Notre Dame Football: A Look Ahead


I am a Notre Dame fan and have been for as long as I can remember and it hasn't been enjoyable for me or most fans since the 2012 National Championship game against Alabama, when the hopes and dreams of all of us were crushed in 60 minutes. Since then ND has had two mediocre seasons going 9-4 and last years 8-5 campaign with the highlight being a victory against LSU in the Music City Bowl.

This year we have seen a new Notre Dame, a more resilient one in the face of adversity. This team saw a key starter go down every week the first four weeks and a few in pre-season. I mean who can forget when this happened against Georgia Tech:


Through it all this team has fought on and earned a 6-1 record going into the off week. The only loss coming to Clemson at Death Valley, a game in my opinion ND should have won. Instead, they fumbled multiple times and made some interesting play calls that led to a 24-22 loss in the final seconds. Of course, we cant dwell in the past and must move on and look towards the future, which is looking very bright.

With only 5 games remaining the fighting Irish could end up 11-1 and making it into a college football playoff spot or ending up just on the outside and playing in a major bowl game. Four of the games left are on the road so it will be a true test for this team. Either way, the season will be a success and let's take a look at the final games of the season. I will give a brief review of each and my score prediction.

ND @ No. 22 Temple - At the moment the Temple Owls are ranked No. 22 in the country and should move up with a win yesterday to move to 7-0. The Owls have one impressive win and that was against Penn St. to open the season. Notre Dame will easily be the most talented team they face all season and it will show. ND wins 38-17

ND @ No. 25 Pitt - Pitt has had a good year and quietly put it together beating teams such as Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. The only loss came to current No. 12 Iowa and it was close. They could present a challenge for ND, since Pitt always seems to be one of those teams that does in years past. I still think the talent differentiates these two. ND wins 24-20

Wake Forest @ ND - A 3-4 squad who should pose no real threat. The only way ND loses this game is if they look completely past it. I mean they would have to play really bad, Wake Forest beat Boston College 3-0. ND wins 48-14

ND @ Boston College - This game is interesting for the fact it is being played at Fenway Park in Boston for the Shamrock Series. Outside of that it's just like the Wake Forest game. Notre Dame is the more skilled team and should have no issues. They should just enjoy playing the game in a legendary ballpark. It's not something that happens everyday. ND wins 42-3

ND @ No. 10 Stanford - This is the game that could decide it all for either of these teams, whether or not they make the college football playoffs. Stanford is currently ranked one spot ahead of the fighting Irish at No. 10. Out of the five games remaining this will no doubt be the most challenging. Stanford has the harder road leading up to this game playing in the Pac-10, but if they come in healthy I expect a low scoring hard fought game played in the trenches. ND wins 17-14

I truly believe this team can go 5-0 in the rest of their games. The only game I am unsure of is the Stanford one and that is because on a talent bases they are even with ND. It will be fun to watch and even if this teams goes 10-2 it will be a positive season for Brian Kelly and maybe a sign that 2012 wasn't a fluke after all. Of course, we may end up with another QB controversy with Malik Zaire returning and DeShone Kizer potentially having a very successful season. Let's worry about that when we get to it. Until then Let's go Irish.


That's my stance, let me know yours.




Comments

  1. I agree, Notre Dame should run the table, but Stanford is the only game I am worried about.

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