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College Fantasy: Start’em, Sit’em for Notre Dame football vs. Va. Tech

By Jack Leniart

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 29: Dexter Williams #2 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs the ball during the first half of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium on September 29, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 29: Dexter Williams #2 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs the ball during the first half of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Stadium on September 29, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 08: Te’von Coney #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates a sack with Khalid Kareem #53 against the Ball State Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Start ‘Em

Dexter Williams (RB)

After sitting out the first four games of the 2018 season, Williams made an impact on his first touch of the Stanford game — taking a handoff up the middle for a 45 yard touchdown run. He went on to carry the ball 20 more times and finished the game with 161 rushing yards.

Williams’ 21 carries were the most by a Notre Dame player this season. That was partly due to Jafar Armstrong being unavailable with a knee infection and Tony Jones Jr. leaving the game with a minor injury. However, it was also a result of Williams playing well.

Armstrong will be out for a few more weeks and Jones Jr. is not quite at 100 percent. I feel confident that Williams will receive the lion’s share of the carries again this Saturday. The Irish offense will be looking to establish the running game in a hostile environment, and feeding Dexter Williams is their best chance to do so.

The Virginia Tech defense ranks sixth in rushing yards per attempt allowed, but I think that is a bit misleading. The Hokies have played two FCS teams in their first four games, and they built significant leads in the other games — forcing their opponents to throw the ball more. The Notre Dame defense is good enough to keep the score close and allow the Irish offense to continue running the ball.

Alize Mack (TE)

After having a career day against Wake Forest two weeks ago, Alize Mack scored his first touchdown of the 2018 season against Stanford. The touchdown reception was his only catch of the game, but I think it was significant in terms of his outlook for the rest of the season.

Mack is the type of player that can thrive within this offense if he gets some momentum going, and I think these past two weeks have breathed new life into his game. In another road game, I think we will see Ian Book utilize his tight ends in the passing game frequently.

The one concern here is that Cole Kmet returned to the team last week. Coming off of a high ankle sprain, I am not convinced that Kmet is back at 100 percent yet, but he is certainly a threat to Mack’s targets.

How Mack performs against Virginia Tech will give us a better idea of his ceiling moving forward. He appears to have some momentum entering week six, and I think he will find the endzone again this Saturday.

Notre Dame Defense (DST)

Just copy any of my previous reasons for starting the Notre Dame defense in college fantasy football and paste them here. This defense is legit. If you have them on your fantasy team, you should feel comfortable starting them for the remainder of the season (except during their bye week).

This being a road game in primetime may worry some people, but defense always travels. Virginia Tech’s offense has scored some points in their first four games, but they have yet to face a defense the quality of Notre Dame’s.

In their two previous primetime games this season, the Irish defense has held both of their opponents to 17 points. I think that trend continues this week.

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