorrion Terry 9 receptions, 146 yards, 1 TD
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 16/25, 201 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing Kyren Williams 19 carries, 185 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving Javon McKinley 5 receptions, 107 yards

Louisville

Louisville at Notre Dame
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 0 7 0 7
No. 4 Fighting Irish 6 0 6 0 12
  
Pregame line Over/under
ND –16 62
Statistics Louisville Notre Dame
First downs 14 24
Total yards 233 338
Rushing yards 96 232
Passing yards 137 106
Turnovers 0 0
Time of possession 23:45 36:15
Team Category Player Statistics
Louisville Passing Malik Cunningham 16/19, 132 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Javian Hawkins 15 carries, 51 yards
Receiving Javian Hawkins 5 receptions, 46 yards
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 11/19, 106 yards
Rushing Kyren Williams 25 carries, 127 yards
Receiving Ben Skowronek 2 receptions, 28 yards

At Pittsburgh

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
(rivalry)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Fighting Irish 7 21 17 0 45
Panthers 3 0 0 0 3
     
Pregame line Over/under
ND –10 43.5
Statistics Notre Dame Pittsburgh
First downs 28 11
Total yards 434 162
Rushing yards 115 44
Passing yards 319 118
Turnovers 1 3
Time of possession 40:59 19:01
Team Category Player Statistics
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 16/30, 312 yards, 3 TDs
Rushing C'Bo Flemister 13 carries, 48 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Ben Skowronek 2 receptions, 107 yards, 2 TDs
Pittsburgh Passing Joey Yellen 10/27, 101 yards, 3 INTs
Rushing Vincent Davis 8 carries, 28 yards
Receiving Jordan Addison 3 receptions, 40 yards

At Georgia Tech

Notre Dame at Georgia Tech
(rivalry)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Fighting Irish 7 10 7 7 31
Yellow Jackets 0 7 0 6 13
  • Date: October 31, 2020
  • Location: Bobby Dodd Stadium
    Atlanta, GA
  • Game start: 3:41 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 3 hours and 10 minutes
  • Game attendance: 11,000
  • Game weather: Temperature: 61 °F (16 °C) • Weather: Cool and Sunny • Wind: Breezy
  • Referee: Gary Patterson
  • TV announcers (ABC): Dave Pasch (play–by–play), Mike Golic (analyst) and Marty Smith (sideline)
   
Pregame line Over/under
ND –20.5 58.5
Statistics Notre Dame Georgia Tech
First downs 24 17
Total yards 426 238
Rushing yards 227 88
Passing yards 199 150
Turnovers 2 4
Time of possession 36:54 23:06
Team Category Player Statistics
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 18/26, 199 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Kyren Williams 15 carries, 76 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving Javon McKinley 5 receptions, 93 yards
Georgia Tech Passing Jeff Sims 15/26, 150 yards
Rushing Jahmyr Gibbs 14 carries, 61 yards
Receiving Jahmyr Gibbs 5 receptions, 49 yards

Clemson

Clemson at Notre Dame
(College GameDay)
1 2 3 4 OT 2OT Total
No. 1 Tigers 7 6 10 10 7 0 40
No. 4 Fighting Irish 10 13 0 10 7 7 47
           
Pregame line Over/under
CU –4.5 51
Statistics Clemson Notre Dame
First downs 22 22
Total yards 473 518
Rushing yards 34 208
Passing yards 439 310
Turnovers 6 2
Time of possession 29:38 30:22
Team Category Player Statistics
Clemson Passing DJ Uiagalelei 29/44, 439 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing Travis Etienne 18 carries, 28 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Amari Rodgers 8 receptions, 134 yards
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 22/39, 310 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Kyren Williams 23 carries, 140 yards, 3 TDs
Receiving Javon McKinley 5 receptions, 102 yards

At Boston College

Notre Dame at Boston College
(Holy War)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Fighting Irish 10 21 7 7 45
Eagles 10 6 7 8 31
         
Pregame line Over/under
ND –13 51.5
Statistics Notre Dame Boston College
First downs 29 22
Total yards 561 357
Rushing yards 278 85
Passing yards 283 272
Turnovers 6 2
Time of possession 34:27 25:33
Team Category Player Statistics
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 20/27, 283 yards, 3 TDs
Rushing Ian Book 10 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Avery Davis 2 receptions, 70 yards
Boston College Passing Phil Jurkovec 18/40, 272 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing Travis Levy 9 carries, 51 yards
Receiving Jaelen Gill 5 receptions, 105 yards

At North Carolina

Notre Dame at North Carolina
(rivalry)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Fighting Irish 14 3 7 7 31
No. 19 Tar Heels 14 3 0 0 17
    
Pregame line Over/under
ND –4.5 69.5
Statistics Notre Dame North Carolina
First downs 25 14
Total yards 478 298
Rushing yards 199 87
Passing yards 279 211
Turnovers 1 0
Time of possession 35:04 24:56
Team Category Player Statistics
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 23/33, 279 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Kyren Williams 23 carries, 124 yards, 2 TDs
Receiving Javon McKinley 6 receptions, 135 yards
North Carolina Passing Sam Howell 17/27, 211 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Michael Carter 8 carries, 57 yards
Receiving Dyami Brown 4 receptions, 84 yards

Syracuse

Syracuse at Notre Dame
1 2 3 4 Total
Orange 0 7 7 7 21
No. 2 Fighting Irish 3 21 14 7 45
      
Pregame line Over/under
ND –34 51
Statistics Syracuse Notre Dame
First downs 15 26
Total yards 414 568
Rushing yards 229 283
Passing yards 185 285
Turnovers 7 2
Time of possession 26:10 33:50
Team Category Player Statistics
Syracuse Passing Rex Culpepper 18/29, 185 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Sean Tucker 24 carries, 113 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Taj Harris 8 receptions, 69 yards
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 24/37, 285 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing Kyren Williams 20 carries, 110 yards
Receiving Javon McKinley 7 receptions, 111 yards, 3 TDs

At Wake Forest (No Contest)

Notre Dame at Wake Forest (No Contest)
1 2 3 4 Total
No.2 Fighting Irish 0 0 0 0 0
Demon Deacons 0 0 0 0 0
Pregame line Over/under
N/A N/A

The No. 2 Notre Dame at Wake Forest game was canceled by the ACC, due to an evaluation of the three teams in contention to play in the ACC Championship Game and the game was not rescheduled. Instead, Notre Dame ended their regular season vs. Syracuse and had a bye this week, and Wake Forest played a replacement game at Louisville.

Vs. Clemson (ACC Championship)

Clemson vs. Notre Dame
(ACC Championship Game/College GameDay)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Tigers 7 17 7 3 34
No. 2 Fighting Irish 3 0 0 7 10
    
Pregame line Over/under
CU –10.5 58
Statistics Clemson Notre Dame
First downs 23 18
Total yards 541 263
Rushing yards 219 44
Passing yards 322 219
Turnovers 0 4
Time of possession 28:08 31:52
Team Category Player Statistics
Clemson Passing Trevor Lawrence 25/36, 322 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing Travis Etienne 10 carries, 124 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Amari Rodgers 8 receptions, 121 yards, 1 TD
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 20/28, 219 yards
Rushing Kyren Williams 15 carries, 50 yards
Receiving Michael Mayer 5 receptions, 51 yards

Vs. Alabama (Rose Bowl)

Notre Dame vs. Alabama
(Rose Bowl – CFP Semifinal/College GameDay)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Fighting Irish 0 7 0 7 14
No. 1 Alabama 14 7 7 3 31
   
Pregame line Over/under
UA –19.5 65.5
Statistics Notre Dame Alabama
First downs 24 24
Total yards 375 437
Rushing yards 139 140
Passing yards 236 297
Turnovers 2 0
Time of possession 33:43 26:17
Team Category Player Statistics
Notre Dame Passing Ian Book 27/39, 229 yards, 1 INT
Rushing Kyren Williams 16 carries, 64 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Kyren Williams 8 receptions, 31 yards
Alabama Passing Mac Jones 25/30, 297 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing Najee Harris 15 carries, 125 yards
Receiving DeVonta Smith 7 receptions, 130 yards, 3 TDs

Players drafted into the NFL

Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
2 42 Liam Eichenberg OT Miami Dolphins
2 48 Aaron Banks OG San Francisco 49ers
2 52 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah ILB Cleveland Browns
3 83 Tommy Tremble TE Carolina Panthers
3 95 Robert Hainsey OT Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4 133 Ian Book QB New Orleans Saints
5 171 Daelin Hayes DE Baltimore Ravens
5 182 Adetokunbo Ogundeji DE Atlanta Falcons
7 249 Ben Skowronek WR Los Angeles Rams