Notre Dame football: Irish headed towards undefeated regular season?
By Sean Smith
The Notre Dame football team got a monster win in Week 4, and with a win in Week 5 against Cincinnati, is an undefeated regular season in the cards?
Notre Dame football is 4-0, with possibly one of the easiest Independent schedules since 2018, if not easier than 2018’s schedule. Notre Dame has already beaten Florida State, Toledo, Purdue, and #18 Wisconsin.
If they beat the 7th ranked Cincinnati Bearcats this weekend, they have a great chance to win the remaining games on their schedule. After Cincinnati, they travel to Blacksburg to play The Hokies in a hostile environment.
The Hokies have already upset No. 10 North Carolina in Week 1 of the 2021 season at home, so they are more than capable of pulling off the upset against the Irish. Then, they play USC at home, and while anything is possible in a rivalry game, especially when it is arguably a top-five rivalry in college football, the Irish should be heavily favored in that one.
USC started the season with high expectations, but the state of their football program this season is looking worse as the season goes on, getting blown out by Stanford and Oregon State. The Irish should win easily against the Trojans.
Next up would be the North Carolina Tar Heels, another team that had major expectations on them going into the season. North Carolina has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Sam Howell, and regardless of the Tar Heel’s record this season their offense is a force to be reckoned with.
After that the Irish play Navy, Virginia, and Georgia Tech. Those games the Irish should win easily, and should not be close. Lastly, the regular season ends with a road game against Stanford. The Cardinal have struggled the last few years, but are slowly on the up and coming again.
How they perform the rest of the season will be a deciding factor of how close this game should be. Realistically If the Irish can pull off the upset this weekend in South Bend against Cincinnati, they should be able to beat Virginia Tech, and then pull through against USC and North Carolina, who have been struggling as of late.
Dominate Navy, Virginia, and Georgia Tech, and show they are a superior program by winning against Stanford the last week of the season, and this team regardless of the early-season struggles, has the potential to finish 12-0. I still stand by my 11-1 preseason prediction, however, Notre Dame football has a realistic chance to make the CFP in Back-Back Seasons.