Question #8 How will Notre Dame fare against its ACC foes in 2015?

On January 16th UND.com posted an article "20 Questions for Notre Dame Football for 2015".  This is question 8.

8. Two of the most impressive bowl victors in 2014 were #12 Georgia Tech (won 49-34 over #7 Mississippi State) and #17 Clemson (won 40-6 over Oklahoma)—and those just happen to be two of the first five Irish opponents on the 2015 schedule. The Georgia Tech game is Sept. 19 at Notre Dame Stadium—and the Clemson contest is at Clemson Oct. 3 in Notre Dame’s first visit there since 1977. The Irish also play Atlantic Coast Conference opponents Virginia, Boston College (at Fenway Park in the Shamrock Series), Wake Forest and Pittsburgh. How will Notre Dame fare against its ACC foes in 2015? 

Answer;

Before we look into the crystal ball lets address the ACC as a conference.  The decision to align itself with the ACC seems to be a good one for Notre Dame, at least for now.  Last season the ACC represented themselves pretty well on the football field; Florida State (13-1), Georgia Tech (11-3), Clemson 10-3), Duke (9-4), Louisville (9-4) even N.C. State (8-5).  Overall 8 of the 14 teams in the conference finished over 500 and 11 teams going to bowls.

Last season Notre Dame played 4 teams from the ACC; Syracuse (Won 31-15), North Carolina (Won 50-43), Florida State (Lost 31-27) and Louisville (Lost 31-28).  Irish fans most likely feel that the wins should have been better and the losses should have been or at least could have been wins.  In 2015 the Irish will play 6 teams (half of their season) from the ACC; Virginia, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Boston College.

Let's look ahead to 2015 ACC play.

Virginia 9/12 on the road sandwiched between home games against Texas and Georgia Tech..  In '14 the Cavaliers finished 5-7 (3-5 in the ACC) and 1-3 against top 25 teams (23-21 win over #21 Louisville).  The toughest thing for Notre Dame may be that it is on the road otherwise this is a win for the Irish.

Georgia Tech 9/19 at home.  In '14 the Yellow Jackets went 11-3 (6-2 in the ACC) and 3-1 against top 25 teams (Clemson, Georgia and Mississippi State).  This will be a tough test for the defense as Georgia Tech is a great running team (over 342 yards a game) that scores a lot of points (nearly 40 points a game).  Obviously the defense will have to play well, the offense will also have to perform well to keep up.

Clemson 10/3 at Memorial Stadium.  In 2014 Clemson's strength was its defense which held opponents to less than 17 points a game (ranked #3 in the nation).  In '14 the Tigers finished 10-3 (6-2 in the ACC) and 0-3 against the top 25 (their only loses; Georgia, Florida State and Georgia Tech).  Another tough road game for the Irish.

Pittsburgh 11/7 on the road.  The Panthers are a good running tam with a great running back in James Conner who had 1765 yards (nearly 6 yards a carry) and 26 touchdowns.  Pittsburgh went 6-7 (4-4 in the ACC) and 0-1 against the top 25 in '14.  Although this should be an "easy" win for the Irish they could defiantly trip up here.

Wake Forest 11/47 in South Bend.  The Demon Deacons were 3-9 (1-7 in the ACC) and 0-2 against top 25 teams in 2014 and struggled offensively averaging under 40 rushing yards a game while ranking 109th in passing yards a game.  Their only three wins were against Gardner-Webb (FCS), a three point win against Army and a 6-3 victory over Virginia Tech in 2OT.  This is a bad team and if the Irish lose at home to Wake Forest it would be a travesty.

Boston College 11/21 at Fenway in Boston.  The Eagles were a respectable 7-6 (3-3 in the ACC) going 1-2 against top 25 teams in 2014.  Their two top 25 losses were by a combined seven points).  They were a good rushing team (raked 15th with 254.4yards a game) and solid on defense (allowing  just over 21 points a game, ranked 21st in the nation).  This was a good team with a lot of good players coming back including Jon Hilliman who ran for 860 yards (4.1 avg.) and 13 touchdowns last season as a freshman.  It may be listed as a neutral site game but as it is at Fenway look for Boston College to be up for the challenge.  After beating up on Wake Forest and looking forward to Stanford in the season finale this game should scare Irish fans. 

Overall Notre Name should do well against ACC opponents next season.  However some of these games could be make or break ones for the Irish.