Notre Dame Football: Projecting opponent records on game day

Game 8: Virginia Tech: 5-2

The Hokies looked like one of the toughest games last year, but a 45-23 Irish win proved that wrong. Virginia Tech’s non-conference schedule isn’t exactly what I would call “difficult,” with Old Dominion, Furman and Rhode Island all on the slate. Duke and North Carolina should also be wins. The two losses come in the opener at Boston College, where AJ Dillon will run all over Virginia Tech’s 106th-ranked rush defense from a year ago, and at Miami, who has won two straight against the Hokies and is coming off a bye.

Game 9: @ Duke: 4-4

Losing a quarterback who was drafted in the first round isn’t easy. That’s exactly what Duke will be doing this season, and they’ll have no time to break someone in as they jump right into the deep end against Alabama in Week 1. Alabama, Virginia Tech and Virginia, as previously mentioned, should have little problem with the Blue Devils. Pitt should also be able to beat Duke. I see Duke’s wins coming against FCS North Carolina A&T, a rebuilding Middle Tennessee, total system overhaul at Georgia Tech and North Carolina, who is one of the biggest question marks in the country. Duke still has talent, but not as much as last year.

Game 10: Navy: 4-4

3-10 was Navy’s worst record in almost two decades. They should rebound nicely this year, although probably not the 8-plus wins they’ve come to know and be used to. Holy Cross, East Carolina, Tulsa and UConn should all be victories, although I could see Tulsa giving Navy a tough time. I see Navy’s losses coming to Memphis, Air Force, USF, and Tulane — who I’m a big believer in this season. If Navy can fix what went wrong last year, it’s possible they’re 6-2.

Game 11: Boston College: 7-3

I think Boston College goes 7-0 to start the season — Virginia Tech, Richmond, Kansas, Rutgers, Wake Forest and Louisville all wins. Worst case scenario they’re 6-1. After this comes the tough part. NC State will be a tough out, but did lose a ton to the NFL, especially on offense. Boston College should get that win as well. Then, consecutive games at Clemson, at Syracuse and home against Florida State is where the problems start. Clemson is elite, Syracuse could be a 10 win team once again, and a Florida State still has some real good players on their roster, so a bounce-back is expected.

Game 12: @ Stanford: 8-3

You know you have a good program when there’s lots of talk about how it was a down season, yet you still won nine games. Nine wins is a possibility this year as well, but I have Stanford losing to the usual suspects in the Pac-12: USC, Oregon and Washington. As mentioned before, USC could be a toss up.

As for the wins, the Cardinal should be extra cautious in games with Northwestern, at UCF and at Washington State. Any of those could also result in losses if Stanford overlooks them. Arizona could be tough, as could Cal. UCLA could be interesting, while Oregon State and Colorado shouldn’t be an issue for the perennial Pac-12 contender.