SB Nation Reacts: Notre Dame Fans are a Confident Bunch Entering 2023

Welcome to the first week of SB Nation Reacts 2023, where we check the pulse of One Foot Down readers on topics related to Notre Dame football. Before we get started with the results, this is your reminder to visit DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Before the season kicks off, it’s unsurprising that hope springs eternal. In our first pulse of the community, we learn that 95 percent of our readership are either somewhat or very confident in the direction of the Notre Dame football program under Marcus Freeman.

Of course, “confidence” can mean different things to different readers. The second question puts the community on record and also defines what “success” may look like after the regular season is complete. Forty-three percent of survey respondents believe the Irish will fall twice this season, although an appropriate follow-up — exactly which games — remains unasked. Thirty-one percent believe the Irish will be bested just once in the regular season, which put them sitting pretty for a College Football Playoff berth if it were to become reality.

Finally, we asked the community: Which offensive talent will lead the Irish in catches this season? Jayden Thomas, the Dallas, Ga. product who caught 25 balls last year, is the community’s top choice with 45 percent of the vote. Tobias Merriweather, who made his single catch last year count by scoring a touchdown, got the second-most votes.

Here are the results to SB Nation’s national survey, which you may have participated in if you signed up for weekly emails.

If Georgia wins the national championship and Caleb Williams takes home the Heisman hardware, that won’t be a great college football season for Irish fans. So I look forward to seeing how all of these predictions pan out in the next 14 weeks.