Game Thread | No. 18 Virginia at No. 10 Notre Dame

No. 18 Virginia at No. 10 Notre Dame

Notre Dame Stadium |3:30 p.m. ET | NBC

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Prove It

I titled this section by the same headline last week and Notre Dame proved it to a point. The Irish showed the country they can play with anyone despite not playing the best game, but this week will be about bouncing back and not falling into bad habits. 

Virginia will test the Irish offense with its crazy defense and there will be negative plays for Notre Dame, but there will also be plenty of plays to be made. Ian Book has progressed each game this year and Saturday will be a chance to show he can make big plays. 

Notre Dame’s defense can also set the tone of the rest of the year on Saturday. They showed up in Athens and another week of positive development could lead to big things in the near future. 

Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame WR Michael Young
Back from injury for his first action of the season, he was having a great camp before he broke his collarbone. With a lot of attention shifted to Chase Claypool, Young will have some opportunities to break out.

UVA LB Jordan Mack 
He has a team-leading 5 sacks (tied for 6th in the nation) and he's done it as a blitzer from his inside linebacker spot. Notre Dame's guards will have to be sharp to handle him and be prepared on every down for him to rush.

Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
He had a breakout game last week by not only making splash plays, but being more disciplined than he had been previously. The former Virginia commit will be looking to have a big day against his home-state school.

UVA QB Bryce Perkins
A potentially dynamic runner, he leads their team in rushing and is the one they count on to produce big plays. If the Irish defense contains him as a runner, then it could be a long day for the Hoos' offense.

Notre Dame WR Chris Finke
It's been a slow start to the season for Finke, but Young returning means he can move back full-time to the slot. He needs a change to jump-start his production after a rough outing last week. Getting involved early in the game could end up boosting his confidence.

By The Numbers 

1 - The Irish defense has allowed just one total passing touchdown this season.
Notre Dame’s three previous opponents have combined for 20 passing
touchdowns total (Georgia - 8, New Mexico - 3, Louisville - 9). The lone snag
allowed by the Irish came at the hands of Georgia.

2 - Notre Dame will face Virginia for the third time in the series, which the Irish
lead, 2-0. It will mark the first time a series matchup has taken place at Notre
Dame Stadium, and the third time Bronco Mendenhall will serve as head coach
opposite the Irish. During Mendenhall’s tenure at Brigham Young University, the
teams faced off in 2005, 2012 and 2013.

9 - Cole Kmet tied the program record for catches by a tight end in a single game
with nine against Georgia, the mark last reached in 1977 by Ken MacAfee vs.
Purdue. In Kmet’s first game since his return from injury, he led the Irish with 108
receiving yards, adding a touchdown catch.

12 - Notre Dame has won 12 consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium, including a
6-0 clean slate last season. It is the third-longest winning streak at home for the
Irish since Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930.

17 - Notre Dame has held its opponents to 30 points or less in 17 consecutive games,
matching Washington for the FBS lead in that category.

44.9 - The Irish defense forced opponents to an FBS-leading 44.9 passing attempts per
TD allowed over the last 12 games. The average over the FBS is 18.8.

Quotes of the Week

S Jalen Elliott on 2019 goals:
“We all have the same goal in mind. We all want to execute for each other. It’s such a tight group that it won’t be a problem for us to move on and get ready for this next one.

“We’ve always had the mindset of making sure we prepare each week as hard as we did the previous week. We’re not too worried about the future or past games. We want to continue to execute for each other each week. We just try to play each week. I don’t really know how we say we’re close enough to our goal. We’re trying to push for each other.”

OL Tommy Kraemer on moving on from the loss to Georgia:
"We went back and after the Georgia game in 2017. We played Boston College and Michigan State. I think we broke the rushing record against Boston College. We’re just as focused as we were then and we’re excited to get after it this week.”

DL Kurt Hinish on the interior of the defensive line:
“We’ve been the same the entire time. We got to show what we were capable of on Saturday. We have to get better every single week. We have to stop the run and we stay after practice to work on our pass rush or stopping the run.”

For Your Nerves