Will Compton states Notre Dame ‘loses its season’ with a loss to Texas A&M

Expectations are through the roof in South Bend, a year removed from head coach Marcus Freeman leading Notre Dame to the championship game. Now, entering just Week 3, the Irish might be putting their season on the line this Saturday.

Notre Dame opened the season with a tough road loss to a good Miami team. Since then, The Fighting Irish have had a bye week and return to South Bend for their first home game of the season against Texas A&M. As of now, that’s the only remaining opponent on Notre Dame’s schedule who is ranked in the AP Poll. Because of that, when Will Compton appeared on Get Up Thursday morning, he boldly claimed that a loss to the Aggies would effectively cost the Irish their season.

“Notre Dame’s season is on the line,” = Compton said. “You look at the schedule up [on screen] a second ago. If they lose this game, you start 0-2, drop against Miami, drop against Texas A&M. Like, who on the strength of schedule is going to boost your odds when the committee’s picking at the end of the year? USC, they’re a tough team. Boston College, maybe. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Stanford. If Notre Dame loses this game, it loses its season.”

Notre Dame’s schedule has become a talking point for many since its loss to Miami. The Irish have 10 Power Four opponents scheduled this year. Unfortunately, for the Irish, those opponents after the first two weeks are either not expected to have strong seasons or are currently having strong seasons. In its two non-P4 games, Notre Dame plays Boise State and Navy. The Broncos, of course, are coming off a College Football Playoff season, but opened with a loss and appear to have taken a step back.

Ultimately, that amounts to a weaker strength of schedule, which is out of Notre Dame’s control. So, they need to take advantage of this opportunity against Texas A&M and add a marquee win.

Not everyone agrees that the Irish could lose their season with a loss to Texas A&M. Josh Pate was also on Get Up. He’d push back, arguing that 10-2 Notre Dame is capable of making the College Football Playoff. Their fate is just less clear in that instance, and they’ll need some help.

“If you lose this weekend, nothing’s done,” Pate said. “You probably take your fate out of your own hands the rest of the way and rely on your remaining opponents to boost your strength of schedule. 10-2 Notre Dame probably gets in. It just becomes a whole lot muddier.”

For Notre Dame, missing the Playoff would be a major disappointment. So, they’ll want to avoid leaving anything to chance. That means they have to take care of business on Saturday against Texas A&M.