The 2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

in the

2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision ...

. 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 Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest co ...

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

. Because the

Power Five conferences The Power Five conferences are the five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA D ...

enforced restrictions on non-conference games in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Notre Dame played a full

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(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 A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

(previously played every season since 1927),

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

(since 1946), or

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

(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 The ACC Championship Game is an annual American college football game held in early December by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) each year to determine its football champion. From its inception in 2005 to 2022, the game pit the champion of ...

, 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 The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

(CFP) rankings, securing a spot in the Rose Bowl, a CFP semifinal game, against top–ranked

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Notre Dame lost to Alabama on New Year's Day, the eventual national champion, ending the season with a 10–2 record.

Previous season

The

2019 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 2019 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by Brian Kelly, in his tenth season at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish played their home g ...

finished 11–2 on the season with a 33–9 victory over

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in the

Camping World Bowl The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida C ...

in Orlando, Florida. They finished at No. 12 in the final AP Poll of the 2019 season.

Coaching changes

Chip Long Chip Long (born May 1, 1983) is an American football coach, who is currently an assistant at Louisville. He previously was the offensive coordinator for Tulane University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Memphis and Georgia Te ...

, former offensive coordinator of the Fighting Irish, was relieved of his duties by Notre Dame and became an offensive analyst at

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Offseason

Departures

NFL * TE

Cole Kmet Cole Kmet (born March 10, 1999) is an American football tight end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Ea ...

(drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

) * WR

Chase Claypool Chase Claypool (born July 7, 1998) is a Canadian professional American football wide receiver for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in ...

(drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

) * LB

Julian Okwara Julian Okwara (born December 27, 1997) is an English born Nigerian American football, gridiron football outside linebacker for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame Fighting Irish footb ...

(drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

) * CB Troy Pride (drafted by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

) * LB

Khalid Kareem Khalid Kareem (born April 28, 1998) is an American football defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame. Early years Kareem attended Harrison High School in Farmington ...

(drafted by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

) * S

Alohi Gilman Asai Alohilaniokala "Alohi" Gilman (born September 17, 1997) is an American football safety for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and Navy. College career Gilman played hi ...

(drafted by the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

) * LB

Asmar Bilal Asmar Bilal (born April 12, 1997) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. Early years Bilal played high school football at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis. During his senior year, he earned 6A All-State honors, helped his ...

(signed by the

) * S

Jalen Elliott Jalen Elliott (born July 7, 1998) is an American football safety for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame. He previously played for the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots. ...

(signed by the

) * WR Chris Finke (signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

) * LB

Jamir Jones Jamir Jones (born June 14, 1998) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame. He has previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburg ...

(signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

) * RB Tony Jones Jr. (signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

) * CB Donte' Vaughn (signed by the

) Transfers out * CB Temitope Agoro (transferred to Duquesne) * LB Jonathan Jones (transferred to Toledo) * QB

Phil Jurkovec Phil Jurkovec (born November 3, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He previously played college football for the Boston College and the Notre Dame. Early years Jurkovec attended Pine-Richland High School in ...

(transferred to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

) * OL John Olmstead (transferred to

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

) * WR/DB Isaiah Robertson (entered transfer portal) * WR

Michael Young Jr. Michael Young Jr. (born February 11, 1999) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame and Cincinnati Bearcats football, Cincinnati. Early years Michael ...

(transferred to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

) Other * OL Cole Mabry (medically retired from football)

Transfers in

* K Dawson Goepferich (transferred from

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

) * CB

Nick McCloud Nick McCloud (born July 9, 1998) is an American football cornerback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). College career He played college football at Notre Dame and North Carolina State. Statistics Professional care ...

(transferred from

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

) * S Isaiah Pryor (transferred from

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

) * WR

Ben Skowronek Bennett William Skowronek ( ; born June 27, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Northwestern and Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Rams i ...

(transferred from Northwestern)

Schedule

The 2020 schedule was officially released on December 7, 2017. Due to suspensions of athletic programs nationwide as a result of the

, the team called off the 2020 edition of its spring Blue-Gold Game. The

Emerald Isle Classic College football in Ireland began initially in 1988 as part of a promotional campaign to mark the Dublin millennium celebrations. Dubbed the Emerald Isle Classic, it was the first NCAA-sanctioned American college football game played in Europe. ...

game against

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

was tentatively rescheduled for

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, and three games were scrapped after the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

elected to restrict play to conference opponents only. This included a game scheduled against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

on October 3 (which was to be played at

Lambeau Field Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...

in Green Bay as a

Shamrock Series The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...

game), the team's rivalry game against

, and the team's rivalry game against

(resulting in its postponement for the first time since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). In regards to replacing the canceled games, head coach Brian Kelly told ESPN's

Mike Greenberg Michael Robinette Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is a television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ESPN Radio ...

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 John Douglas Swofford is an American former college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1980 to 1997 and as the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) f ...

; 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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

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

Revised

Rankings

Personnel

Game summaries

Duke

South Florida

Florida State

Louisville

at Pittsburgh

at Georgia Tech

Clemson

at Boston College

at North Carolina

Syracuse

at Wake Forest (No Contest)

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

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 Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

vs. Clemson (ACC Championship)

vs. Alabama (Rose Bowl)

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish football seasons

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...