Notre Dame Football: Game-by-game predictions for October 2021

Notre Dame football is off to a 4-0 start to the season following a blowout win over Wisconsin in Week 4 that was closer than what the final score indicated.

The Irish now have wins over Florida State, Toledo, Purdue, and Wisconsin on the year and while that seems like a quality resume, none of those teams have been playing exceptionally well through one month. The Irish are still fighting for some respect.

October will be a big month for the Irish. Will they go 4-0 again?

Desmond Ridder and Cincinnati will be the biggest test for the Irish so far this season and before you even bring up the Wisconsin game in Week 4, just realize that Graham Mertz is not on the same level as the Bearcats’ quarterback.

Cincinnati’s defense will be much like Wisconsin’s in the fact that it’s stingy and will make the Fighting Irish work for every yard.

I’m going to make this prediction with the assumption that Jack Coan will be fully healthy and ready to go. If he’s not, I still have confidence in Tyler Buchner or Drew Pyne, especially after how the latter looked against the Badgers last week.

Notre Dame still doesn’t have a ton of respect nationally even with that 4-0 start, but I think that’ll change in Week 5 with a win over No. 7 Cincinnati.

Coan will have a solid game and Kyren Williams will finally break the 100-yard mark in a single game for the first time this season.

The game will be tight, but a late Coan touchdown pass to Michael Mayer puts Notre Dame ahead for good.

Final Score: Cincinnati 23, Notre Dame 28 (5-0)