No. 8 Notre Dame at Wake Forest
BB&T Field |12:00 p.m. ET | ABC
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Execution Crucial In Notre Dame’s First Road Test Of 2018
In 2017, Notre Dame met Wake Forest in November, and the Irish squeaked out a 48-37 win after a second-half collapse defensively. The Demon Deacons scored 27 points in the second half; Notre Dame went into halftime with a 31-10 lead. Execution for four quarters is going to be important for Notre Dame if they want to improve to 4-0 and be successful in their first road test. Six of the Notre Dame’s last nine games are on the road.
The matchup to watch will be the Irish defensive line against an experienced Demon Deacon offensive line (all five starting offensive linemen returned from last season). Wake Forest ran 106 plays last week and rushed for 275 yards on the ground in their seven-point loss to Boston College. Notre Dame’s deep defensive line will be leaned on heavily to be disruptive in both the run game and passing game. Upperclassmen, Daelin Hayes, Khalid Kareem, Jerry Tillery, Julian Okwara, Jon Bonner, will be leaned on to slow down Wake Forest’s tandem running backs Matt Coburn and Cade Carney who both ran for over 100 yards last week.
They will also have to apply pressure on Wake Forest’s true freshman quarterback Sam Hartman to disrupt his timing with his talented wide receiving group led the electrifying Greg Dortch.
As stated by Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly earlier in the week, quarterbacks Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book are going be splitting time against Wake Forest. It will be interesting to see how Kelly decides to use them both but expect to see them both play to their strengths with Wimbush using his legs and Book coming in to move the ball downfield through the air.
The Irish offense has been struggling over the course of the first three weeks of the season, but last week junior running back Tony Jones Jr. was productive in a heavy workload so watch for the 5-foot-11 220-pounder to build off last week’s performance. To note, Boston College’s running back AJ Dillon diced the Demon Deacons defense last week for 185 yards and a touchdown.
Five Players To Watch
Notre Dame QB Ian Book
Brian Kelly said both quarterbacks will play, but we expect Book to start and be more than a situational quarterback. It's risky to make this move, but one that has the chance to pay off in a big way against a Wake Forest pass defense that was lit up last week.
Notre Dame TE Alize Mack
He's coming off what Kelly described as his best game and with them likely to sling around the ball more often, this could be his best receiving game of his career. Expect the Irish to attack the middle of the field. Wake's safeties have struggled.
Notre Dame DB Houston Griffith
"Welcome to college football, Houston." You've had to go from competing at safety to learning the nickel in only a few weeks. Now, prepare to face one of the top slot receivers in the nation." Greg Dortch is a great player, and while I'm sure Clark Lea will try and get two guys on him as much as possible, Griffith will still be significantly challenged even if he's not doing it alone.
Wake Forest WR Greg Dortch
As mentioned above, Dortch is a big-time player. He already has 28 catches on the year and is a dangerous punt returner on top of that. He's the one Wake Forest player that could be considered a game wrecker.
Wake Forest DL Zeek Rodney
Rodney is a ball of energy that gets after it on each snap as Wake's nose tackle. He is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss and has a great first step. Sam Mustipher and the rest of Notre Dame's interior offensive linemen will have their hands full blocking him.
Quotes of the Week
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on who will start at quarterback on Saturday:
“They’re both going to play. I’ve said that all year. We need both to win, and they’re both ready.”
Notre Dame captain Sam Mustipher on the rare Noon kickoff for the Irish:
“Everyone has asked if the away games are different and it is different because your Friday routine is different, but the most important thing is that it’s a Noon game. There can’t be any room for errors or a slip-up.
"It’s about guys getting up early and understanding it's game time right now. Even 2:30 last week, it bumps it up a little bit, but Noon is whole other level. You’re getting up and getting ready to go to the stadium right away.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson:
“They're undefeated. They’re playing really well on defense. They have yet to give up over 17 points. Offensively they've got a great O-line, an experienced quarterback, and really good skill players."
Countdown to Kickoff
10 - Notre Dame has limited opposing offenses to 10 total scoring drives (five TD) over three games.
9 - Notre Dame is one of only nine teams nationally that remains undefeated after week three that has exclusively played FBS competition.
8 - Notre Dame has scored within the first four minutes of a game on eight different occasions over the past two seasons.
7 - Notre Dame is off to a 3-0 start for the fourth time in the past seven years under head coach Brian Kelly.
6 - Notre Dame is one of six teams in the current national top 10 to have defeated a fellow top-25 foe thus far in 2018.
5 - The number of 50-yard plus punts smashed by Tyler Newsome to flip field position against Vanderbilt.
4 - Linebacker Drue Tranquill ranks fourth among all defensive players in the nation with an average of 7.0 solo tackles per game.
3 - Miles Boykin hauled in three receptions of 20 or more yards in the win over Ball State. Boykin covered 20, 23 and 26 yards as part of a career-high six catches for 119 yards.
2 - Julian Love was the first Notre Dame player with two fumble recoveries in a single game since Brian Smith accomplished the feat against Michigan in 2008.
1 - In the only prior meeting between Notre Dame and Wake Forest at BB&T Field (2011), the Irish defeated the Demon Deacons by a final score of 24-17.
0 - Notre Dame is one of 10 teams in FBS that has yet to yield a single 20-yard rush to an opponent thus far in 2018.
Yoon Watch
Justin Yoon (47 FGs) sits just 11 career field goals shy of breaking the program record of 57 set by Kyle Brindza in 2014.
Yoon is just 24 points shy (297) of breaking Allen Pinkett’s Notre Dame career record of 320 points set in 1985.
For Your Nerves
http://instagr.am/p/BoArewRAyE4
