The ACC one-year football agreement: Notre Dame played a full conference schedule, won the Clemson regular-season game in 2OT, and took the ACC's #2 CFP slot.
2020 — The COVID Rose Bowl
Notre Dame joined the ACC for a one-year-only schedule, went 10-2, reached the CFP semifinal against Alabama, and lost 31-14 at the Rose Bowl (relocated to AT&T Stadium for the pandemic).
The Shape — week-by-week · cumulative W–L below
Who carried it
- Ian BookQB2,830 passing yards
- Kyren WilliamsRB1,125 rushing yards
- Chris TyreeWR496 rushing yards
- C'Bo FlemisterRB299 rushing yards
- Javon McKinleyWR717 receiving yards
- Michael MayerTE450 receiving yards
- Ben SkowronekWR439 receiving yards
- Kyle HamiltonS63 tackles
- Jeremiah Owusu-KoramoahLB61 tackles
- Shaun CrawfordCB57 tackles
- Adetokunbo OgundejiDL7 sacks
- Isaiah FoskeyDL4.5 sacks
- Daelin HayesDL3 sacks
Season leaders, 2020.
November 7, 2020: Notre Dame 47, Clemson 40 (2OT). Ian Book / Kyren Williams / Avery Davis drove the winning touchdown. The program's first win over #1 Clemson in the BCS/CFP era.
Rose Bowl semifinal (at AT&T Stadium): Alabama 31, Notre Dame 14. DeVonta Smith / Najee Harris / Mac Jones. The title-game pass; the chapter closed against the era's strongest team.
"Nobody will have an asterisk on this one."
2020 is Notre Dame's second CFP appearance and the one that produced the program's best single-game result of the modern era (the Clemson win) and also the semifinal exit against the eventual national champion. The chapter's legacy is calibrated: the Clemson game is in the program's top-10 moments of the era; the Rose Bowl semifinal is filed as 'we were not yet this.' The 2021 roster and 2022 Marcus Freeman transition all flow from this season's measurement.