Tomorrow afternoon, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (7-3) will
host the Brigham Young Cougars (7-3) on Senior Day. Senior Day is always a
special day for the university and one that I particularly enjoy as an Irish
fan. As part of being a student-athlete at Notre Dame, the players rarely get
an opportunity to have an “individual moment” on the field. Notre Dame has
always preached the concept of “team-first” by running out of the tunnel as a
team, not having names on their jerseys, and embracing each other while they
sing the alma mater after a home win. However, for a brief moment, each senior
player will be individually announced and have a chance to walk to 50-yard line
to greet their families. It is always great to see each senior get recognized
for all the effort, time, and dedication they have given to the program and
school.
With that being said, I am personally looking forward to
seeing players such as Tommy Rees, T.J. Jones, Zack Martin, Chris Watt, Louis
Nix III, Prince Shembo, Carlo Calabrese, Dan Fox and Bennett Jackson run onto
the field. All of these players have had a pivotal role in resurrecting the
Notre Dame football program, and they truly deserve their few minutes of
appreciation from the Irish faithful. Of course, there are other seniors that
will be honored tomorrow, and all of them should be commemorated for coming to
play football at Notre Dame when the program was at arguably its’ lowest point
ever. All of these players committed after the Irish were in the midst of a
15-21 record over the final three seasons of the Charlie Weis era. Before these
players even got to South Bend, they had to deal with a coaching change. To
their credit, these players held their commitment to Notre Dame and gave Brian
Kelly their best effort for four seasons. Most of these players were recruited
to play under different offensive (pro-style vs. spread) and defensive (4-3 vs.
3-4) schemes, but they handled the situation the best they could. Like last season,
this senior class will always be a memorable one for me as a fan. They came to
Notre Dame under less than ideal circumstances and helped bring the program
back to where it should be.
In any event, there is still a game to be played. Notre Dame’s
BCS hopes came to an end two weeks ago when they lost to Pittsburgh, but they
still have plenty to play for on Saturday. With two games remaining, and a bowl
game, the Irish still have an outside chance to get to 10 wins which would be
nice for two reasons. First, a 10-3 season would look pretty appealing to future
recruits and would aid the perception that the program has turned the corner.
Second, I am a firm believer that finishing the season on a high-note can build
momentum for the following year. Despite Notre Dame having many talented seniors,
the Irish also have plenty of underclassmen that have made an impact this
season, so finishing strong could boost their confidence and improve their
preseason ranking for next year.
Offensively, Notre Dame will be facing a tough defense, but
they are not an elite unit. BYU ranks 23rd in scoring defense at
allowing 21.0 points per game, but they have allowed some yardage along the
way. The Cougars find themselves towards the middle of the pack in total
defense by allowing 377.3 yards per game (46th in the country). It
will be interesting to see how the Irish decide to attack this defense since
BYU ranks 57th in rush defense (155.0 yards per game) and 46th
in pass defense (222.3 yards per game). The Cougars don’t appear to be
significantly better in one area over the other, so Notre Dame’s entire
playbook should be available. However, Brian Kelly may have tipped his hand
during his press conference earlier this week when he said the Irish would have
to make plenty of big plays offensively to win the game. Now, I don’t expect
Notre Dame to plan on throwing the ball 50 times, but I do expect them to take
several shots down the field. With the big and physical receivers Notre Dame
has, Brian Kelly may feel like he has an advantage over the Cougars’ secondary.
With that being said, Notre Dame needs to have a balanced offensive attack to
win this game. If Notre Dame comes close to their average of 65 plays per game,
I would hope that they run the ball at least 30 times. The running back
position has been a bit of a revolving door this season, but I expect to see
more of Tarean Folston tomorrow. Folston was hardly used two weeks ago against
Pittsburgh, but I think his number of carries will be closer to what he had
against Navy three weeks ago. I would like to see Folston tote the rock at
least 15 times, with George Atkinson III and Cam McDaniel handling the bulk of
the remaining touches. Also, don’t be surprised to see T.J. Jones get a few
carries out of the backfield. Jones had three carries against Pittsburgh and I
would think that Brian Kelly will be looking to get the ball into his hands any
way he can since it is Senior Day and T.J. is Notre Dame’s best offensive
weapon. Whether it is by run, pass, or returning, I’m counting on a big day
from T.J. Jones.
Defensively, it all starts with containing Taysom Hill. The
sophomore dual-threat quarterback is having a solid season with 956 rushing
yards and 2,379 passing yards. Hill has also accounted for 24 total touchdowns
(16 pass, 8 rush) and 12 interceptions while completing just 52.4 percent of
his passes. If there is one knock on Taysom Hill, it is hill accuracy, but his
running ability more than makes up for it offensively. The Cougars are averaging
33.5 points per game (42nd) and are gaining an impressive 503.7
yards per game offensively (13th). Needless to say, Notre Dame’s
defense could be in for a long day trying to defend both the run and pass.
Besides Taysom Hill, BYU also features a talented back in Jamaal Williams. The sophomore
has racked up 940 rushing yards and six touchdowns while averaging 5.5 yards
per carry. With both Hill and Williams, Notre Dame’s linebackers will have to be
very active by making plays all over the field. If Hill and Williams can’t get
anything going on the ground, look for Hill to target his favorite receiver Cody
Hoffman early and often. Hoffman is a big receiver at 6’4’’, 210 pounds and he
should present matchup problems anywhere he lines up versus the Irish defense.
With Notre Dame battling injuries on defense, BYU should be able to move the
ball fairly well and should score at least a couple of touchdowns.
I’m expecting a tough game, much like last year’s 17-14
victory. BYU will be looking for revenge, but the Irish find a way to win
behind Tommy Rees and T.J. Jones.
Prediction: Notre
Dame 23, BYU 20
-Eric Tichelbaut
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