Notre Dame Football: Score predictions vs. Virginia Tech

It’s been a long week, but our writer are ready to hand out some score predictions for the Notre Dame football game against Virginia Tech today.

Our beloved Notre Dame football team take the field at home against Virginia Tech today. They has been a lot said and written about the team over the past week. It’s nice to finally be able to have a football game to watch.

Here’s how some of our writers see today’s game playing out.

Carlee North

This is the first time in a while that I actually have no clue what’s going to happen Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame is coming off of one of the worst losses I’ve ever seen. They simply quit and I’ve never seen that from an Irish team that way.

Virginia Tech is no pushover by any means, and I think they will come into South Bend looking to give the Irish a devastating knockout blow. I’m hoping the Irish come out with some passion and dominate the best they can after what unfolded last weekend.

Defensively I would expect they have a 180 performance and show that last week was a fluke for that unit specifically. Virginia Tech quarterback Hendon Hooker does concern me a little when he gets out of the pocket, so it’ll be interesting to see if the defense shows some discipline.

Offensively, this seems to be a week by week “show me something” group, and I truly have no clue what they end up showing come Saturday afternoon. All I know is I hope it’ll be a hell of a lot more than last week. This game ends up being much closer than the 16-point spread. Virginia Tech covers but the Irish end up finding a little confidence after getting back in the win column, winning 34-26 and moving to 6-2.

Connor McJunkin

Part of me wants to think this team will wake up and respond the right way after last week’s embarrassment, but all of me also thought something like last Saturday would never happen this year. I have zero confidence in Ian Book and the offense at the moment. There is no rhythm, deep ball threat, or run game. And, the defense has looked awful for the last 6 quarters. With that said, I’m sticking to my gut on this one. The Irish win but not by much and not convincingly. 27-20 Notre Dame.

Jack Leniart

The Irish opened up as 16.5-point favorites against Virginia Tech. I was a bit surprised to see a line that large following Notre Dame’s loss in Ann Arbor. Maybe the oddsmakers thought that game was an outlier. Maybe they think the Irish will play angry. Maybe they just don’t think Virginia Tech is that good.

Whatever the case may be, Notre Dame should beat the Hokies on Saturday. I think they will come out pissed off and wanting to make a statement. That doesn’t mean this will be an easy victory, though. Virginia Tech is a solid team that is coming off a bye week. They beat the Irish in South Bend in 2016, and they definitely believe they can do it again this weekend. I see this being a close game through three quarters before a late touchdown pass from Ian Book seals the game for the Irish. Notre Dame 35, Virginia Tech 21.

Mason Plummer

Notre Dame bounces back against VA Tech and gets a big W. Tech scores late to make the score look closer than it really is in a dominant Irish win. Look for ND to dominate the lines on both sides of the ball and take their anger out, like what they should’ve done last week. 34-20, Notre Dame.

Matt Clark

Both teams are coming off games with polar opposite results, with Notre Dame losing to Michigan in an embarrassing effort 45-14 and Virginia Tech winning in a thrilling 6 OT game against North Carolina 43-41. As a result, I think Notre Dame comes out playing aggressive football with purpose and Virginia Tech suffers a bit of a hangover from the long game against the Tar Heels — even after a bye week. I expect the Irish to play with an edge & dominate from the opening whistle. The Irish look great in all facets of the game and crush the Hokies 52-7.

Nathan Erbach

After an embarrassing loss to Michigan where the Irish seemed unprepared, I am expecting a big bounce back performance from the squad. Virginia Tech has been better of late, but the Bud Foster-led defense has allowed an average of 35 points per game to Power 5 teams. And let’s face it — they haven’t exactly played the top of line of the power conference to date. Expect the ND offense to get on track and the defense to play with a chip on their shoulder after allowing 300+ yards on the ground last Saturday. 42-21 Notre Dame.

J.P. Scott

I want to be wrong, I really do — but I just don’t have a great feeling about the game today. I’ve seen this movie many times, and not just at Notre Dame. None of the one-liners in pressers or inspirational tweets are going to help a single Irish player on the field. I believe Michigan broke something in this team. I don’t see enough alpha dogs on this Notre Dame football team to rally everyone else and refocus.

I think the Irish will be doomed by a slow start once again on offense against a team with plenty of NFL talent, coached by a defensive legend. I think the Irish will continue to struggle finding an identity and get into a back and forth tilt.

I hope I’m wrong, but, but I think Virginia Tech wins this thing 31-24.