Notre Dame's injury report reads like a list of the spine of its defense.
The Irish released their availability report, and every significant name is on defense.
Francis Brewu, their best defensive tackle, and Jason Onye, a starter inside, are both listed questionable with knee injuries. Notre Dame reporters expect both to miss. Drayk Bowen, their middle linebacker, captain and green-dot guy, is out with an ankle injury. Safety Brauntae Johnson, a potential top-100 pick, is out with a foot injury. Cornerback DJ McKinney, the No. 2 corner next to Leonard Moore, is out too.
Coming into the season, the back seven was supposed to be Notre Dame's strength. But losing your best linebacker, your best safety and your second corner, plus potentially both of your top interior linemen, leaves real question marks right up the middle.
That's where we want to run.
Our offense vs. their defense
Can we replicate that? It means disguising pressure, breaking our own tendencies and finally getting hands into passing lanes.
By Mike Ryan's count, our first-team offense has turned it over once all season. Two offenses that protect the ball and two defenses that can flip a game when they take it away. Mike's bet: whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game.
A strip sack like Marquise Lightfoot's at North Carolina is how you suck the air out of that building.
And watch Elija Lofton. He's finally healthy, and Mario Cristobal said this week there's more that they've seen in practice.
Toney can catch it, run it, throw it, return it and block. Lofton can block, catch, and take a handoff or a screen.
Even without Bowen, Notre Dame's linebackers are good. But with injuries at safety and linebacker, that's a matchup to attack.
Clean up the tackling, win the turnover battle, and get the ball back to the best offense in the country.
We'll have Notre Dame content from every angle all week on the CanesInsight YouTube channel: film, interviews, picks. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any of it.
The Irish released their availability report, and every significant name is on defense.
Francis Brewu, their best defensive tackle, and Jason Onye, a starter inside, are both listed questionable with knee injuries. Notre Dame reporters expect both to miss. Drayk Bowen, their middle linebacker, captain and green-dot guy, is out with an ankle injury. Safety Brauntae Johnson, a potential top-100 pick, is out with a foot injury. Cornerback DJ McKinney, the No. 2 corner next to Leonard Moore, is out too.
Coming into the season, the back seven was supposed to be Notre Dame's strength. But losing your best linebacker, your best safety and your second corner, plus potentially both of your top interior linemen, leaves real question marks right up the middle.
That's where we want to run.
Our offense vs. their defense
- Scoring: We're No. 1. They're No. 3. Good on good.
- Yards per play: We're 3rd. They're 7th.
- Total yards: We're 5th. They're 1st.
- Third down: This is the biggest edge on the board. We're 2nd in conversion rate. They're 64th at stopping it.
- Passing: We're 3rd in yards per pass and 6th in passing yards. They're 22nd in yards per pass allowed and 5th in passing yards allowed, which tells you teams haven't tried to throw on them much.
- Pass rush: We allow sacks on just 4.17 percent. Notre Dame gets sacks on 7.18 percent of dropbacks. Not especially dynamic.
- Their passing game: 10th in yards per play, 3rd in scoring, 24th in yards per pass, 29th in passing yards.
- Sacks: Notre Dame is No. 1 in avoiding them. Between the line and how quick CJ Carr is mentally and physically, he's nearly impossible to bring down.
- Our pass defense: 84th in yards per pass allowed and 128th in passing yards allowed. Scoring defense is 25th. Sack rate is a solid 30th, and we're top 10 in sacks per game because teams throw on us so much.
- The run game: Ours is No. 1 against the run. This side favors us.
The matchup that decides it
Notre Dame's passing game against our pass defense is the matchup of the game, period. Carr has made his living getting out of trouble. BYU showed how to make him uncomfortable: speed at linebacker and blitzers coming from different places, and they got home.Can we replicate that? It means disguising pressure, breaking our own tendencies and finally getting hands into passing lanes.
The turnover battle
Notre Dame is No. 1 in the country at avoiding turnovers. We're 3rd.By Mike Ryan's count, our first-team offense has turned it over once all season. Two offenses that protect the ball and two defenses that can flip a game when they take it away. Mike's bet: whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game.
A strip sack like Marquise Lightfoot's at North Carolina is how you suck the air out of that building.
What we've been saving
Mike thinks this is the week we open things up. We've used Malachi Toney fairly conventionally all season, outside of a wrinkle here and there. BYU had success against this defense by breaking its own tendencies and using its best players creatively. Expect a Toney gadget game.And watch Elija Lofton. He's finally healthy, and Mario Cristobal said this week there's more that they've seen in practice.
Toney can catch it, run it, throw it, return it and block. Lofton can block, catch, and take a handoff or a screen.
Even without Bowen, Notre Dame's linebackers are good. But with injuries at safety and linebacker, that's a matchup to attack.
Where we land
Last year, the first week of November was a come-to-Jesus moment and the team came out of it playing its best football. The questions this year are different, but the culture and the staff got it right then. We tend to show up under the lights.Clean up the tackling, win the turnover battle, and get the ball back to the best offense in the country.
We'll have Notre Dame content from every angle all week on the CanesInsight YouTube channel: film, interviews, picks. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any of it.
