Game Thread | Virginia at No. 8 Notre Dame

Virginia (5-4) at No. 8 Notre Dame (8-1) 

Notre Dame Stadium | 3:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -21.5 | Total: 50.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame DT Donovan Hinish
With Howard Cross out, Hinish will be counted on to play a bigger role. He'll be tested against the run, but could have a big day rushing the passer. Virginia has given up 16 sacks in the last two games.

Virginia WR Malachi Fields
At 6-4 220, Fields can be a match-up problem with his size and speed. He's Virginia's top target and they move him around quite a bit. Expect Notre Dame to pay special attention to him throughout the game.

Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans
Evans scored his first touchdown of the season against Florida State and the offense finally started to target him more often down the field. This is the kind of game where we could see a lot more of that. Virginia is 132nd in the country in explosive passing plays against.

Virginia S Jonas Sanker
Sanker is a potential game-wrecker on defense. He played a huge part in UVa's upset of Pitt with an interception and a blocked field goal. They'll need him to do similar things in this game and he's an important piece of their run defense.

Notre Dame LB Jack Kiser
Kiser is playing his final game in Notre Dame Stadium and Senior Day has extra meaning for someone like him. He'll have the record for more games played for a Notre Dame football player. Hopefully his last is a memorable one for him and the Irish defense.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”You’ll see Donnie Hinish in there as you’ve seen the past couple weeks. You’ll also see more Gabe Rubio. Gabe can play three-tech or nose. You could see Sean Sevillano Jr. and Armel Mukam. All five of those guys, including Rylie (Mills), have had a great week of practice in terms of the preparation for this game. There’s a chance you see all five of them.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
“think the physical tools were there (offensive line). I think it's experience, as much as anything, at that position, live snaps and being in the fray when there's really meaningful things going on is what helps you make progress sometimes faster than maybe you think it's going to come. And they've been able to do that, and I think been able to communicate with each other better, been able to really grow up together as a unit, and it's produced some very nice results.”  

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
“We just try to be really progressive. We’re not always right in terms of what we need for the entire season, but it’s Denny’s to us. You get that laminated Denny’s menu. You can’t eat it all, you just pick what you want to pick from that. We quality control it in the winter. We install it in the spring. We install it again in the summer. We have a virtual component to that. Then we do it again in training camp. That’s three times and then now here it is. OK, opening game, what do need? What do we need in the red zone? What do we need for two-point plays? What do we need for goal line? What do we need for early downs? What do we need for third down? We’re picking from that. Once in a while we need something outside that parameter or outside that realm. But for the most part, if we stay inside and we can paint inside those lines, then we know that there’s going to be a lot recall with the guys.”

 Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse
“We’re only going to keep getting better from here and just building off the confidence that we made in games and in practice. I definitely think that’s super important for us going forward. We’re going to keep working at it and keep improving and only get better from here.” 

For Your Nerves 

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