Opponent Watch: Hokie Pokie Edition

Each week in this space, we examine two things: Notre Dame’s strength of schedule (from USA Today‘s Sagarin rankings), and who Irish opponents are facing. For those of who want to scout future opponents, I’ll give you my recommendation for who to watch when you’re not watching Notre Dame Football.

Who To Watch

Virginia Tech at Florida State (Mon 8:00 PM ET ESPN)

via GIPHY

HAPPY GAME WEEK, SPORTS FANS. I’m sure our emotional level will swing dramatically between now and Saturday night kickoff, but for now let’s revel in the joy and innocence that awaits us this weekend. Every year we await Footballmas Day with great anticipation, and this year we (hopefully) will have a delicious cup of Wolverine tears to quaff come Saturday night. However, the season is a marathon, and thus each week I will identify a marquee ND opponent game that should capture your attention.

This being a holiday weekend and the unofficial end of summer, we have opponents playing Thursday, Friday, and earlier on Saturday. However, I’m recommending you close out your long weekend by watching Virginia Tech vs. Florida State, both upcoming Notre Dame opponents. Florida State opens at home with a new head man (Willie Taggart) and a relatively new face under center (Deondre Francois). Francois was injured early last year, and his early departure was a key contributor to the Seminoles’ 2017 slide. Virginia Tech was expected to make quite a bit of noise after last year’s results, but numerous offseason defections, transfers, firings, and dismissals have left their roster and coaching staff depleted. While their depth will be tested throughout the year, it will be of interest to Irish fans to see how they fare in Week 1 on the road against a quality opponent.

We’ll start tracking schedule strength here next week, but here’s a rundown on when and where you can catch other 2018 ND opponents.