Notre Dame: Facing off Defensively

To begin the season Notre Dame was said to have one of the toughest schedules in all of college football. Two games that were considered to make the schedule so tough were Oklahoma and Southern Cal.  Three days until the Irish face off against the Trojans. Here are ND Nation's key match-ups for the Irish defense.

USC has two fast and physical wide-receivers. The Notre Dame secondary will be up to the challenge starting with junior, Bennett Jackson. Jackson is 6'0" and very physical. Jackson will most likely guard Marqise Lee. Lee is on heisman watch with 14 touchdown receptions. Lee and Woods are fast wide-receivers that do a good job of burning safety coverage. Senior safety Zeke Motta will need show his presence in air control as well. The safeties cannot let the receivers sneak past the defensive zone. 

Manti Te'o, Louis Nix, Stephon Tuitt, and Prince Shembo are licking their chops waiting for freshman quarterback Max Witteck to drop back in the pocket. The USC offensive line has its work cutout. Witteck has little experience against a defensive core like he will face Saturday. The defensive line needs to focus on not allowing the freshman be able to stand and pass. Defensively, the Irish have to make Witteck throw on the run and feel uncomfortable in the pocket.

The Irish defense needs to stick to their cover-2 zone, a zone that doesn't allow the big play over the top. For the defensive line and linebacking core it is all about pressure on Witteck. Early and often the Irish need tackles for loss against the Trojans.

Play hard and fly around. 

GO IRISH--BEAT TROJAN