Notre Dame Football: Game-by-game predicitions for 2018

If this game were played last season, the Hokies would have a puncher’s chance. However, it’s 2018, and they lost six players on defense to the NFL. They lost them in the worst positions for this matchup too. They were linebackers and members of the secondary — key spots against a mobile quarterback.

With the running ability of Brandon Wimbush — and hopefully improved accuracy — they will be able to carve up the Virginia Tech defense. The offense has been nothing short of a disappointment since the arrival of Justin Fuente as head coach, and the Notre Dame defense will take advantage of that.

Expect this running game to take hold in this game. They will take advantage of a weakened second level of the Hokies defense by running, running, and more running.

Prediction

When you look at a box score, you can usually tell who won the game by various stats. One key stat is time of possession. With a combination of a weakened linebacker corps and secondary, expect the Fighting Irish to play keep away in this game and dominate the time of possession battle. They will win the game handily due to that.

Notre Dame 31
Virginia Tech 10