Tag: notre dame

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Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech Preview and Prediction

The Richmond game film is one you throw right in the dumpster. You’re not going to learn anything from it. The Hokies made a bunch of mistakes on offense and squeaked by an FCS team. The takeaway is that the Virginia Tech offense has to execute better. But they knew that after the WVU game. Let’s see if there were any improvements made during the bye week. The offense is what is holding this team back from being a true Coastal contender.

SP+ Rankings

Virginia Tech

Overall: 33rd
Offense: 37th
Defense: 32nd
Special Teams: 89th

Notre Dame

Overall: 20th
Offense: 41st
Defense: 17th
Special Teams: 58th

These teams are mirror images of each other. Good but not great defenses. And pretty ugly offenses. Both teams will struggle to move the ball on Saturday. And if there is rain in the forecast, things could get ugly. Expect Notre Dame to go to their dual-threat QB, Drew Pyne, to try to move the ball on the ground against the Hokies defense.

Virginia Tech can turn the tide of the game with a big turnover. Notre Dame’s offensive line has been struggling this year. If the Hokies can get a turnover by getting in the backfield, that could flip field position and lead to points.

A special teams play could be the difference. Both teams have excellent return teams. A big return could lead to points in a game that will be short on them. Field goals will also be at a premium in this game. As far as the kicking game, you have to give the nod to Notre Dame in this matchup.

Notre Dame dominates the ACC. Notre Dame is 24-1 in their last 25 games against the ACC and they’ve won their last 16 regular season games against ACC teams. These stats alone should make Hokies fans less than confident with the Irish coming to town.

The Hokies have been AWFUL coming out of bye weeks in the last 3 seasons. Three 20+ point blowouts and a close loss assisted by a 98 yard fumble return. This doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that VT will hit their stride coming out of the bye. Notre Dame is a good team and if the Hokies aren’t ready, they’re going to get punched right in the mouth. My initial inclination was to pick Notre Dame in a blowout but I don’t think they have the offensive firepower to blowout the Hokies. Be prepared for a sloppy performance where Notre Dame does enough to win an ugly game in Blacksburg.

Prediction: Notre Dame 23, Virginia Tech 17

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Notre Dame Preview and Prediction

The dramatic win against North Carolina is the type of win that can give a team confidence and momentum. The Hokies need to use that momentum going into a 5-game stretch run in November. A bowl game is still a very real possibility and so is a Coastal division championship. This is when the Hokies need to start playing their best football.

SP+ Rankings

Notre Dame

Overall: 25th
Offense: 22nd
Defense: 38th
Special Teams: 19th

Virginia Tech

Overall: 57th
Offense: 64th
Defense: 67th
Special Teams: 73rd

Notre Dame is coming off a tough loss to Michigan. They will be looking to get back on track against the Hokies. The Irish offense is not hitting on all cylinders like it was then they came to Blacksburg last season. Notre Dame has a good quarterback but they are still trying to find a running game. A game played in cold weather is not great to be tossing around the football all day. Notre Dame will have to lean on Tony Jones Jr. and the running game. If the Irish are throwing the ball a lot, that’s likely a good thing for the Hokies.

Notre Dame has a talented and experienced defense. They have upperclassmen across the depth chart. The Irish have a very talented secondary that does not give up a lot through the air. If you want to beat Notre Dame, you have to establish a running game. The Hokies need to lean on Quincy Patterson (or Hendon Hooker, if healthy) to get the running game going. A game played with temperatures in the 30s, the team that is able to run the ball will likely win the game. Expect a lot of different looks in the running game, trying to get the quarterback, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers all involved in running the football.

The story of this game will be Notre Dame’s experience vs Virginia Tech’s inexperience. Notre Dame’s depth chart is full of 3rd, 4th, and 5th year players. Virginia Tech’s is full of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year players. Experience matters. And if this game was in 2020 or 2021, Virginia Tech would have a much better shot to win. But playing a Notre Dame team at home coming off a tough loss to Michigan, the odds become a lot tougher. The Hokies definitely have a shot in this game, more than the experts are giving them credit for. But in the end, Notre Dame has too much talent for the Hokies to keep up with. Expect this to be a close game going into the half, with Notre Dame pulling away in the 2nd half.

Prediction: Notre Dame 35, Virginia Tech 21

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Notre Dame Preview and Prediction

Notre Dame is coming to Blacksburg! For many older Virginia Tech fans, they never thought they’d see the day that the Fighting Irish would come to play a road game in Blacksburg. This game has a big game feel. Notre Dame is in the top 10 and has earned their ranking. The Hokies are coming off a big conference road win against a top 25 opponent. The stage is set for some fireworks in Lane Stadium on Saturday night.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ Rank: 35th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 30th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 57th
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 2nd

Notre Dame

Overall S&P+ Rank: 9th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 37th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 5th
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 53rd

This may be Notre Dame’s most difficult remaining game. After this game, Notre Dame has smooth sailing all the way until their season finale with Southern Cal. You know this game has the Irish’s full attention.

Since Ian Book has come in at quarterback, Notre Dame has been lighting up the scoreboard. He is completing 74.3% of his passes and has thrown seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is the straw that stirs the drink for Notre Dame’s offense and has been the spark plug they needed. Notre Dame has talented running backs and wide receivers. They just needed someone at the QB position to distribute the ball to them. They got that in Ian Book.

Notre Dame has a very good all-around defense. The strength of their defense is the linebacker group but they are solid in all areas. They are one of the top teams in the country at passing efficiency defense. No team has scored more than 27 points against this defense this year. Watch out for Jerry Tillery on Notre Dame’s defensive line. He can cause some havoc in the backfield. This is a game where the Hokies could have trouble moving the ball downfield on offense.

If the Hokies have an area they can take advantage of it’s on special teams. That is an area of the game where Notre Dame might be susceptible and the Hokies may be able to find an advantage. Particularly in the return game. The Hokies will need to bring their Beamerball mentality to this game.

It’s likely that Notre Dame is the best team left on the Hokies schedule. They have talent on both sides of the ball and their offense is humming right now with Ian Book behind center. The Hokies will have their hands full. If the Hokies hope to win this game, they will need limit Notre Dame’s big plays on offense. Let Notre Dame nickle and dime you but don’t give up the big play. On offense, Ryan Willis will need to put in his playmakers in a position to make plays. Just put the ball in your playmaker’s hands. Justin Fuente may have a trick play or two dialed up for this game. While I’m excited about the atmosphere on Saturday night, I feel like we’re catching Notre Dame when everything is clicking and they will be tough to beat.

Prediction: Notre Dame 34, Virginia Tech 23  

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Notre Dame Preview and Prediction

It’s always frustrating to see the Hokies let an opportunity slip through their fingers. Having the Coastal wrapped up before a trip to Notre Dame and visit from UVA would’ve been nice. Oh well. The Hokies will just have a little extra motivation against their in-state rival next week.

Notre Dame. One of the pillar programs of college football. To me, Notre Dame is Rudy. A movie about a kid who idolizes a college football program so much, he’ll do anything to play for them. Pretty epic stuff. Besides that, they are a strong program but they are not what they once were. Either way, going to Notre Dame is a big deal. Just ask any older Tech alums. You would think the Hokies were playing at the Vatican this weekend.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ ranking: 28th
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 65th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 14th
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 52nd

Notre Dame

Overall S&P+ ranking: 33rd
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 44th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 30th
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 57th

A running quarterback. DeShone Kizer. Terrified yet? Kizer has not cracked 100 yards on the ground in a game this year. But if the Hokies history with running quarterbacks is any indication, this could be the week he does it. I got a text from a Notre Dame fan this week, he said Brian Kelly threw the ball 26 times in a hurricane this year. So I guess you never know what’s going to happen. But if the Notre Dame staff has watched film this week, you can expect to see a lot of designed runs for Kizer.

Notre Dame has a young secondary and a front seven that has had trouble pressuring the quarterback. You would think this could be a week that the Hokies could put up big numbers through the air. The current weather forecast calls for temperatures in the 30s, high winds and snow. Doesn’t sound like ideal conditions to throw the football in.

One big question mark in this game is how the Notre Dame defense is going to play. Since switching defensive coordinators to Greg Hudson, the defense has played well. Two of those games were against service academies. One was in a hurricane. And one was against a struggling Stanford offense. My guess is that they play better than expected and get assisted by the poor weather conditions.

Given the poor weather conditions, I’m looking for the team that runs the ball better. And I’d have to give the nod to Notre Dame. All the stats suggest they are the better rushing team. And the Hokies have had trouble stopping the run in the last three weeks. That plus the conditions make me think that this is not a good matchup for the Hokies.

I don’t like this matchup on paper. At all. It’s made even worse by the weather conditions. The Hokies can win this game if they are able to make plays on special teams and generate turnovers. The old Beamerball special. If not, I’m afraid this game looks pretty good on paper for Notre Dame. I hope I’m wrong. It would be great to go into South Bend and come out with a win.

Prediction: Notre Dame 24, Virginia Tech 17

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