Nevada at Notre Dame

It has been a long time since Notre Dame has been a player on the National scene. Could this be the year the Irish rise and become a player once again? It could be a special year for two reasons. The first is that the talent level and experience is the most promising in years. And the second is that the schedule is pretty easy. Outside of USC midway through the season, the Irish have a full slate of winnable games on the schedule and it starts with the Wolfpack from Nevada. This will be the first trip ever for a Wolfpack team into South Bend, and it could just add to the normal game one jitters. The Wolfpack can score with the best of them, but the problem is that they can't stop a competent offense. In their four biggest games last year, the defense surrendered 69 points to Missouri, 35 to Texas Tech, 42 to Maryland and 41 points to Boise State. That is an average of 47 ppg. Not only did they all result in losses, but they went 0-4 ATS as well. In the past 15 seasons, the Wolfpack have gone 27-48 ATS when allowing 28+ points and Notre Dame is sure to reach that threshold here. The Irish have a good enough defense to hold them down, but the Wolfpack just doesn't have any answers on defense. In the end, it will cost them. Irish get the win and cover here.