Notre Dame LB Drayk Bowen Preparing for Violent Sugar Bowl
Notre Dame’s first-round playoff win against Indiana went almost according to plan.
The Hoosiers offense was unable to find yards, rhythm and the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the game.
Sure, Indiana scored two touchdowns in the final minute to add a little tension to the stadium, but Al Golden wasn’t batting an eye at the late scores, which is telling. Yet, the final minutes of the game could be just what the defense needed to continue pushing as Notre Dame prepares for the Sugar Bowl against Georgia.
“It’s more just for learning points of what we need to work on,” stated Notre Dame linebacker Drayk Bowen. “What we need to improve on and know that we need to finish games now. Not just get to the last five minutes but finish everything."
Now, if Notre Dame needs the last two minutes of the Indiana game to be motivated for a College Football Playoff game, then that’s a more significant concern, but in the meantime, the Irish defense is preparing for a somewhat unknown.
Georgia will start redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton next Wednesday and there is limited film as he’s taken just 80 snaps in 2024.
Bowen admitted it was a challenge, but Georgia was likely to have a few new wrinkles, given the last time they played a game was on December 7th.
“It’s probably one of the harder things, but everybody in this playoff has another good quarterback,” explained Bowen. “It’s not like they’re going to change their whole offense. They add a couple different wrinkles and different things with him because he is a different player than Carson Beck, a little bit.
“They have some similar tendencies but they’re probably going to have some more different things with him. That’s just kind of stuff you have to wait and see on game day and make adjustments as it comes.”
What Notre Dame does know is that the Bulldogs will try to run the ball. Stockton’s ability to run is on the scouting report and the Irish will be ready if there’s a heavy dose of QB run.
“For us, it’s just making sure we stop the run, and if he’s going to use his legs, then we’ll kind of adjust,” Bowen said. “We don’t really know if that’s something they wanna do or if that was just a Texas thing and he was just kind of making plays.”
Violence is the expectation and it’s something Notre Dame has done for most of the year, which is more than OK with the Indiana native.
“That’s just something I try to do each and every week and I hope our defense is as physical as we can be,” stated Bowen. “It’s exciting for me, just because that’s how I was raised as a physical linebacker. Defense isn’t a soft part of the game. When you want to be a physical presence on the field you gotta be physical in every aspect.”
And yes, Notre Dame would need to ramp up the physicality levels for a second-round playoff regardless of the opponent, but Georgia is more than willing to get into a Bourbon Street brawl.
How does the Irish defense increase the level of physicality? Preparation.
“Coach Golden always talks about playing with our cleats in the ground,” said Bowen. “I feel that’s been the biggest part of the last couple games. We’re just playing with our cleats in the ground, knowing what we’re doing, keeping it simple and understanding what the offense is trying to hit us with.”
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