The Irish and the Hokies play for the first time ever in football during a Senior Day matchup Nov. 19 in South Bend. SEASON OUTLOOK With the hiring of a brand new head coach for the first time in nearly 30 years, it will be a season of change and adjustment for the Virginia Tech Hokies. While there may be growing pains, there is plenty of reason for optimism on the Hokies' sideline. For one thing, the new hiring will bring Virginia Tech out of the dark ages that was the ...
Virginia Tech
Notre Dame Football: Trap Games 2016 (Part 2)
What are trap games? Well, for starters these games tend to be against teams that are ranked just outside the Top 25. This, of course, means a win over the Irish is sure to catapult them into the Top 25 in the subsequent week’s rankings. Another aspect of trap games include the level of play. Either the unranked underdog plays up to Notre Dame’s talent level or, unfortunately, the Irish seep down to the underdog’s level of play. When both of these happen simultaneously, it is a recipe for ...
Notre Dame’s Easiest, Scariest & Toughest Games
The Easiest: Navy Yes, Navy! Before readers attempt to tar and feather me - or worse - I’m going with the Midshipman for a couple of reasons. But wait, what about the vaunted option attack and Ken Niumatalolo’s offense? Remember the years Notre Dame has struggled with it? Consider this: In the last five meetings with Navy, Notre Dame’s average margin of victory has been 22.6 points. This includes a decisive 41-24 victory last year against a Navy team that featured Heisman Trophy ...
Friday Roundup: The “Crazy World of College Football” Edition
Bye weeks are a time for reflection and perspective on a season. For me, this usually means that I have time to look back on Notre Dame football, see how far the Irish have come, and see how far they still have to go. This year has been a bit different. Just go take a look at this week's IBG, the questions and answers are full of more "wait and see" themes than usual. Perhaps some of that is due to the bye being so early. Perhaps that is because there's been only one opponent and game we've ...
Friday Roundup: The “Manchurian AD” Edition
Lack of institutional control...Lane Kiffin...You can't fire him no matter how bad it gets... Mike Garrett shot out of bed in a cold sweat from the same recurring nightmare. It started ever since he lost his job as athletic director at USC, but it turned into a nightly visitor for the past two months. Actually, nightmare isn't the right word -- it's a memory, a memory that he wasn't supposed to retain. Somehow it managed to flood back in pieces, but there will some were still ...