Will Riley Leonard Lead Notre Dame To The Playoff?

all right sports fans how's everybody out there doing William Martin coming at you one more time here on YouTube with another edition of the 300 pounds of sports knowledge podcast now for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish it's been a seamless transition for them from head coach Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman as the Irish in two years under Freeman are 19 and seven including going 10 and three last year uh two of those three losses for the Irish came by eight points or less so we could possibly talk be have been talking about Notre Dame reaching the college football playoff last year of course things are different this year the college football playoff field has expanded from four to 12 and not on on top of that of course you know every league around college football now has a conference Championship game of course Notre Dame as a football independent uh does not have that luxury but they've still got to go out there and take care of their business on enough Saturdays to be in uh the conversation to possibly get to the college football playoff so you look at this year's Notre Dame team and just like it was last year for the Irish they went to the transfer portal and they also went to to the ACC to find their starting quarterback last year it was former Wake Forest uh quarterback Sam Hartman this time around it's former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and Leonard is a big physical quarterback okay uh solid thrower the football he's also a good runner of the football as well and I really think that he's going to give Notre Dame an opportunity to go out there and win and it's one of those where for me just like it was last year with Sam Hartman when he came to Notre Dame Riley Leonard does not have to come to South Bend and try to play herob ball he doesn't have to try to go out there and do it by himself why because there is a lot of talent around this young man as he's going to be under Center this year for the Irish you look at a running back Jeremiah Love and then on top of that this Irish defense was fifth in the nation last year very stingy uh you've got some Talent on that side of the ball with the likes of outside linebacker Jack Kaiser and then for me safety Xavier watts does have the potential to be an All-America that's how good that he is and again like I said for Notre Dame they don't have to worry okay as far as you know trying to be undefeated right now because clearly and with me saying that uh the game has changed as far as you know what with a 12 team playoff format you're going to possibly see uh some teams of two and three losses get into the field more than likely but Notre Dame's got to go out there and take care of their business uh they begin the season at Kyle Field in College Station against Texas A&M and of course there's going to be plenty of familiarity on the field in a couple of weeks why because Texas A&M's new head coach Mike Elco was Riley Leonard's former head coach at Duke okay uh Notre Dame has their SE home season opener the following Saturday uh in South Bend against Northern Illinois out of the Mac they then travel to West Lafayette to take on Purdue out of the Big 10 they then go back to the Mac as they host Miami of Ohio on the 21st of September and then a big Showdown for Notre Dame on the 28th to finish the month of September when they host a good Louisville team out of the ACC a Louisville team actually that was in the ACC Championship Game a year ago uh the Irish then have a bye week to begin the month of October before they host Stanford out of the ACC got to get accustom saying that and then Notre Dame will then travel to Mercedes Benz Stadium could be a big one okay against Georgia Tech and the reason why I say this is that yellow jacket team solded a lot of signs of life last year year okay and I really think they're no longer going to be a pushover that could be a tough game for Notre Dame to win right there they host Navy to finish the month of October before they have their second and final buy of the regular season and that is going to be before the Big Time Showdown when Notre Dame host Florida State and I've talked about this uh I said it uh yesterday when I talked about the ACC Florida State for my money is the team to beat in that League Of course Notre Dame is a football independent but that game right there to me uh could possibly have college football playoff implications then you've got Virginia uh the Notre Dame will host after that uh on the 23rd of November they take on Army at Yankee Stadium there's going to be a lot of hoopla around that between in regards to the tradition of those two programs and the tradition of playing in the Bronx as well and then the Irish finish uh by traveling to to Los Angeles to take on USC uh but nonetheless I think Notre Dame has everything set in front of them to take care of their business out there uh I look for me I I think Notre Dame is going to be uh a playoff team when it's all said and done I think they have that talent I think they have the potential and more importantly I think they have the head coach uh that that knows how to keep this team motivated on a week toe basis and have them go out there and take their take care of their business I think it's a manageable schedule for Notre Dame and at the end of the day all they have to do is be one of the best 12 and I'll tell you like this uh for the Irish you know if they're close enough in the rankings nobody's going to say no to them uh as far as you know leaving them out of the playoff in my opinion because at the end of the day it's Notre Dame and Notre Dame brings ratings and they also bring fans but nonetheless I think the Irish are going to have a strong season they had a good season last year with Sam uh Hartman I think they have another quality season with this time of Riley Leonard under Center and I think big things are ahead this fall on the grid iron for the Irish so folks that is going to wrap it up and as always I want to take this time out to thank all of you for tuning into the 300 pounds of sports knowledge podcast here on YouTube I want to take this time out to thank all of you fine folks out there for tuning in and if you haven't already please feel free to subscribe to this channel now if you're on the X formerly known as Twitter please feel free to follow me at 300 pounds of sports and like I always say if you follow me it will be my pleasure to follow you right back there's also the sports discussion group on Facebook at the sports Depot 365 now you can check it out drop a line and be a part of one of the better Sports debating sites going on social media also be sure to check out the 300 pounds of sports knowledge channel here on YouTube tomorrow as I will be breaking down the upcoming college football season in the Mountain West so once again fine folks my name is William Martin and I am signing off and I'm saying take care and have yourselves a wonderful day