The top four question marks for Notre Dame football in 2024

Now through the start of fall camp next week, Blue & Gold will preview the 2024 Notre Dame football season with article excerpts from the 160-page, glossy preview magazine that went out in July. To order the magazine, click here .

These are Notre Dame’s top questions for 2024, as asserted by Todd D. Burlage .

4. Beating The Best?

As has become the norm in recent seasons, Notre Dame’s 2024 schedule in the preseason features only a few games — Texas A&M, Florida State and USC — that the Irish won’t be prohibitive favorites in.

Notre Dame also had three such games in 2023 — Ohio State, USC and Clemson — and it only beat USC.

In 2022, Notre Dame split its four “marquee” matchups, beating North Carolina and Clemson while losing to Ohio State and USC.

That makes third-year Irish head coach Marcus Freeman 3-4 in his feature games since taking the Irish head coaching job. By his own admission, these are the games that Notre Dame needs to win more consistently to be taken more seriously.

Maybe 2024 is that season?

3. Up Next At Running Back?

After a strong stretch of running back play the last three seasons that included 1,000-yard rushers Kyren Williams in 2021 and 2022 and Audric Estimé in 2023, the Irish will have a new-look backfield in 2024.

Who steps up in a loaded running backs room will certainly be a storyline worth watching.

Led by sophomore Jeremiyah Love and junior Jadarian Price , Notre Dame’s returning running backs combined for 825 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns last season, and hauled in a combined 22 catches for 200 yards and 4 scores.

The one-two punch of Love and Price puts Notre Dame in a position to have an outstanding backfield again this season. But previous production and preseason promise mean nothing when trying to project an Irish running game that will feature a reworked offensive line and a new offensive coordinator.

2. Readying Riley?

For the second straight year, Notre Dame plucked one of the top quarterbacks from the transfer portal with Duke senior transfer Riley Leonard , one season after landing former Wake Forest starting signal-caller Sam Hartman .

Recovery from two offseason ankle surgeries caused Leonard to miss most of the live action during spring ball, but he’s expected to be game ready by opening day.

With 21 career starts, 4,450 passing yards and 24 career touchdown passes, Riley is a proven commodity. But he’s also battled through multiple injuries and missed significant playing time during his career, including six games last season.

Whether Notre Dame can keep him upright and healthy this season is another story worth watching, considering Leonard is the presumed opening-day Irish starter.

1. New Offensive Coordinator Impact?

In what was celebrated as one of the best offseason coaching hires in the country, Notre Dame welcomed back Mike Denbrock as its new offensive coordinator.

Denbrock returns to Notre Dame for the third time — he coached here in different roles from 2002-04 and 2010-16 — and he returns with high expectations after his offense at LSU last season led the nation in total offense (543.5 yards per game) and scoring offense (45.5 points per game) behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels .

How quickly Denbrock adjusts to the personnel at Notre Dame, less explosive compared to what he had at LSU, and how quickly the Irish players pick up a new offense will be the top offensive storylines this season.

The post The top four question marks for Notre Dame football in 2024 appeared first on On3 .