Notre Dame Football: Ranking Irish opponents by toughness

Georgia Tech has struggled in its transition away from the triple-option offense and won just three games last season under Geoff Collins.

If this game was earlier in the season, it might even rank a little lower on the difficulty list but by November, the Yellow Jackets will have some things figured out.

Jeff Simms is back at quarterback and should emerge as the guy this year while running back Jahmyr Gibbs caught 24 passes as a freshman and only trailed Simms for the team lead in rushing yards.

Georgia Tech will be improved by November but not enough to upset Notre Dame football in South Bend.

Virginia should have a pretty solid team after going 5-5 a year ago. Brennan Armstrong is back at quarterback and having a veteran signal-caller always helps.

This game is also on the road which moves it up the difficulty scale a little bit. However, with some of the other tough matchups looming, we couldn’t move the Cavaliers up any higher.

Virginia’s defense really struggled last season and even though the Cavaliers are capable of pulling the upset or at least making things interesting, it’s also a reflection of just how challenging Notre Dame’s schedule really is.

This isn’t a cakewalk but it’s easier than some of the bigger challenges that await the Fighting Irish.