1. Finish drives. With all due respect to Massachusetts, Notre Dame should have their way with the Minutemen defense. The Irish are simply too big and too athletic, so scoring points shouldn't be a problem. However, the main focus on offense should be finishing drives and getting in the end zone. The Irish have left some points off the board the last two weeks with stalled drives, and it should be a realistic goal to finish every scoring drive with a touchdown tomorrow against a lesser opponent.
2. Build a big early lead. The last thing any team wants to do is give a huge road undrdog any confidence. To prevent this, the Irish should look to score early and often. With a crucial match-up looming at Clemson, and a difficult schedule ahead, it would be nice to be able to put this one on cruise control in the second half.
3. Get the freshmen some experience. If everything goes as planned, the Irish should be up by a substantial margin in the second half. If that proves to be the case, then the Irish will have a prime opportunity to give some freshman and inexperienced players some playing time. Considering all the injuries that Notre Dame has had thus far, it is important to get the underclassmen ready for game action. I'm hoping that quarterback Brandon Wimbush, running backs Josh Adams and Dexter Williams, tight end Alize Jones, and others receive a bulk of the snaps in the second half.
Prediction: The Irish won't get caught looking ahead to Clemson, and they take care of business rather handily. Notre Dame 45, Massachusetts 10.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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