The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take their unbeaten record to Lane Stadium as they face the Virginia Tech Hokies in an interesting week 6 matchup on October 6, 2018.
The Irish retained their perfect record with a victory over Stanford last week. On the other hand, the Hokies continued their strong start with a win over Duke last weekend. While Notre Dame has fortified its ranking at #6, Virginia Tech is making a push to earn their own place among the top programs in the nation.
Notre Dame was already off to a good start when they made the starting quarterback switch from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book after three games. With Book taking charge, the Fighting Irish have taken their offensive game to an even higher level.
Since starting at quarterback, Book has completed 71% of his passes for a total of 603 passing yards with six touchdowns. Book has also rushed for a total of 90 yards on 25 carries with three touchdowns on the ground. In Notre Dame’s most recent win over Stanford, Book threw for 278 yards on 24-33 passing with four touchdowns and no turnovers.
Tony Jones Jr. leads the Notre Dame running game with 303 rushing yards and one touchdown while Miles Boykin is the top wide receiver with 311 receiving yards on 20 catches with one touchdown. Jafar Armstrong has five rushing touchdowns and 245 rushing yards for the well-balanced Notre Dame offense.
Virginia Tech is also off to a good start at 3-1 and the Hokies boast of the 32nd top scoring offense in the country at 38.0 points per game. Quarterback Josh Jackson has been at the helm with 551 passing yards with 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. But Jackson missed the Hokies’ last game with a fractured tibia and the Hokies were upset by Old Dominion in their third game of the season..
Back-up Ryan Willis took over last week and put on an impressive outing by throwing for 332 yards with three touchdowns. With Jackson out indefinitely, Willis will have to continue to play as well as he did the last time out. However, given that they are playing a formidable team in Notre Dame, the question is will Willis step up again?
Steven Peoples leads the Virginia Tech running game with 302 yards and five touchdowns in four games played. Damon Hazelton is the primary receiver with a total of 348 receiving yards on 15 catches with four touchdowns. Defensive end Trevon Hill was dismissed from the team after the Hokies’ loss to Old Dominion. According to officials, Hill was dismissed for “not upholding the high standards for student athletes”. Prior to his removal, Hill led the Hokies with 3.5 sacks per game.
Notre Dame is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games and 4-2 SU in their last six road games played. But Virginia Tech is 13-5 SU in their last 18 games and 8-1 SU in their last six games at home. So what gives here?
The Hokies will still be without starting quarterback Josh Jackson who is out with a fractured tibia and his absence could spell the difference in this game. In three games this season, Jackson passed for 575 yards on better than 62% completions with five touchdowns and one interception in three games played. Jackson also rushed for 71 yards and one rushing touchdown.
While Ryan Willis has filled in nicely for Jackson but the back-up does not have quite the same skill set as the man he is replacing. Against a Notre Dame defense that is ranked 27th in points allowed, Willis may be in for a tough challenge. Prediction: Notre Dame
The fighting Irish are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games after an ATS win, 4-2 ATS in their last six games and 4-2 ATS in their last 6 road games. The Hokies are also 4-2 ATS in their last six games and 11-4 ATS in their last 15 home games. Once again, the trends do not point to a clear advantage here.
Ian Book has averaged 300 passing yards per game since taking over the quarterbacking chores for Notre Dame. Book’s numbers are bad news for a Virginia Tech defense that is ranked 123rd in the nation in pass defense and giving up over 300 yards through the air per game. I think the disparity in the passing game of Notre Dame and the pass defense of Virginia Tech is going to help the Irish cover the spread here. They have won their last six games by an average of 12.33 points per game and they should win this game by at least a touchdown. Prediction: Notre Dame -5.5
The under is 4-2 in Notre Dame’s last 6 games, 5-2 in Virginia Tech’s last seven games and 4-2 in Virginia Tech’s last 6 games at home. However, the total has gone over in 8 out of the last 11 road games by Notre Dame and in the two games where Ian Book started at quarterback. I’m going with the most recent trends here because it’s Ian Book who will be starting at QB in this game.
After putting up just 24 points or fewer in each of their first three games, the Notre Dame offense has lit up for a total of 94 in their last two games. I like the over here. Prediction: Over 55.5
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