Could last weeks results be giving us value to take the Hokies here as they seemed to really botch that game against Georgia Tech out gaining the Yellow Jackets by nearly 100 yards, but done in by 4 turnovers. Who knows, maybe they were looking ahead to this trip to South Bend. Yeah the Irish are coming off a shellacking of Army, but I'm not sure their ship has been righted just yet as they had motivation coming off the embarrassing loss to Navy with the added benefit of facing the triple option offense in back to back weeks. Now they have to switch gears and face a balanced offense with a dual threat QB. I think Va Tech is the better team with the better defense and they should be plenty motivated after last week in a pick'em game .
I believe the line is telling us that for Kelly and ND, this is a must win game. Yes, VT came off a brutal loss, but still they are bowl eligible and VT has surpassed expectations. Sure they would love to win, but I think for ND, if they lose, they will not make a bowl. I also think Kelly's job rests on this issue too. They have been horrible but that passing offense is great. It is just their D that is putrid.
I was thinking similarly to you but I am not going to bet against ND on senior day in what is going to be the coldest day of the year with wind gusts and possibly snow. Crazy stuff happens. I will be at the game freezing my nuts off as I am the weather mush. I cannot remember the last time I saw a football game on a pleasant day.
Better pack a flask of 90 proof Peppermint Schnapps to spice up your hot chocolate Secondcity, or maybe some Jamison if you prefer Irish Coffee. Looks like it could be a bit breezy with winds WNW 25 to 35 mph with gusts over 40. Chance up precip 80%, but only expecting accumulations of less than 1 inch. Seems like those conditions would favor the better D and the offense willing to grind it out on the ground, but maybe the under 54.5 would be the stronger play?
From a respected source ... Probably the only time I will post the write ups.
[FONT="]Notre Dame vs. VT[/FONT]
[FONT="]There have been a number of really disappointing teams this season. Notre Dame has to be near the top of that list. After winning 8,8,12,9,8,10 games the past six seasons, the Irish are sitting with a record of 4-6 and in a world of hurt trying to gain bowl eligibility at six wins. They need to beat Virginia Tech and then USC (uh, hmmm ?) to reach the magical plateau. It has to start right here. Right now.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Here we have yet another interesting situation. This game really means nothing to the Hokies. If they beat Virginia next week, they are in the ACC Championship game. Period. THAT my friends, would be a really nice accomplishment for first year HC Justin Fuente. It bears repeating, we are NOT saying that Virginia Tech will not want to win, we are just saying that if either team has a motivational edge it is sure to be Notre Dame in their home finale.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Match-Up[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notre Dame offense vs Virginia Tech defense[/FONT]
[FONT="]We are big fans of DeShone Kizer. Yes, he makes mistakes and is far from perfect but he is a very underrated passer and has the ability to make you pay with his mobility. BINGO. If you are a Hokies’ fan and reading this, you know how much Virginia Tech loves (sarcasm) playing mobile QBs that can burn you with the pass. Bud Foster will figure out a way to crush pretty much any pocket passer, but Kizer is going to put a ton of pressure on the defense. Joshua Dobbs had a big game against the Hokies. Syracuse QB Eric Dungey had 300+ passing and 100+ yards rushing. When you add in the Notre Dame WR unit and RB Josh Adams to the mix, it feels like the Irish are poised for a fine offensive showing. Overall, the Hokies defense ranks fairly high (#15 overall) but they have given up 34,16,36,21,30 in their last 5 games.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Virginia Tech offense vs Notre Dame defense[/FONT]
[FONT="]We also like what QB Jerod Evans has done in his first season in the FBS. He has led a good balanced attack (#51 rushing, #41 passing) all season and the Hokies have seven wins this season in large part to his efforts. He is also a dual threat QB that will give the Irish some fits. The rest of the rushing attack has been pretty much shut down the past two or three weeks. The OL has not been doing a great job. It appears as though Evans is going to have to carry his team to victory with a yuuuuge day running and passing the football.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Irish D has been playing a bit better recently, of course, helped a bit by facing a couple option teams and playing one game in a virtual hurricane. They gave up nothing to Army, held Navy to under 370 yards which is not easy, and the game before that they held a potent Miami offense to just 306 yards. The ace in the hole for the Irish is that Virginia Tech LOVES to fumble. It has become almost a sick pleasure. They are #122 in the FBS in putting the ball on the ground (22 fumbles) and 2nd LAST in the FBS in fumbles lost (14). If the weather is as cold as we hear it might be, we can expect the ball to be put on the ground a couple of times.[/FONT]
[FONT="]MINI BITES
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Virginia Tech and Notre Dame have never played before…..We think that is pretty amazing….not sure you would agree…..Notre Dame has won 5/6 home finales under HC Kelly but this might be their toughest one under his watch…..Interesting but probably useless stat….VT is 6-15-1 ATS L22 vs teams with losing records…..We give credit to these schools for scheduling this game…ND has had a down year but it is a good match-up.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Summary[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once again, we start with the intangibles. Notre Dame appears to be on the upswing, Virginia Tech a bit on the downswing. Motivational edge clearly in favor of Notre Dame. If the weather gets as cold as it is supposed to, it is hard to imagine VT really wanting to go that extra 5%-10% when they know the game is just a practice for next week. And if any guys on VT get a bit banged up (it happens, yo) do you think the coaches will risk further injury or sit them out for the next game or two that matter ? Just throwing it out there.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Xs and Os are also compelling. Virginia Tech is essentially a one-man show right now. Their QB is very good but that is a tough way to win a difficult road game. The Hokies have not demonstrated an ability to control really good mobile QBs and that is what they get on Saturday. We also like the ability of CJ Sanders to make something happen in the return game. Oh, and VT is having trouble snapping the ball on punts.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Conclusion[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notre Dame PK (play up to -2.5)[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notre Dame vs. VT[/FONT]
[FONT="]There have been a number of really disappointing teams this season. Notre Dame has to be near the top of that list. After winning 8,8,12,9,8,10 games the past six seasons, the Irish are sitting with a record of 4-6 and in a world of hurt trying to gain bowl eligibility at six wins. They need to beat Virginia Tech and then USC (uh, hmmm ?) to reach the magical plateau. It has to start right here. Right now.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Here we have yet another interesting situation. This game really means nothing to the Hokies. If they beat Virginia next week, they are in the ACC Championship game. Period. THAT my friends, would be a really nice accomplishment for first year HC Justin Fuente. It bears repeating, we are NOT saying that Virginia Tech will not want to win, we are just saying that if either team has a motivational edge it is sure to be Notre Dame in their home finale.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Match-Up[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notre Dame offense vs Virginia Tech defense[/FONT]
[FONT="]We are big fans of DeShone Kizer. Yes, he makes mistakes and is far from perfect but he is a very underrated passer and has the ability to make you pay with his mobility. BINGO. If you are a Hokies’ fan and reading this, you know how much Virginia Tech loves (sarcasm) playing mobile QBs that can burn you with the pass. Bud Foster will figure out a way to crush pretty much any pocket passer, but Kizer is going to put a ton of pressure on the defense. Joshua Dobbs had a big game against the Hokies. Syracuse QB Eric Dungey had 300+ passing and 100+ yards rushing. When you add in the Notre Dame WR unit and RB Josh Adams to the mix, it feels like the Irish are poised for a fine offensive showing. Overall, the Hokies defense ranks fairly high (#15 overall) but they have given up 34,16,36,21,30 in their last 5 games.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Virginia Tech offense vs Notre Dame defense[/FONT]
[FONT="]We also like what QB Jerod Evans has done in his first season in the FBS. He has led a good balanced attack (#51 rushing, #41 passing) all season and the Hokies have seven wins this season in large part to his efforts. He is also a dual threat QB that will give the Irish some fits. The rest of the rushing attack has been pretty much shut down the past two or three weeks. The OL has not been doing a great job. It appears as though Evans is going to have to carry his team to victory with a yuuuuge day running and passing the football.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Irish D has been playing a bit better recently, of course, helped a bit by facing a couple option teams and playing one game in a virtual hurricane. They gave up nothing to Army, held Navy to under 370 yards which is not easy, and the game before that they held a potent Miami offense to just 306 yards. The ace in the hole for the Irish is that Virginia Tech LOVES to fumble. It has become almost a sick pleasure. They are #122 in the FBS in putting the ball on the ground (22 fumbles) and 2nd LAST in the FBS in fumbles lost (14). If the weather is as cold as we hear it might be, we can expect the ball to be put on the ground a couple of times.[/FONT]
[FONT="]MINI BITES
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Virginia Tech and Notre Dame have never played before…..We think that is pretty amazing….not sure you would agree…..Notre Dame has won 5/6 home finales under HC Kelly but this might be their toughest one under his watch…..Interesting but probably useless stat….VT is 6-15-1 ATS L22 vs teams with losing records…..We give credit to these schools for scheduling this game…ND has had a down year but it is a good match-up.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Summary[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once again, we start with the intangibles. Notre Dame appears to be on the upswing, Virginia Tech a bit on the downswing. Motivational edge clearly in favor of Notre Dame. If the weather gets as cold as it is supposed to, it is hard to imagine VT really wanting to go that extra 5%-10% when they know the game is just a practice for next week. And if any guys on VT get a bit banged up (it happens, yo) do you think the coaches will risk further injury or sit them out for the next game or two that matter ? Just throwing it out there.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Xs and Os are also compelling. Virginia Tech is essentially a one-man show right now. Their QB is very good but that is a tough way to win a difficult road game. The Hokies have not demonstrated an ability to control really good mobile QBs and that is what they get on Saturday. We also like the ability of CJ Sanders to make something happen in the return game. Oh, and VT is having trouble snapping the ball on punts.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Conclusion[/FONT]
[FONT="]Notre Dame PK (play up to -2.5)[/FONT]
I've got a solid system play on Va Tech, but I can't get past the scheduling aspect of this.
ND absolutely has to have this game, while this game really does nothing for Va Tech as noted above. A reluctant pass, and if Va Tech wins will grind my teeth.
ND absolutely has to have this game, while this game really does nothing for Va Tech as noted above. A reluctant pass, and if Va Tech wins will grind my teeth.
. Respectable source
