Notre Dame (7-2) will try to get back on track tomorrow
afternoon when they host the Northwestern Wildcats (3-6). While last week’s
disappointing defeat eliminated the Fighting Irish from postseason contention,
they still have plenty to play for down the stretch. Sitting at 18th
ranked, Notre Dame will need to win their final three games to improve their
resume in order to reach a more prestigious bowl game. How will the Irish
respond?
Notre Dame’s offense can be summed up in one word,
turnovers. When the Irish can avoid multiple turnovers, they can probably play
with every team in the country. The problem is that they are averaging about
three turnovers a game over the last six weeks, and it finally came back to
haunt them against Arizona State. Tomorrow’s matchup will be the first chance
for Everett Golson and company to improve on the discouraging trend. Northwestern
has had rough season, but their defense has been a respectable unit for most of
their games. The Wildcats rank 48th in country by allowing 373.7
yards per game (209.7 passing yards and 164 rushing yards); leading to an
impressive 30th ranked scoring defense at just 22.3 points per game.
As you can see, Northwestern’s defense is more susceptible to the run than the
pass, so this should be a great opportunity for Notre Dame to get the running
game going again. Tarean Folston was a disappointment last week mainly because
the Irish fell behind so big and that he isn’t a great pass blocker, but he
should rebound nicely this week. Look for Brian Kelly to try to establish the
running game early and make a statement to play physical football against a Big
Ten team. Kelly also hinted during his press conference that the Irish will
have to take what Northwestern’s defense gives them, meaning that I expect to
see plenty of screens, slants, and quick outs on the afternoon. While
Northwestern has been good on defense, Notre Dame should have a big advantage
talent wise, so hopefully they will be able to move the ball methodically down
the field.
The Irish defense has fallen on hard times after starting
the season strong, but this week presents a great chance to improve.
Northwestern has had a difficult time moving the ball all season by averaging a
mere 322.7 yards of total offense which places them 114th in the
nation. The Wildcats’ struggles on offense have been both on the ground (109.9
yards per game) and through the air (212.8 yards per game), so there is no
reason why the Irish can’t have success on defense. Quarterback Trevor Siemian
leads the Northwestern offense, but he has had trouble this season by throwing
eight interceptions and only five touchdowns. If Northwestern is going to
attack the Notre Dame defense, then running back Justin Jackson would be their best
option. Jackson has 761 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 175 carries, so he
could find so running lanes against the banged up Irish defense. Freshman
linebacker Nyles Morgan didn’t play well last week against Arizona State’s
up-tempo attack, but I expect the youngster to play much better tomorrow with
less pressure surrounding him. Along with Morgan, the Irish also have five
other freshmen playing significant snaps, so now is perfect time for them to
get some much needed experience against a less-powered offense.
I think the Irish will come out strong and fast to prove
that last week’s performance was a fluke by jumping out to an early lead and
never look back.
Prediction: Notre Dame
38, Northwestern 13
Twitter: @etichel07
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