Not sure why everyone keeps calling this an easy schedule. To me this is actually rougher than last year's schedule. So thought I would take a look at it.
1. Texas - (first game for both teams)
2. at Virginia - at UCLA week 1 then home for ND
3. GTech - W1 Alcorn State (Thursday night game), W2 Tulane
4. UMASS - W1 BYE, W2 at Colorado, W3 Temple
5. at Clemson - W1 Wofford, W2 Appalachian State, W3 Louisville (Thursday night game), BYE
6. Navy - W1 Colgate, W2 BYE, W3 East Carolina, W4 at UConn, W5 Air Force
7. USC - W1 Arky State, W2 Idaho, W3 Stanford, W4 at Arizona State, W5 BYE, W6 Washington
BYE WEEK
8. at Temple - W1 PSU, W2 at Cincy, W3 at UMASS, BYE, W5 at Charlotte, W6 Tulane, W7 UCF, W8 at East Carolina (Thursday night game)
9. at PITT - W1 Youngstown State, W2 at Akron, W3 at Iowa, BYE, W5 at Virginia Tech, W6 Virginia, W7 at GTech, W8 at Syracuse, W9 North Carolina (Thursday Night Game)
10 Wake Forest - W1 Elon, W2 at Syracuse, W3 at Army, W4 Indiana, W5 FSU, W6 at Boston College, W7, at North Carolina, W8 NC State, W9 Louisville (Friday night game), BYE
11 Boston College (at Fenway) - W1 Maine, W2 Howard, W3 FSU, W4 Northern Illinois, W5 at Duke, W6 Wake Forest, W7 at Clemson, W8 at Louisville, W9 VTech, W10 NC State, BYE
12 Stanford - W1 at Northwestern, W2 UCF, W3 at USC, W4 at Oregon State, W5 Arizona, BYE, W6 UCLA, W7 Washington, W8 at Wazzu, W9 at Colorado, W10 Oregon, W11 California
So of those games: 3 opponents have a BYE the week before ND (Clemson, USC, Wake Forest), 3 opponents have Thursday (Or Friday) night game before ND (Clemson, Temple, PITT, Wake Forest (Friday Night). 2 Opponents play a 'doormat' before the ND game (GTech, Navy)
Schedule sets up much tougher than it looks and for ND's toughest stretch (Between GTech and USC), the toughest previous week opponent will be Clemson playing against Louisville on a Thursday night, then having a BYE before the ND game. And getting ND at home.
1. Texas - (first game for both teams)
2. at Virginia - at UCLA week 1 then home for ND
3. GTech - W1 Alcorn State (Thursday night game), W2 Tulane
4. UMASS - W1 BYE, W2 at Colorado, W3 Temple
5. at Clemson - W1 Wofford, W2 Appalachian State, W3 Louisville (Thursday night game), BYE
6. Navy - W1 Colgate, W2 BYE, W3 East Carolina, W4 at UConn, W5 Air Force
7. USC - W1 Arky State, W2 Idaho, W3 Stanford, W4 at Arizona State, W5 BYE, W6 Washington
BYE WEEK
8. at Temple - W1 PSU, W2 at Cincy, W3 at UMASS, BYE, W5 at Charlotte, W6 Tulane, W7 UCF, W8 at East Carolina (Thursday night game)
9. at PITT - W1 Youngstown State, W2 at Akron, W3 at Iowa, BYE, W5 at Virginia Tech, W6 Virginia, W7 at GTech, W8 at Syracuse, W9 North Carolina (Thursday Night Game)
10 Wake Forest - W1 Elon, W2 at Syracuse, W3 at Army, W4 Indiana, W5 FSU, W6 at Boston College, W7, at North Carolina, W8 NC State, W9 Louisville (Friday night game), BYE
11 Boston College (at Fenway) - W1 Maine, W2 Howard, W3 FSU, W4 Northern Illinois, W5 at Duke, W6 Wake Forest, W7 at Clemson, W8 at Louisville, W9 VTech, W10 NC State, BYE
12 Stanford - W1 at Northwestern, W2 UCF, W3 at USC, W4 at Oregon State, W5 Arizona, BYE, W6 UCLA, W7 Washington, W8 at Wazzu, W9 at Colorado, W10 Oregon, W11 California
So of those games: 3 opponents have a BYE the week before ND (Clemson, USC, Wake Forest), 3 opponents have Thursday (Or Friday) night game before ND (Clemson, Temple, PITT, Wake Forest (Friday Night). 2 Opponents play a 'doormat' before the ND game (GTech, Navy)
Schedule sets up much tougher than it looks and for ND's toughest stretch (Between GTech and USC), the toughest previous week opponent will be Clemson playing against Louisville on a Thursday night, then having a BYE before the ND game. And getting ND at home.
