– Last Updated on June 8, 2018 7:51 am
2017 Football Preview – Independent – Fighting Irish
Looking for 2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish predictions? The Fighting Irish has to be one of the happiest teams in the FBS that a new season is almost here. They had a terrible 2016 campaign finish the season with a 4-8 record, which is no where close to acceptable for the people in South Bend. This year seems like it’s going to be a make or break year for the Fighting Irish
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2017-18 College Football Preview – Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Head Coach: Brian Kelly
2016 Record: 4-8
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Odds to win the 2017 FBS Championship: +4000
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Brian Kelly is fighting for his job. Will he be able to deliver?
2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Predictions: Team Strengths
Big Men Up Front: One of the best positions that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have is the offensive line.
Four starters from last year are back from the offensive line last year, and with all the struggles of the team last year, the offensive line never seemed to struggle.
Left tackle Mike McGlinchey and Left guard Quenton Nelson are both back this year and they are expected to be first or second round picks in next years draft.
This is huge with a new quarterback coming in, if he doesn’t have to worry about the blocking up front, that should be a huge advantage.
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The biggest advantage about this offensive line is they are good in the run and the pass. They are a bunch of mean, physical men up front.
Loaded Backfield: The Notre Dame backfield is loaded with talent. Josh Adams returns for his Junior season and is a threat to break a long run at any point.
He averaged 6.5 yards per carry last year but he dealt with injuries last year and it hindered some of his stats.
If he stays healthy he is line for a huge year. But he isn’t the only one in the backfield. Dexter Williams and C.J. Holmes are also expected to be big parts of the offense.
They would be starters on a lot of other teams across college football so Notre Dame looks to have a three headed monster in the backfield.
2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Who’s Out Wide?: Notre Dame has a lot of talent on this roster at the wide receiver but they are mostly young, and they lost a lot of production from last year.
They lost Torii Hunter Jr who had 521 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Although those stats aren’t exceptional he was a leader on and off the field, and Notre Dame lost a huge voice from their Wide Receiver room.
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Equanimeous St. Brown had 961 yards and nine touchdowns last year and will be the lead wide out this season but after them there is a lot of question marks.
They have Chase Claypool and tight end Azile Jones on the roster who have a lot of hype. But right now it’s only hype and they haven’t had the results on the field yet.
Will there be a Defense?: Last year the Notre Dame Fighting Irish struggled on the defensive side of the ball to say the least.
They have a ton of talent on the backside of the defense, but the biggest question is how the defensive line will play this year.
They were the biggest weakness last year and they really didn’t get any reinforcements brought it that makes one think it will be any different this year.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction
9-3
Notre Dame figures to have a better season this year, but that really isn’t hard to do considering how bad they were last year.
This year their schedule is a little better then this year. Michigan State and Stanford both figure to have a down year and that will give Notre Dame two more chances to get big wins.
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If they can get good play out of the quarterback position this team should be in the top 25 all year, and could even be in a New Year Six bowl.
I think Notre Dame has a good year and Brian Kelly gets another year to coach Notre Dame.
2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Schedule
- 9/2/17 3:30 PM ET TEM
- 9/9/17 7:30 PM ET UGA
- 9/16/17 TBD @BC
- 9/23/17 TBD @MSU
- 9/30/17 5:00 PM ET M-OH
- 10/7/17 TBD @UNC
- 10/21/17 7:30 PM ET USC
- 10/28/17 3:30 PM ET NCST
- 11/4/17 3:30 PM ET WAKE
- 11/11/17 TBD @MIA
- 11/18/17 4:30 PM ET NAVY
- 11/25/17 TBD @STAN
What do you think about our 2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2017!
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