On Saturday, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (5-2) travel
to Colorado to take on the Air Force Falcons (1-6). Notre Dame is coming off of
a hard-fought victory over the USC Trojans, while the Falcons have dropped six
games in a row after defeating Colgate in the season opener.
After starting the season with a tough slate of games, the
Irish now have an opportunity to add some wins to their record as they should
be favored in their next four contests. If Notre Dame has any hopes of playing
in a BCS bowl game, they need to win the rest of their games and beat the
majority of teams in convincing fashion.
First up, Air Force.
Offensively, Notre Dame should be able to do just about
whatever they want against the Air Force defense. The Falcons have surrendered
37.6 points per game (116th in the nation), while giving up 221.3
rushing yards per game (111th) and 267.4 passing yards per game (102nd).
Tommy Rees was injured during the USC game and missed the final 24 minutes, but
he has practice all week and is expected to start. Based on how well the Irish
offense played with Rees under center last week, I believe Brian Kelly will
look to keep the fast-paced tempo up. Whether it is by run, or pass, I expect the
Irish to come out of the gate strong and looking to score as fast as they can. I
wouldn’t be surprised to see Rees come out and throw the ball early and often,
but I think the running game will prove to be more prevalent on Saturday. In
2011, Notre Dame rushed for 266 yards against the Air Force defense and with
Rees coming off of an injury, Brian Kelly will likely want to keep the ball out
of his hands. Notre Dame has previously stated that they have confidence in all
five of their running backs, so maybe this will be the game where we get to see
all five guys receive significant touches. Ideally, I would like to see the Irish
get out to a big enough lead where they can simply pound the ball for the
remainder of the game. If that is the case, then Andrew Hendrix may have a
chance to get some much needed snaps behind center.
Defensively, the Irish have one job. Stop the triple option.
It is no secret what the military academies will attempt to do on offense, but
executing the defensive game plan is still necessary. After suffering a 35-17
loss to Navy in 2010 and surrendering 367 rushing yards, Bob Diaco’s defenses
have done a nice job stopping the option attack. Notre Dame has defeating the
military academies in four straight contests since that late October game, and
will be looking to keep that trend going. All-American defensive tackle Louis
Nix will not play in this game, but as Brian Kelly said, “option football is
not his cup of tea”. In order to keep the Falcons’ option attack in-check, the
Notre Dame defense has three responsibilities; containment, tackling, and
discipline. The first step to stopping any option attack is containment. The Irish
defense has to understand their assignments and make sure the pitch-man does
not get to the sidelines. Defensive ends Stephon Tuitt and Sheldon Day, and
outside linebacker Prince Shembo have had experience in defending the option,
but the same can’t be said for freshman phenom Jaylon Smith. Smith is a supreme
athlete, but he needs to make sure that his athleticism doesn’t tempt him into
trying to make a play that he can’t make. Whether or not the option attack
breaks containment, the Irish defense needs to have superb tackling on Saturday.
If the Air Force runners get into the second and third levels, the Irish
linebackers and secondary need to make tackles in the open field. When a team
runs the ball as much as an option team does, there are bound to be a few big
runs in the game. The key will be for the Irish defenders to limit those runs
to 10-20 yards, as opposed to 20-40 yard gains. The third and final key will be
discipline. Since the defense will be keyed on stopping the triple option, the
Irish defensive backs need to be smart enough to stick with the Falcon receivers
when they decide to pass the ball. Notre Dame’s defense should be talented
enough to keep the Falcons’ offense intact, but that could become a problem if
they allow a few easy big gains in the passing game.
Overall, the Irish are clearly the better team. Notre Dame is
bigger, faster, and stronger and they should not have a problem in this game.
Prediction: Notre
Dame 45, Air Force 17
-Eric Tichelbaut
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