Notre Dame Football: ACC poll seemingly reaffirms weak schedule

With the release of the ACC preseason poll yesterday, Notre Dame football’s 2016 schedule was seemingly confirmed as one of the weakest in recent memory for the program. But could there be surprises lurking for the Irish?

As part of the ACC’s media bonanza last week, 191 members of the press were asked to predict the conference’s player of the year and final order of standings. The results from that survey were released yesterday.

In addition, DeShaun Watson was picked to win conference player of the year as he leads the Tigers to another ACC title. In other words, if you’re looking for hot takes, this poll is not the place.

But for Notre Dame, the preseason poll isn’t great. We’re still a ways out from the actual season’s beginning, but the Irish’s 2016 schedule has already been labeled as one of the easiest in the nation. And these rankings merely reaffirm that belief.

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As part of its arrangement with the conference, the Irish have five ACC opponents per year. In past seasons, that’s led to some great matchups, like Florida State in 2014 and Clemson in 2015. This year, however, things look grim.

The five teams Notre Dame is playing are NC State, Syracuse, Miami, Duke and Virginia Tech. None of those teams earned a single vote to win the conference. Miami got some consideration for the Coastal Division title, but North Carolina more than doubled the ‘Canes in that regard.

Virginia Tech has a new coach, Syracuse has gone 7-17 over the past two years, North Carolina State hasn’t had a winning conference record since 2010 and Duke returns just 10 starters combined from last season.

Oh, and just one of those games, against NC State, will be a true road contest. All told, Notre Dame should be favored in every ACC game this season, and it would qualify as a surprise if they lost any of them. Irish fans should be (and are) more worried about the likes of Michigan State, Stanford and USC.

But…

Just because all the preseason polls and hype and expectations point to a 5-0 record for Notre Dame against the ACC doesn’t mean we can discount the possibility of a trap game or two in there. Here’s a few reasons why.

Duke

Yes, the Blue Devils lost most of their starters from last season, and yes, they’ve won just one bowl game since the 1960s. But they could still surprise the Irish. For one, that bowl win was last season and Duke has had three straight winning season. For another, Duke rolls into town in Week 4, just seven days after the Irish face Michigan State. Regardless of whether Notre Dame wins or loses that game, it’s sure to take a lot out of the team and leave it open to a potential upset.

Duke also features DeVon Edwards, an electric kick returner with six touchdowns in three years to his credit, as well as two seasons of 100 or more tackles as a cornerback. Edwards finished fifth in the ACC preseason Player of the Year voting, and he could make things very difficult for Notre Dame in multiple facets of the game.

Miami

Miami enters this season far from the vaunted days of old, when Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Clinton Portis and the rest terrorized college football, but on the rebound with a new coach with a proven track record in Mark Richt and a talented quarterback in Brad Kaaya.

Kaaya has been tested by fire in his first two seasons with the Hurricanes, but it’s paid off, as he enters this season as one of the top-rated QBs in the country, on the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award. He also will benefit from 16 returning starters on offense and defense combined. All told, the Hurricanes are probably the most likely ACC team to win a division title Notre Dame will face.

For what it’s worth, Miami also comes the week after a huge night game, this time against Stanford.

North Carolina State

The only true road game of the bunch, the matchup with NC State also is the first time Notre Dame will have two non-home games in a row in 2016. There’s just no way to brush this one off. It cannot be a statement game in a good way, but it could very easily ruin the season for the Irish.

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It doesn’t help that the Wolfpack return eight starters to a defense that ranked top 30 in the nation last year in total defense. Their offense might not be quite as good, but in the past three years, Notre Dame is 5-8 in true road games. That alone spells trouble.