Notre Dame Football: Game-by-Game Predictions for the Month of November
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A somewhat surprising No. 5 ranking in Tuesday’s initial College Football Playoff poll elicited similar responses from the Notre Dame football team this week.
“We could be ranked five or 55,” Irish middle linebacker Joe Schmidt said. “It doesn’t really matter until the last week of the year. We have a game this week.”
“The rankings can do whatever they want,” Irish defensive tackle Sheldon Day said. “It’s all about what happens in this building. We have to focus on each and every day here.”
“As long as we go 1-0 each week, we’ll see where we end up at the end,” Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer said.
So let’s do just that: go week by week and evaluate Notre Dame’s chances in each of the four remaining regular-season games.
Pittsburgh Panthers
1 of 4
Pittsburgh and Stanford are certainly the toughest opponents, on paper, remaining on Notre Dame’s regular-season schedule.
After jumping into the Top 25 at No. 23 recently, Pitt bowed right back out after a 26-19 home loss to North Carolina last week. The Panthers, though, are still 6-2 and figure to present a stiff challenge to the Irish at Heinz Field on Saturday afternoon. After all, none of the last six matchups in the Notre Dame-Pitt series has been decided by more than seven points.
First-year Pitt head coach and former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi has the Panthers playing strong defense (tied for 37th in the country with the Spartans, incidentally, in scoring defense). But without running back James Conner (season-ending knee injury) and with star wide receiver Tyler Boyd averaging just 9.2 yards per reception, Pitt doesn’t appear to have the offensive firepower to take down Notre Dame, which is averaging 37 points per game.
Prediction: Notre Dame Win
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
2 of 4
The Irish seniors will take the field at Notre Dame Stadium just once more—when Wake Forest visits November 14 for an afternoon tilt in South Bend.
Coupling the emotion of Senior Day with Wake Forest’s issues, it’s difficult to see Notre Dame falling against the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest has dropped to 3-6 following consecutive losses to North Carolina (50-14), NC State (35-17) and Louisville (20-19). Its only win since mid-September is a 3-0 victory—yes, you read that right—over Boston College on the road in early October.
The Demon Deacons rank 117th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 18.7 points per game. Even if a solid defense (44th in scoring defense) slows the Irish attack, Notre Dame’s defense should be able to shoulder the load.
Expect the Irish to roll.
Prediction: Notre Dame Win
Boston College Eagles
3 of 4
Like Wake Forest, and as evidenced by their riveting 3-0 affair in October, Boston College pairs a staunch defense with an anemic offense.
The Eagles rank fourth in the country in scoring defense and have only allowed 13.3 points per game. Scoring, however, remains an issue, as Boston College checks in one slot behind Wake Forest at No. 118 in scoring offense (18.3 points per game). In a fitting encapsulation of its season, Boston College limited Florida State to 14 points but only mustered 195 yards of total offense in a 14-0 loss in September.
In replacing Tyler Murphy at quarterback entering the season, the Eagles turned to sophomore Darius Wade, who made three starts before suffering a broken ankle against the Seminoles. In total, Boston College has trotted out four different signal-callers this season.
Notre Dame should have plenty of firepower to down the Eagles at Fenway Park.
Prediction: Notre Dame Win
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Stanford Cardinal
4 of 4
Barring a late-season slip for either side, Notre Dame and Stanford will meet two days after Thanksgiving in a matchup of 10-1 teams.
The Cardinal has reeled off seven consecutive victories after falling to Northwestern, 16-6, in its season opener on the road. Stanford throttled USC, Oregon State, Arizona and UCLA with offensive efforts of 41, 42, 55 and 56 points, respectively.
Sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey has impressed, piling up 1,060 rushing yards and six scores to go along with 25 receptions for 310 yards and another two touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Blake Martinez (91 tackles) and junior outside linebacker Peter Kalambayi (39 tackles, 3.5 sacks) power the defense, which is 33rd in the country, allowing 21.5 points per game.
The last three Notre Dame-Stanford games have been decided by a combined 17 points, with the Irish holding the 57-54 edge in those three tilts.
Expect another tight battle. Stanford, at home, will likely be favored, if ever so slightly.
Yet something about Notre Dame’s experience, resiliency and moxie stands out. We’ll take the Irish.
Prediction: Notre Dame Win
All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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