Know the Opponent: Independents
By Mike Vamosi
Next up are the schools without a home, otherwise known as the Independents. Army, BYU and Notre Dame are the three schools without a conference (yes, ND will play a heavy ACC schedule) that’ll face PAC-12 opponents.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and head coach Brian Kelly will face Arizona State, Stanford and USC in 2014. Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
There are a total of four Independent schools this season and fans will see 75 percent of them this fall.
Army Black Nights – 3-9, Coming off a 3-9 season in 2013 the Black Knights made a coaching change and hired Jeff Monken from Georgia Southern from 2010-13 compiling a 38-16 record. Monken inherits a team that’ll return nine offensive players and seven on defense. On Saturday, September 13 they’ll be in Palo Alto facing the Cardinal at Stanford Stadium with kickoff 2 pm on PAC-12 Network. Last season in West Point the Black Knights lost 34-20 to Stanford.
Full 2014 Schedule: Buffalo (Sept. 6), @Stanford (Sept. 13), @Wake Forest (Sept. 20), @Yale (Sept. 27), Ball State (Oct. 4), Rice (Oct. 11), @Kent State (Oct. 18), Air Force (Nov. 1), v. Connecticut (Nov. 8 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y.), @Western Kentucky (Nov. 15), Fordham (Nov. 22), v. Navy (Dec. 13 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD)
BYU Cougars – 8-5, Bronco Mendenhall enters his 10th season in Provo leading BYU who have gone 8-5 the past two seasons. The Cougars lost to Washington 31-16 in the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco’s AT&T Park. They’ll return 14 total starts (eight offense/six defense) with talented junior quarterback Taysom Hall leadin the team, he threw for 2,938 yards with 19 TD’s to 14 interceptions while rushing for 1,344 net yards on the ground with 10 touchdowns. BYU closes their schedule in Berkeley against Cal on Saturday, Nov. 29 with game time and TV to be determined.
Full 2014 Schedule: @Connecticut (Aug. 29), @Texas (Sept. 6), Houston (Sept. 11), Virginia (Sept. 20), Utah State (Oct. 3), @UCF (Oct. 9), Nevada (Oct. 18), @Boise State (Oct. 24), @Middle Tennessee (Nov. 1), UNLV (Nov. 15), Savannah State (Nov. 22), @California (Nov. 29)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 9-4, Fans of the Conference of champions will see Brian Kelly’s team on three different Saturday’s this fall. Junior Everett Golson returns after a season away from South Bend to run Kelly’s offense. It’s an Irish team that returns just 12 players (seven offense/five defense) from least seasons 9-4 squad. It’s the first season ND will face a handful of ACC opponents on their schedule. The first PAC-12 team they’ll face is Stanford on Saturday, October 4 in South Bend with kickoff at 12:30 pm on NBC. Saturday, November 8 they’ll host Arizona State with game time not being determined yet. They’ll close in Los Angeles at the LA Coliseum against USC with kickoff again TBD.
Full 2014 Schedule: Rice (Aug. 30), Michigan (Sept. 6), v. Purdue (Sept. 13 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN), v. Syracuse (Sept. 27 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.), Stanford (Oct. 4), North Carolina (Oct. 11), @Florida State (Oct. 18), v. Navy (Nov. 1 at FedEx Field in Landover, MD), @Arizona State (Nov. 8), Northwestern (Nov. 15), Louisville (Nov. 22), @Southern California (Nov. 29)
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