Game Thread | No. 12 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech

No. 12 Notre Dame (5-1) vs. Georgia Tech (5-2) 

Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 3:30 PM ET | ESPN | Line: Notre Dame -9.5 | Total: 50.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore
WIth Benjamin Morrison out for the season, all eyes will be on Moore. The true freshman already had to step in for Christian Gray against Louisville earlier this season and performed incredibly well given the circumstances. Expect Georgia Tech to test him early and often. 

Georgia Tech RB Jamal Haynes 
With the status of starting quarterback Haynes King uncertain, they'll need everyone else to pick up the slack. It starts with Haynes, who is on his way to another 1,000 yard season. He had the dagger last week with a 68-yard run in the final minute against North Carolina last and is tied for fourth in the country with five runs of 30+ yards this season.

Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love
Love has been the one constant for Notre Dame's offense all season. He's reached the end zone in every game this season and leads the team with eight plays of 20+ yards from scrimmage. Georgia Tech has played the run very well, but Love seems to always find a way to have an impact on the game.

Georgia Tech LB Kyle Efford
Efford stands out on the field because of his old school neck roll, but he's a throwback in more ways than one. He's active, instinctive, and always around the football. He leads Georgia Tech in tackles and they'll need him to help contain Riley Leonard as a runner.

Notre Dame DT Gabriel Rubio
Rubio played in his first game of the season against Stanford and didn't look as rusty as one might suspect someone would who missed all of camp and the first five games. He's someone who should be even better as he gets back into football shape and can be a key player in helping to shut down Georgia Tech's running game.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”To play man, you have to be confident in your defenders ability to play man. We’ve had a lot of confidence and we still do in terms of what our guys can do and do it well. The ability to have changeups and have the ability to go off of your tendencies is crucial. The ability to play man but it doesn’t always look the same. Those are things that have made this defense successful. It still starts with your guys' ability to execute man coverage and then your ability as a coach to not always just tell the offense what you’re doing.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
“I think really, over the course of the last couple weeks, three weeks, like we've been talking about, where we've kind of seen it coming, seen it kind of developing. And then, boom. I think the most rewarding thing for me is we've been really demanding with them, making sure that they earn the opportunity to get better by the work that they do on the practice field. And then to watch them be rewarded for that in a game in that beautiful stadium across the street, it just makes me feel full. You know what I mean — for them. And I'm so happy for [Riley Leonard], because they did exactly what we asked them to do, and they got rewarded for it.  

“So, now the challenge for them, for me, is: All right, we know the formula. So, are we still starving or are we full? Are we still hungry to go back to work? And they did that today. I was really, really happy with the way they practiced today. So, to me, it's like this should be a continual improvement deal all the way through the end of the season, and that's what we're going to work really hard to make sure it happens.”  

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”Maturity, really a mature kid (Leonard Moore). Prepares well. Athletic and the intellect to go with it. Does what you ask. Rarely makes the same mistake twice in practice. That’s where he earns the trust. He’s got really good length and he plays strong. He shows up in the run game, too, which is a great attribute to have.” 

 Notre Dame WR Beaux Collins:
“Execution is the biggest thing. You know there’s still a lot left back out there for us, but I feel like we’re executing at a higher level than we ever have.”

For Your Nerves 

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