2015 Independent Football Projections

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-2

The following five years have seen the fans that follow the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team become spoiled. Not since the days when Lou Holtz was the head football coach at Notre Dame has the school made a bowl game in five consecutive seasons. That is now the case under head football coach Brian Kelly who in five seasons in South Bend, Indiana has a record of 45-20 and he feels that he has a team that can contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff this year.

Malik Zaire

The Irish were preparing to have a quarterback controversy heading into this season, but that is now a thing of the past as quarterback Everett Golson decided to transfer to Florida State University. Golson’s departure has now paved the way for sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire to be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback. At 6’0″, 230 lbs., Zaire is a physical quarterback that will look to run as much as he wants to pass and he could be more of a running threat this season in Kelly’s offensive system. But when Zaire does decide to throw the football, he can count on junior wide receiver Will Fuller who is an All-American candidate and he will look to keep Notre Dame’s growing tradition at wide receiver that includes Tim Brown, Raghib Ismail, Michael Floyd, and Golden Tate going.

Last season the Irish defense started off strong, but as the opponents got tougher in the second half of the season, they waned as they finished 73rd in total defense. And now as Notre Dame is set to return ten defensive starters, they will look to improve under second-year defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.

Aside from traditional games against the USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal, Notre Dame has home games with the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as they look to get to the College Football Playoff.

BYU Cougars 7-5

Bronco Mendenhall

Under head football coach Bronco Mendenhall, the BYU Cougars have been a steady football program. In each of the last three seasons, BYU has gone 8-5 and they’ve never had a losing record under Mendenhall. But the Cougars success in 2015 will hinge on the health of senior quarterback Taysom Hill. Hill missed a portion of 2014, but he is a seasoned vet which is vital for operating Mendenhall’s offensive system. And when Hill is passing the football, he can lock in on senior wide receiver Mitch Matthews who’ll be in the discussion to win the Billetnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver.

With BYU’s status as a football independent, they are the top free agent in college football as some of the big conferences in college football could be looking to add them. And as the Cougars first four games of the season will see them take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Boise State Broncos, UCLA Bruins, and Michigan Wolverines, it could build their brand on the national stage.

Army Black Knights 4-8

The glory days of Army Black Knights football and players such as Doc Blanchard are a thing of the past. Army has only been able to acheive five winning seasons since 1980 and they’ve been unable to defeat the Navy Midshipmen since 2001. Under head football coach Jeff Monken, the Black Knights run a triple-option attack that was sixth in the nation last season in rushing and that will be the only way for them to compete in 2015. The Black Knights do have a chance to somewhat improve in 2015 and a victory over Navy would go a very long way to boost the program’s morale.

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