Three phases of the game and a way to win each one
Before the college football season began, the number one expectation for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was to make to make the 12 team college football playoff. With an 11-1 regular season in the books, the Irish have met that expectation as the #7 seed hosting the #10 seed Indiana Hoosiers.
What we have now, is a game between Notre Dame (#3 Scoring Offense and #3 Scoring Defense) and Indiana (#2 Scoring Offense and #6 Scoring Defense). To be perfectly honest, if you swapped the IU with an OU (Oklahoma Sooners) this game would be way more hyped up than it is now — which is a fault by college football fans and media.
Every weather report for the past two weeks has predicted a very cold game on Friday night, and despite months of believing the elements in South Bend would greatly help the Irish beat a “southern” opponent — their southern opponent is only a few hours down the road.
Now the expectation is to take care of goal #1… winning a national championship. How do the Irish get there? Well, they have to win the first game first, and here are three keys for the Irish to win this game.
KEY 1 — OFFENSE
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images
Remember who you are. Notre Dame has one of the nation’s best rushing attacks with its three-headed monster of running backs Jermiyah Love and Jadarian Price, and quarterback Riley Leonard. They also have an offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award this year despite multiple injuries early in the season. So… it would be an easy thing to say that the biggest key on offense is to lean on the ground game. While that’s obviously true, Notre Dame is TEU for a reason, and a game like this is built for tight end Mitchell Evans. If Notre Dame gets behind schedule on down and distance, Mitchell Evans (who is now very healthy and back to 100%) can make the tough catch to keep drives alive.
KEY 2 — DEFENSE
Force their hand. In a lot of ways, this is the type of game Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden wants. The weather is certainly going to play a factor, as we’re looking at game temperatures in the 20’s. That typically means it will be a rough day for offenses trying to pass the ball all over the field. While Indiana offense is #1 in team passing efficiency, the Irish defense ranks #1 in team passing efficiency defense. So we might be looking at a bit of a coin flip, but with the weather conditions, it’s going to come down to the Indiana running game. Normally, you might want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to shutdown the best part of the offense, but this isn’t normal. Notre Dame will need to do what they can to stuff the Hoosier running attack and force them to throw the ball. Ohio State showed that the IU offensive line is vulnerable against the blitz, and racked up 5 sacks in the November game. The Irish have the tools to operate the same way to let their secondary operate on islands as the front seven creates havoc.
KEY 3 — SPECIAL TEAMS
Don’t screw it up. To borrow a phrase from our colleague Tim O’Malley over at Irish Illustrated, “DO NO HARM.” The Irish have experienced extreme difficulty with its field goal unit, and in particular, kicker Mitch Jeter. The Irish kicker ranks 2nd to last in all of the FBS in field goal percentage by going 6-12 on the season. The Irish are tied for 112th in the country at allowing blocked kicks as well, and this is where things could get interesting. Jeter has been hurt most of the season, and according to Marcus Freeman, he is back to full health. Still, in the weather they’re going to play in, a missed field goal or blocked field goal could hold major consequences for the Irish defense. Don’t screw it up by attempting a 45 yard field goal when its 4th and 2. The odds aren’t in Notre Dame’s favor to make the field goal in that situation, and Freeman shouldn’t force something if it isn’t there.