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

Weekend Wrap-up: Irish StaND #1

First Alabama, then Kansas State--and Oregon?

It appears that every team should be placed on upset-alert each week; because, it's College football and every team comes to play against top ranked teams. First, USC was on top earlier in the season, Arizona and Stanford made a statement and knocked down the Trojans, this weekend Baylor rose to the occasion against the unbeaten Wildcats and flipped KSU's title hope upside down, and shortly after Oregon was shocked by a solid Stanford team in an overtime loss to the Cardinal. When a team is ranked number one, the target on their back is gigantic. Now that target is placed on the back of the Domer's in South Bend. Though there was excitement after a 38-0 shutout against Wake Forest, Brian Kelly and company seemed to know the importance in the task ahead. Players and Kelly stressed the importance of the USC game this weekend and how focused the Irish need to be.

There is no special formula for the ending of the Notre Dame season, one game stands between them and the National Championship game. Not just a game, a bitter rivalry. On the line this Saturday is: The Jeweled Shillelagh, recruiting, Notre Dame's championship hope, a last hurray for USC, Heisman hopes, an undefeated season, and bragging rights. On a side note, this will be the prime-time game and College Gameday will be in L.A. for arguably the best rivalry in college sports. The Trojans will be playing without Matt Barkley. USC will look for freshman Max Witteck to lead the Trojans against that stellar Notre Dame defense. He and the Trojans will prepare for Manti and the Irish to travel to Southern Cal for the Saturday night showdown. Both teams know what is at stake, it should be an exciting matchup.

Stay in touch with Notre Dame Nation all week as we will cover every aspect of this rivalry game! From now until Saturday will be daily posts and updates!

GO IRISH--BEAT TROJAN

Weekend Wrap-up: Finish Line in sight

The shot heard round' the BCS came from Johnny Football, and the Aggies. The loss for Alabama was sure to mix up the rankings. Although Coach Kelly dropped a vote for his team to be ranked first, it's as if the nation wants more from Notre Dame to put the Irish in the title game. To start this week, Kansas State and Oregon hold the first and second spots. But, Texas A&M played their part (Beating Alabama 29-24) this weekend, but what else can be taken away from the weekend? The finish line is in sight; Johnny Manziel is For Real; Oregon still puts up numbers, Kansas State continues to charge behind Collin Klein, and Notre Dame stands strong behind their solid defense.

As teams are on the final leg of the race, things will get very interesting. Kansas State and Oregon are in place to play for the title; Unless, Texas, Stanford, or Oregon State have anything to say about that. The Ducks should be placed on upset alert for the next two weeks. #13 Stanford is coming off a strong win against Oregon State and will look to knock off Oregon this Saturday. Kansas State has a tough Texas team hanging on the end of their schedule, and may find trouble facing the Longhorns in two weeks. The Irish are in the same spot, Notre Dame will finish the regular season playing at USC. If Notre Dame can finish undefeated, there could be a very good chance Irish fans will invade Miami in January to see the Irish play for the crystal ball.

For Notre Dame Nation, the focus needs to stay on the Demon Deacons. Looking ahead to the Trojans will lead to problems against Wake Forest. Brian Kelly says it every week; we can only win football games, we can't control what happens in the BCS. The Fighting Irish must continue to win games and not get caught up in the BCS talk.
To wrap-up this weekend, Alabama had the nation convinced they could beat a NFL team, but heisman-hopeful (Johnny Manziel) proved otherwise, Oregon crushed Cal', and the Wildcats stand atop the polls.

Nonetheless, Notre Dame won the Holy-War! Another win for the Domers, and one step closer to playing for the BCS National Championship.

Go Irish, Beat Wake.

Boston College: Week 11 Holy War

Yes, Notre Dame put the Irish fans on edge last week against Pittsburgh, but looking ahead to the Boston College game, here's how the Irish can avoid an upset. On the stat-sheet Notre Dame won every category except for turnover ratio. Freshman Everett Golson had a costly interception in the red-zone. The red-zone was where the Irish offense had it's problems. Notre Dame took long, methodical drives down the field only to be stood up on the goal-line, and when settling for one of four field-goal attemps, Kyle Brindza shanked the chip shot to end the Irish possession. The offense looked it's best when Golson was moving the team quickly, with his 10 yard quarterback-keepers and short 6 yard passes. 

Against Boston College, here is what Notre Dame needs to do. 

1. Finish drives in the red-zone:
The Irish will need to continue to control the clock and march down the field into the red-zone. Once in the red-zone, it is a must that Notre Dame at least comes away with three points. *Notre Dame needs to finish drives with points.

2. Win the turnover ratio:

The offense and defense have to be on the same page. Last week one of the nation's best defense came away with zero turnovers against the Panthers. This week the defense needs to put pressure on Eagle, junior quarterback, Chase Rettig, and force him to turn the ball over. With Louis Nix back from the flu, the defensive line should bring more pressure. On the other side of the ball, the Irish offense must limit turnovers, especially in the red-zone.



3. Golson Ground Game:
Offensively Notre Dame needs to expose Boston College and their 109th ranked defense. To reporters, Kelly said "Our quarterback needed to be out there mobile, make some plays outside the pocket."(refirent to Golson in Pitt game) Golson will need to make plays in the same way this weekend against the Eagles. Golson has been slowly figuring out how to pick apart defenses with his run game. Although, he needs to protect the ball when out of the pocket. 

Most importantly Notre Dame needs to wipe last weeks game off the slate and focus on the Boston College Eagles. Notre Dame must come out of gate playing to beat BC. If they play trying not to lose, then they could face adversity. This week Notre Dame will find it's momentum and win big against Boston College. GO IRISH!

The Scoop: BCS Bowl Games

Week 10 is over, it's crunch time as teams are in must win situations to protect bowl game hopes. There are conference championships and important games yet to play, but here is a look forward to the bowl predictions.

BCS National Championship:

The top two teams in the BCS rankings will play in the Allstate National Championship. At this point in the season, Alabama and Kansas State have the top two spots. Alabama has been towering at number one, and it seems as if they will stay there. Bama will have to finish with a tough SEC opponent, but a win will lock up the number one seed. Bill Snyder and the Wild Cats from KSU have a stretch of Big 12 match-ups to finish the season, those games aren't going to be easy, but the undefeated season is getting closer and closer.

Projection: Alabama has a tight grip as the number one team in the nation. Kansas State has Oregon and the Fighting Irish right on their heel. For Kansas State playing for a National Championship isn't out of reach but Oregon is making the strongest claims to be the ranked number two. Unless Oregon loses to Stanford or Oregon State in these upcoming weeks, Oregon will be playing for the Championship.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:

Everyone and their mother has Notre Dame in this bowl. The Irish are in a good spot to have this clinched. Hopefully the Irish can prove themselves after a bad showing against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. As for the opponent of Brian Kelly's Irish, there are a few teams that are on the cusp of being locked in this game. If the BCS rankings were to go in today, it would be Oregon playing Notre Dame because the Ducks are ranked third. Only the final rankings will tell, but I can see Oregon being ranked number two. The Ducks speed seems to the closest comparison to Alabama's high powered offense, and the nation wants to see if speed will stop the Tide. If Kansas State can win out, and win by big numbers, then we might be seeing the Wild Cats face of against Bama. 

Notables: Georgia, Florida, or LSU: If these SEC Teams can finish out strong either one can make a big argument that they should be playing the Domers. Of the three, Georgia makes the strongest bid. I hate to say it but Louisville is making a pitch for an at-large bowl game as well. Although their strength of schedule doesn't prove it, they are unbeaten. For Louisville to play in the Fiesta Bowl a lot would have to happen. The Orange Bowl looks to be more suitable for the unbeaten Cardinals. 

Projection: Notre Dame has their work laid out. If the Irish are able to win out and seal the season with a big win in Southern California, they would have the Fiesta Bowl locked up, not to mention be making noise to play for the National Championship. The Wild Cats will play Notre Dame. But, Kansas State could face adversity against some Big 12 teams ending this season, which could mix things up. If Oregon faces a loss in these next couple of weeks, Notre Dame could be facing the Duck's talent and speed in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Rose Bowl:
The Rose Bowl favors Pac 12 and Big 10 teams. It is up in the air who will play for the Rose Bowl. The Big 10 has been in a major drought this year. Nebraska though, has been making moves in the polls, and is a strong contender. Nebraska can easily win out and be a solid two loss team. Oregon State is making a claim from the west coast, the Beavers had some key wins against Wisconson and UCLA. The rest of Oregon State's season looks very tough as they will still have to face Stanford and Oregon. Those games could be deciding factors, if they were to split, I believe they will be a top pick for the Rose Bowl. If they win both games, they may the Rose bowl bid clinched. Both teams should have 10-2 and playing for the Rose Bowl.


Sugar Bowl:
The bid for this bowl will go to a top SEC team and BCS ranked opponent. South Carolina, Florida, and LSU are the three SEC teams that have strong points made for the Sugar Bowl. LSU has two losses one being from top ranked Bama' in a very close game. South Carolina lost to both LSU and Alabama. While the Gators beat both LSU and South Carolina only losing to Georgia. Florida stands out as the strongest of the three. But, Georgia could be a team to throw in the mix as well. One of the four teams, from the looks of things, will be playing Oklahoma. The Sooners had early season hopes of playing for the National Championship, but with two losses to Notre Dame and Kansas State, Oklahoma seems to be a favorite to play in the Sugar Bowl. It comes down to Florida and South Carolina matching up to play Oklahoma. If Florida can make it in the SEC championship game then Florida would play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

Other Notables:
Louisville: The Cardinals are undefeated and could make noise for an at-large Bowl. Georgia: Yes Georgia has a loss from South Carolina, but Georgia may be a favorite out of the SEC. Clemson: The Tigers from Clemson have been under the radar most of the year. With one loss Clemson could be a pick for the Sugar bowl, especially if they beat South Carolina in the last game of the season.

Weekend Wrap Up

After a frightening weekend for Irish fans, Monday brought a slight change in the BCS rankings. Going into the weekend the Fighting Irish were hanging onto the number three spot in the rankings. Although, Notre Dame was surprised by the Panthers run game, that was lead by Ray Graham. Notre Dame snuck out a win at home to remain 9-0 for the first time since Lou Holtz won the Fiesta Bowl in 1988. As for the BCS race, the Irish dropped from third to fourth, behind Alabama, Kansas State, and Oregon. Oregon made a statement when they crushed the Trojans from Southern Cal', giving USC their second loss in row and third of the season. That win moved the Ducks in front of Notre Dame to take over the number three spot. Kansas State is still holding onto the number two spot after a fourteen point victory over Oklahoma State. Kansas State will face a tough TCU team that is coming off a strong win at twenty-first ranked Wester Virginia. As for Alabama, the Tide had their closest game of the season. Bama' went into death valley and came out with a four point win to remain undefeated after beating the LSU tigers. Wrapping up week 10,  all of the top four teams got the win they needed, but Oregon's win was enough to jump ahead of Notre Dame. Alabama and Kansas State both will have tough match-ups in week 11. The Irish and Ducks, on the other hand, will face very beatable opponents. The BCS race continues, as the season unwinds, teams try to put all the pieces together to finish at the top.