Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2017 NCAA Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2017 NCAA Football Preview

2016 Recap

2016 Record – 4-8

2016 ATS – 4-8

That pretty much stunk all around.

The Fighting Irish failed to win 8+ games for the first time in the Brian Kelly era, and just to make sure they missed the bogey with style, they finished up with a mere four wins on the season. Now to be fair, that schedule was extremely difficult, and MEGALOCKS gives props to any team that has to negotiate a docket like the 2016 schedule. Texas. Sparty. Stanford. Miami. Virginia Tech. USC. And do not forget the scrappy Army / Navy combo.

In any event, every team is allowed a mulligan once in a while. Onward and upward.

2017 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

Independents – #1

OFFENSE

It seems like just a week ago that Notre Dame had a pocket full of fantastic QBs. This season they will need to rely on sophomore Brandon Wimbush to lead the offense. MEGALOCKS Notre Dame INSIDERS tell us that Wimbush is extremely talented and should be able to keep the offense humming with his dual-threat ability. New OC Chip Long wants the Fighting Irish to increase the tempo and it will be interesting to see how quickly Wimbush can get “up to speed”.

The running attack should be excellent with a healthy Josh Adams (933, 5 TD, 5.9 last season) complementing the running ability at QB. The depth looks juicy with Dexter Williams and Tony Jones ready to go. The offensive line looks fantastic with two legit NFL prospects manning the left side. The Irish have a talented WR group with a lot of size including last year’s #1 wideout Equanimeous St Brown (961, 9 TD, 16.6). TE Alize Mack should cause yuuuuge match-up issues.

It appears that this offense has the potential to be anywhere from really good to outstanding.

DEFENSE

Where was the PENETRATION ? Notre Dame only managed to record 14 (!) sacks last season which ranked near the bottom of the FBS. Hello, Fresno St. Hello, Charlotte. New DC Mike Elko (Wake Forest) will have his hands full trying to apply pressure on opposing QBs, not to mention improve a run defense that his GONE DOWN THE CRAPPER the past four seasons. The back seven looks fine. The Irish boast 3/3 returning starters at LB including last year’s leading tackler Nyles Morgan. The secondary has a lot more experience and will almost certainly stay more healthy than the 2016 group. They will need to figure out a way to get more than 8 INT.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Justin Yoon and Tyler Newsome supply a very good PK and P game. Dangerous return man CJ Sanders is back this season and he returned two kickoffs for TDs last year and averaged 12.5 yards on 10 punt returns. Looking good.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot

September 16 – at Boston College. This game pops up in a Georgia / Sparty sandwich situation and the Eagles will be JACKED UP to give the Irish fits.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

Notre Dame has not had a “+” turnover margin since 2012.

Lou Holtz is awesome.

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 7.0

MEGALOCKS says:

Overall, we give the FIGHTING IRISH a 7.0 ATS Value Rating (Very Good) this season.

We had these guys nailed last season with a 3.5 ATS Value Rating…..“it feels as though they are going to be overvalued despite the extraordinary talent at QB. The schedule will not do them many favors.”

We like the look of the 2017 team. Yes, the schedule is daunting. There is a new QB and a rebuilt coaching staff. However, all things considered, we think that the offense has the potential to rip lesser opponents apart. We trust new DC Mike Elko to get these guys playing better team defense. The problem every season and every week is trying to find value with Notre Dame. Everyone and their stepbrother loves to bet on these guys and the point spread is most often shaded in their direction. That makes finding value a bit of a tricky proposition. Nonetheless, we are highly confident in the probability of a winning season ATS, but the ceiling is probably 8-4 record vs Vegas.

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