Notre Dame Football: Which Irish opponent has the chance to have a surprise season?
By Ben Belden
As they always do, the Notre Dame football team has a difficult schedule in 2019. Which under the radar team has a chance to make it even more difficult?
For Notre Dame football, the schedule boils down to three road games that will define their season. When the Irish travel to Georgia, Michigan, and Stanford, they will be under a microscope. Those games will make or break Notre Dame’s season, plain and simple.
For the Irish, it is easy to find three marquee games that will define the season. The more difficult task, however, is the ability to decide which opponents will over-achieve prior to facing the Irish.
Last year, it went without said–though, it was said plenty–that Notre Dame’s season would be defined by four games: Michigan, Stanford, Virginia Tech, and USC.
Truth be told, Virginia Tech fell by the wayside, but another opponent emerged as a serious threat as the season went on: Syracuse.
The Orange were an upstart team who was poised to have a good season, but few predicted that they would rise to be a top-15 opponent for the Irish.
That said, which opponent could have a similar rise this season?
This season, an obvious candidate to have a similar rise into contention is the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Last year’s Virginia Tech team was plagued by inconsistency, winning 6 games and losing 7, but is looking to build off a strong finish to the regular season in 2019.
On offense, the Hokies return their starting quarterback, Ryan Willis, who threw for 2700 yards and 24 touchdowns. Running back Steven Peoples is gone, but DeShawn McClease (Virginia Tech’s second-leading rusher) is back to fill his shoes, while junior Jalen Holston will back him up.
On the outside, the Hokies return their leading receiver in Damon Hazelton, their third-leading receiver in Hezekiah Grimsley, and their fourth-leading receiver in tight end Dalton Keene.
Defensively, the Hokies return plenty, as well. All five of their leading tacklers from a season ago return on defense, including Rayshard Ashby, who logged 105 total tackles from the linebacker position.
Next. Projecting Notre Dame opponent records on game day. dark
The Hokies are in a position to have a great season in 2019, but as of now, it doesn’t seem like many outside of Blacksburg are talking about them. The Hokies travel to South Bend on November 2nd for a 2:30 kickoff the week after Notre Dame plays at Michigan. The Irish will have to move on from the Michigan game quickly to win this one.