Notre Dame ends season with loss to Stanford, 28-14.

SO QB Andrew Hendrix impressed for the Irish

Terrible field conditions and a bruising Stanford D did not aid No.22 Notre Dame’s efforts on Saturday night against the 6th best team in the country in Stanford.

Stanford QB, projected Heisman Trophy winner and first NFL Draft pick, Andrew Luck, set a school record for the most career touchdown passes, throwing for 233 yards and four touchdowns to lead fourth-ranked Stanford past Notre Dame 28-14.

Luck also became only one of three Quarterbacks in history to defeat Notre Dame as starters in consecutive years. Purdue’s Mike Phipps was the first from 1967-69, followed by USC’s Matt Leinart from 2003-05. Stanford’s Andrew Luck became the third with victories in 2009 (45-38), 2010 (37-14) and 2011 (28-14).

Luck also passed John Elway’s record of 77 touchdown passes which aided Stanford (11-1) in build a 21-0 halftime lead.

Notre Dame QB, Tommy Rees, threw an interception, lost a fumble and took a bruising blow to the lower back early in the game for Notre Dame (8-4) before being benched. Rees was replaced by sophomore QB Andrew Hendrix who threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in a second-half rally for the Fighting Irish that came up short.

The win will likely see Stanford with the Fiesta Bowl berth among the leading possible destinations, the Fighting Irish will more than likely contest the Champs Sports Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles.

“We didn’t come here for second prize,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. “We got off to a slow start and battled against it. To me, the scoreboard showed 28-14 and that’s not good enough. The slow start put us in a tough position.”

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly benched Rees in favor of Hendrix to start the third quarter, and the move pumped some life into a stagnant Irish offense.

“Consistency is the one thing I have struggled with the most,” said Hendrix, who completed 11 of 24 passes.

Hendrix was by far the standout of the game for the Irish, but an honorable mention would have to go to WR Michael Floyd. Playing in his last regular season game for the Irish, Floyd finished the regular season with 95 catches, breaking the Notre Dame single-season mark of 93 set by Golden Tate in 2009.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish take o the Stanford Cardinal :- Preview

Heisman Trophy Favorite QB Andrew Luck

Date: Nov. 26, 2011
Site: Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, Calif. (85,500)
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Television: ABC
Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (16-8, second season),
Stanford — David Shaw (10-1, first season).
Spread Stanford -6.5

Notre Dame’s offense was a mess last week against Boston College, and if it weren’t for David Ruffer’s three field goals, and a defense that finally found its footing, the Irish may have not been able to hold off a late Boston College rally for a 16-14 victory.

But a win is a win, and it was the eighth in the last nine games for the Fighting Irish.
Despite, Notre Dame’s inability to sustain multiple drives –converting just 8-of-19–fortunately the Eagles were even worse with just 3-of-13 translating to points on the scoreboard.

Stanford running Game vs. Notre Dame run defense
Stanford junior Stepfan Taylor joined the 1,000-yard rushing club last Saturday in a win over California. The Cardinal workhorse averages 94.1 yards per game. Behind a veteran offensive line that averages more than 300 pounds per man, Stanford has been very good as a whole in
keeping the pile moving forward. In 426 attempts they had only 30 yards worth of negative running plays.

Notre Dame’s run defense has been strong when healthy this season, and a lot of its success against Stanford will rest on a few wobbly ankles on star players. Leading tackler Manti Te’o averages 9.4 stops per game despite being slowed for much of the second half of the season by an ankle injury. Overall, Notre Dame gives up an average of 142.6 yards per game on the ground. They will have a hard time trying to hold Stanford in check.

EDGE: Stanford

Stanford passing Game vs. Notre Dame pass defense
Redshirt junior quarterback Andrew Luck has spent most of the season as college football’s favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He showed a few chinks in his armor with two interceptions in the team’s only loss this year, to Oregon, but is still the best quarterback Notre Dame will face this season. Luck has completed 70.3 percent of his passes and thrown for 2,937 yards and 31 touchdowns this year. Luck’s top two targets this season have been Chris Owusu and Griff Whalen. The two senior wide receivers combined for 82 catches, 1,028 receiving yards and six touchdowns. A lot of Stanford’s success in the passing game has come from a trio of very talented tight ends that are all at least 6-6, led by fifth-year senior Coby Fleener (28 catches for 551 yards and eight scores).

Notre Dame has the 31st-ranked passing defense in the country (198.8 yards allowed per game), and the Irish have a little more depth at cornerback than many people thought. Still, slowing the fourth-highest scoring attack in the nation will not be easy.

EDGE: Stanford

Notre Dame running Game vs. Stanford run defense
Notre Dame has a major question mark in the running game after losing breakout senior Jonas Gray to a knee injury against Boston College. Junior Cierre Wood will get the bulk of the carries this week, but the Irish will need someone to step up and help carry the load. Not all hope is lost with Wood and a veteran offensive line that has been averaging 175.9 rushing yards per game
this year.

Stanford lost All-America linebacker candidate Shayne Skov early in the season, but has had no problem filling that void. The Cardinal currently has the fifth-best rush defense in the country (93.4 yards allowed per contest). Part of that is due to opponents giving up on the run after
they fall behind early. Stanford’s defense has faced 372 pass attempts and only 318 runs. Senior LB Chase Thomas leads the Pac-12 in tackles for loss with 14.5. He is one of five Stanford players in the balanced front seven that have more than 40 tackles.

EDGE: Even

Notre Dame passing Game vs. Stanford pass defense
Notre Dame picked up the pace on offense during the second half of the season, but struggled to find that rhythm against Boston College. Oregon torched Stanford for 53 points thanks to its fast-paced offense. This will be the last regular-season game for Michael Floyd in the blue and gold, and maybe junior tight end Tyler Eifert, and one would expect him to finish with some fireworks. Floyd quietly surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in the win against Boston College.

Stanford’s secondary sees a lot of action in the pass game and had only four interceptions in 11 games. The Cardinal allows 240.1 yards per game through the air.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Special Teams
Notre Dame is dead last nationally in the punt return category after falling there in its 45-21 win over Maryland. Junior punter Ben Turk showed some improvements in his leg, booming a 58 yarder and pinning the Terps inside their 20 twice and a couple more 50-plus yarders against Boston College. Fifth-year senior David Ruffer has returned to his consistent self in the second half of the season, hitting his last eight attempts.

Stanford’s two field goal kickers missed their first attempt from inside the 40 this season last week. Eric Whitaker, younger brother of former Notre Dame transfer Nate Whitaker, took over kicking duties during the past month, but it appears Jordan Williamson is healthy and will return to his starting spot. Junior Drew Terrell is a threat returning punts, averaging 12.2 yards per return, the 12th-best mark in the country.

EDGE: Stanford

Prediction: Notre Dame 35-41 Stanford

Irish Survive scare at home to Boston College (16-14), Move into BCS rankings, but lose standout running back Gray for rest of seaon

Senior Jonas Gray lost for season to ACL injury

On a weekend when upsets were very much to the fore, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame escaped an unset from Boston College (3-7), 16-14, in front of a solid out 80,795 stadium on Saturday.

On a footballing weekend, with as many big time upsets in the past 20 years, the Irish relied on some conservative offense and gritty defense on senior day.

The upsets commenced on a cold crisp Thursday night with BCS number 2 ranked Oklahoma State losing to an unranked Iowa State in double OT 37-31. The upsets continued into Saturday with a further 2 of the top 5 BCS ranked schools falling in (4) Oregon, at home to USC 38-35 and Oklahoma (5) falling to Baylor 38-45.

So with all these upsets swirling around in the college football world, it was little wonder that the Irish just about squeaked by versus their good friends from Boston College.

The game was marred with chippy 15 yard penalties early on, but once things settled down it drew the best of the chess game strategies from both coaches. Field position was at a premium, and an element in which Boston College won at the end of the day.

Boston College kept the game close by pinning Notre Dame deep in its own territory as the two teams traded punts. The Irish offense’s average starting spot was the 21-yard line, and that includes recovering an onside kick at midfield in the game’s final minutes. Six times in its first 10 possessions Notre Dame began at the 12 yard line or worse, including three straight times inside the 10 during the second quarter.

“Obviously, it’s not the most ideal situation, but we could have done some things to help ourselves out,” said Irish quarterback Tommy Rees. “When you’re down there and closer to the end zone you don’t want to risk giving up a sack or throwing the ball down field when you don’t have as much time, so things change.”

It was a fantastic defensive slog to watch and the Boston team should be very proud of their teams performance. The Irish entered the game a 24.5 point favorite, but were held in check, largely due to a standout game from Eagles All-American MLB, Luke Kuechly, who finished the game with 14 tackles, giving him 523 for his career–one shy of the Boston College record set by Steven Boyd from 1991-94.

“Winning is hard in college football,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “You watch across the landscape, there is one team undefeated, maybe two. It’s hard to win … BC played good football, too. You’ve got to win some of these [16-14] games. I’ve been in a lot of them over 20 years, and to win a lot of games you’ve got to take a couple of these, and we’re excited about it.”

“It’s not always about up and down the field. Sometimes you’ve got to block and tackle and grind it out and find a way to win. I just like the way our guys now understand how to win games.
“In November, it’s hard to win unless you’ve got a great mental outlook, and our guys do, and they have overcome so many injuries late, and they keep battling. That’s satisfying as a football coach.”

The game came at a large cost to the Irish also. Jonas Gray continued his breakout year, rushing for 61 yards and extending his scoring streak to eight games with a 26-yard rumble on the opening drive. But he left with what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the third quarter, and results showed on Sunday that Gray has suffered a heartbreaking ACL tear on his left knee. The injury has all but finished Grays footballing career at Notre Dame and sets a long rehab road to recoup in time for the NFL Draft next April.

The end result on Saturdays close contest saw the Irish return to the BCS rankings this week at number 22. They will either progress or drop out of the rankings next week on the road to the number 6 team in the nation in Stanford.

From Around the lockeroom:

Michael Floyd Sr. Wide Receiver

On what today’s win means for the team…

“We’re a strong team. We came together as a team, and when there I things going wrong for us; somehow the defense picks us up. If the defense is going wrong somehow the offense picks them up, so as long as we are picking one another up, we will be fine.”

On running back Jonas Gray’s injury…

“It was heartbreaking for me (to see him get injured). He’s a good friend of mine. It’s just hard to see that happen to a senior on senior night and also see one of your best friends go down. He stayed strong, stayed positive, so we’re all staying positive too.”

Manti Te’o Jr. Linebacker

On the health of the team going into the game…

“There were a lot of guys sick coming into the game, but everybody knew the significance of this game – especially for the seniors. Everybody just tried to get after it the best they could.”
On Jonas Gray’s injury…

“It’s the hardest thing. I would never wish that upon any player, let alone a senior and let alone a guy like Jonas who’s put in so much work. He sacrifices so much for this team and he’s one of the leaders on and off the field. But knowing Jonas, it’s not going to stop him from making and impact on this team.”

On what Jonas Gray said to the players in the locker room after the game…

“Just how thankful he was to play for Notre Dame and how special it was for him. Basically, he said it was never about him and always about this team and how happy and how lucky he felt to be a part of this team. That just goes to show what type of person he is.”

Notre Dame Seniors prepare for the Holy War against Boston College

Senior Day at South Bend

This “Holy War” rivalry may not have quite the same buzz it’s had in other years……Boston College is just 3-7 and struggling through its worst season in 13 years, but the game is still an important one for the Irish (7-3). They’ve climbed back into the Top 25 with three straight wins, and could equal last year’s victory total by beating Boston College.

The Fighting Irish are likely to miss a BCS bowl for a fifth straight year, the Irish would match their best record of the last decade if they beat Boston College and Stanford and win their Bowl game.

It is also Senior day, the last game at Notre Dame Stadium for Seniors such as captain Harrison Smith, Michael Floyd, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson and Jonas Gray, to name a few.

No. 24 Notre Dame’s game against Boston College on Saturday is the equivalent of the Super Bowl for the extended Kelly clan……..Kelly grew up in an Irish-Catholic family in the Boston area.

“There’s a lot of requests for tickets,” Kelly said Tuesday. “I don’t even pick up the phone.”

Notre Dame Run Offense vs Boston College Run Defense
The Irish won’t face a better linebacker this season than Boston College’s Luke Kuechly. He leads the country in tackles (168) and solo tackles (89) after 11 weeks. He has hit double digits on the stat sheet in his past 32 games and is the glue that holds Boston College’s run defense together. The Eagles give up 153.0 yards per game on the ground and 4.1 yards per carry…. numbers that don’t jump off the page, but they could be much worse without Kuechly.

The Irish running backs have picked up major chunks on the ground this year. After amassing 212 yards against Maryland, the Irish were averaging 177.4 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry.Consistency in the run game has cured Notre Dame’s early season red-zone woes and been a major factor in closing out close games.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Notre Dame Pass Offense vs Boston College Pass Defense
The Irish rank 37th in the country with 258.9 passing yards per game. Sophomore QB Tommy Rees has had help from All-American candidates Michael Floyd (77 catches for 922 yards) and Tyler Eifert (51 receptions for 589 yards), who led all tight ends nationally in catches heading into the Maryland game. With Theo Riddick’s absence against Maryland, Junior WR Robbie Toma filled in more than admirably.

The Eagles have a lot of size in their defensive backfield, including 6-4 cornerback Jim Noel and his 6-1 counterpart, Donnie Fletcher, and have held opponents to only seven passing touchdowns through 10 games. The Eagles have the size to lock down some of Notre Dame’s weapons, but sticking with them will be difficult, especially for a defense that ranked 114th in sacks per game (0.9). Rees was sacked three times against Maryland to snap a five-game streak of perfect protection.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Notre Dame Run Defense vs Boston College Run Offense
The Eagles took a blow when they lost senior running back Montel Harris, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, for the season on the first day of October. He has been replaced by sophomores Rolandan Finch and Andre Williams (also injured in October before recovering). Finch led the team with 577 yards after nine games, with 243 of those yards coming in Boston College’s win over Maryland on Oct. 29. Playing without their star back and with an uncharacteristically young offensive line, the Eagles averaged only 3.7 yards per carry in their first 10 games.

Notre Dame had the potential to have one of the stiffest run defenses in the country this year, but a myriad of injuries relegated them to an “above average” title. Junior linebacker Manti Te’o has been hobbled by an ankle injury for the majority of the year, and the Irish went without both starting senior defensive ends for several weeks before Ethan Johnson returned against Maryland. Still, they have given up only seven touchdowns on the ground so far this year.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Notre Dame Pass Defense vs Boston College Pass Offense
Out of the 100 players who have thrown enough to qualify, sophomore Chase Rettig ranked dead last in passing efficiency through nine games, and he dropped out of the top 100 this week. Rettig completed only 53.1 percent of his passes and threw as many interceptions (nine) as touchdowns in the first 10 games of the season. His top two targets are sophomore wide receiver Bobby Swigert (35 catches for 356 yards) and junior wide receiver Colin Larmond (31 grabs for 500 yards).

Notre Dame ranks 33rd in the country in passing defense, allowing 201.7 yards per game through the air in its first 10 games. The emerging pass rush should also help against a young Eagles offensive line. Rettig has been sacked an average of 2.1 times per game this season.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Notre Dame Special Teams vs Boston College Special Teams
Notre Dame has improved on special teams since the beginning of the year and would now be considered an average overall unit. Fifth-year senior David Ruffer has regained his 2010 form in recent weeks. He hit a 52-yard field goal against Maryland to make his fifth consecutive attempt after missing the previous three. True freshman George Atkinson III provides a spark to the kick return team that could do some damage against the Eagles.

Boston College has already allowed one touchdown on a kick return this year, and Atkinson combined with sophomore Austin Collinsworth create the 22nd-best kick-return duo in the country through 11 weeks (24.02 yards per return). Boston College placekicker Nate Freese has attempted three field goals in the past five games, and he has missed them all. Freese is 9 of 15 on the season. Eagles punter Ryan Quigley has punted 54 times through nine games this season and averages 37.9 yards per kick. He will likely get plenty of work against the Irish.

EDGE: Notre Dame

Prediction:

Notre Dame 41-17 Boston College

Most likely Scenario For Notre Dame in the Bowl Games.

The Irish look for three consecutive bowl wins

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have made 30 Bowl appearances in it’s 123 years of footballing history, winning 15 and losing 15.

It has played in the Rose Bowl (1 win), the Cotton Bowl Classic (5 wins, 2 losses), the Orange Bowl (2 wins, 3 losses), the Sugar Bowl (2 wins, 2 losses), the Gator Bowl (1 win, 2 losses), the Liberty Bowl (1 win), the Aloha Bowl (1 loss), the Fiesta Bowl (1 win, 3 losses), the Independence Bowl (1 loss),the Insight Bowl (1 loss), Hawaii Bowl (1 win) and the Sun Bowl (1 win).

From 1994 to the 2006 football seasons, Notre Dame lost 9 consecutive bowl games and setting an NCAA record for consecutive bowl losses. That streak ended with a 49–21 blowout of Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.

So, can Brian Kelly’s team make a BCS Bowl run this late in the season. The answer is yes…..the chances……extremely unlikely.

For at-large selection Notre Dame must finish in the BCS top 14. Despite returning to the AP (24) and Coaches (25) polls this weekend, the Irish didn’t make the BCS Top 25. That means Notre Dame would have to surpass at least a dozen teams to play its way into BCS eligibility.

So while yes….the Irish are not out of a BCS Bowl bid, the chances of if happening are about as likely as snow on the island of Hawaii in July.

Lets take a look then at what is more likely…….

If Notre Dame loses its last two games of the season, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in the Bronx will be its most likely destination.

The game is held in New York City’s new Yankee Stadium where the Irish played Army last year. A trip to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl would only happen if the Big 12 could not supply a seventh eligible team, or if the Irish were to be selected in lieu of a Big East team.

If the seventh-placed bowl-eligible Big 12 team is selected to another bowl, then the Irish could take the Big 12’s spot as well. The Irish could either face the seventh eligible team in the Big 12, or they could face the fourth eligible team in the Big East.

Supposing the Irish beat Boston College but lose away to a great Stanford team, Notre Dame has been picked to attend the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Florida by nearly every recent projection.

The game features the third bowl-eligible team from the ACC against the second eligible team from the Big East (or Notre Dame once in a four-year period).

While most projections have Florida State facing the Irish, anything can happen in the last few weeks of the season.

Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Clemson and even a surprise like Virginia are all possible matchups for the Irish, as a number of interesting conference games are going to round out the season.

Even if Notre Dame wins ALL of its remaining games, the Champs Sports Bowl is still the most likely destination for the Fighting Irish.

Fighting Irish Roll over Maryland 45-21

Rees in top flight vs Maryland

Senior Fighting Irish running back Jonas Gray rushed for 136 yards on 21 carries and a brace of 1 yard touchdowns to lead the Fighting Irish to a 45-21 victory in front of 70,521 spectators in Fed-Ex field, Maryland, on Saturday night.

It was the seventh consecutive game that Gray has scored a touchdown for the Irish and his 11th overall this season. It also marked the fifth time this season in which Notre Dame amassed over 500 yards in a game, with 508.

Tommy Rees was also in sparkling form, going 30 for 38 296 yards and 2 TD passes to WR Michael Floyd (19 yds) and TE Tyler Eifert (34 yards).

The Irish (7-3) stayed undefeated in their third off-site home game in recent years. The Shamrock Series, as the annual trip has been dubbed, has seen previous stops in San Antonio and New York City’s Yankee Stadium.

The Irish defense also got in on the scoring act when Lorenzo (Lo) Wood picked off a wayward Danny O’Brien pass midway through the third quarter and returned it 57 yards to paydirt to put the Irish ahead 38-7 and put the dagger in the heart of a Maryland comeback.

Even the Irish special teams were not found wanting, and for the first time this season, both Irish kickers, Punter Ben Turk & PK David Ruffer were in great form. Senior Ruffer hit a career long 52 yard field goal towards the end of the first quarter, which put him at a steady 7-11 mark for the season. Ruffer is now a very respectable 30-35 in his FG kicking career at Notre Dame.

Irish Punter Ben Turk had struggled all season long in averaging a below par 39 yards a boot, but the game against the Terrapins saw him hit a career long also, a 58 yard bomb.

This really was a Notre Dame performance that left very little for even the most stubborn of Irish fans to quip about, they were extremely solid all-round.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly wouldn’t come out and say it was Rees’ best game in a Notre Dame uniform, but …
“He’s really close,” Kelly said. “He has not put his best game together yet. We’re still not where we want to be on the vertical throws, or better. In terms of efficiency … pretty darn good. He’s accurate, as we all know, and I thought he played as fast as he can play. We have to play a little bit faster, but we’ve worked really hard in practice over the last six weeks of trying to get him to go. I would say this game was probably his best game as it relates to efficiency and tempo.”

Notre Dame now returns home for another game with a struggling ACC team, Boston College. The Irish will be battling their own ability to stay focused as much as a depleted 3-7 Eagles squad. Kelly said he needs his team to put together another complete game on all three sides of the ball and keep from looking ahead at its season finale in Palo Alto against Stanford.

Irish Go Green

The Irish break out the green versus Maryland this weekend.

Site: FedExField (82,000), Landover, Maryland.
Television: NBC.
Home Record: Maryland 2-5, Notre Dame 3-2.

Away Record: Maryland 0-2, Notre Dame 3-1.
Series Record: Notre Dame leads, 1-0.

Notre Dame, which is considered the home team here despite the close proximity to Maryland’s campus (6 miles), has won six of its last seven games, including two in a row, since dropping two straight to open the season.

Last weekend, the Fighting Irish knocked off Wake Forest on the road by a 24-17 final. Brian Kelly’s Irish are bowl eligible and picking up steam as it approaches the much anticipated regular season finale with Stanford.

Notre Dame won the only previous meeting with Maryland, shutting out the Terps in a 22-0 decision at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 2002.

Taking a look at last week’s clash with Virginia, Maryland managed to post 353 total yards, 241 of which came from the arm of QB Danny O’Brien. Unfortunately, he completed just 16 of his 36 pass attempts and was intercepted twice.

Maryland is averaging 22.8 ppg this season while racking up 379.1 total ypg. The Terps have scored 22 offensive touchdowns split evenly between the run and the pass. Davin Meggett is a player to watch, as he has run for 677 yards and three touchdowns. O’Brien has completed a modest 55.5 percent of his passes for 1,516 yards with six touchdowns and nine interceptions, numbers that certainly will not scare the Fighting Irish, or any team for that matter.

Defensively, the Terps are yielding 31.0 ppg and 447.2 total ypg. They have plenty of room for improvement against both the run and the pass, as they are permitting 4.9 rushing ypc and 12.1 yards per pass completion.

The Fighting Irish can move the ball and score points consistently, as evidenced by their 32.3 ppg and 428.3 total ypg. Sophomore QB Tommy Rees, who has completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 2,096 yards and 17 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.

The Notre Dame defense will be lead yet again by star linebacker Manti Te’o, who injured his ankle last time out and is listed as doubtful. A semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, Te’o has posted 87 total tackles, including 11 TFL. Notre Dame’s defense is permitting 20.9 ppg and 349.1 total ypg to opponents, and stopping the run has been an obvious strength, as foes are gaining a mere 3.9 yards per carry with just five rushing scores. There is room for improvement against the pass, as the Irish have permitted 15 aerial TDs with just six interceptions.

Against Wake Forest last week, Notre Dame managed to shut out the Demon Deacons in the second half and scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to claim the win. Rees threw a pair of interceptions in the clash, but he also tossed a pair of TDs, and the Irish added a rushing score as well.

Notre Dame figures to get the job done this weekend, as the Irish are simply a more talented team than the Terps. Expect a big game from both Rees and standout senior WR Michael Floyd.

Notre Dame 48, Maryland 20

Notre Dame vs Wake Forest Preview

DATE
Saturday, November 5, 2011
TIME
8:00 p.m. ET
SITE (CAPACITY)
BB&T Field (31,500); Winston-Salem, N.C.
TELEVISION
ABC national telecast with Mark Jones (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analysis), Kim Belton (producer) and Jimmy Platt (director). In those areas of the country in which the game is not available on ABC, it will be available on ESPN2.
SERIES INFO
Notre Dame and Wake Forest will meet on the gridiron for the first time in the history of Irish football. The Demon Deacons are the 141st different opponent in Notre Dame football history. The Irish own an all-time record of 117-20-3 (.846) when facing an opponent for the first time.

In 123 years of playing football, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have never faced Wake Forest. Also, in the last 66 years, it hasn’t played a game in a stadium as small as Wake’s BB&T Field.

The Fighting Irish be on show to Winston-Salem, NC, on Saturday where the Demon Deacons will be waiting. You would have to go back to 1945, when the Irish made a trip to Great Lakes Naval Training Station to find a  welcoming team been housed in a facility as small as Wake’s, which seats just 31,500.

Wake Run Offense vs Irish Run Defense

Sophomore Josh Harris started the season as Wake Forest’s top running back, but an injury in early October has slowed him in the past three games. Harris ran for 430 yards on 91 carries before the injury, and had only three carries for nine yards last week in his first appearance since then. Senior Brandon Pendergrass has taken over the role of feature back in Harris’ absence. Pendergrass had 13 carries for 99 yards against North Carolina last week.

After lackluster rushing stops by Notre Dame over the past few games, the Irish seemed to have found a solution against Navy, holding the Middies to 127 yards against the starters despite playing a very young DL. Ethan Johnson sat out the majority of the last four games, but is expected to make an appearance on Saturday.

Edge: Notre Dame

Wake Pass Offense vs Irish Pass Defense
Quarterback Tanner Price is only a sophomore, but loves to air it out in this pass happy offense, For a Sopho, he has a solid command over Wake’s offense. He also has a pair of dangerous wide receivers in Chris Givens (17.8 ypc & 8 TD’s) and Michael Campanaro (5-10, 190 pounds). Campanaro has already thrown two touchdown passes this season from his flanker position.

The biggest challenge for the Irish on Saturday will be curtailing the standout WR duo of the Deamon Deacons. If Irish defensive co-ordinator, Bob Daco, can limit the big plays and get a turnover or two early from Blanton & Gray then it would really set the tone for the rest of the secondary early. If not, then Diaco had better hope that his athletic DL can bully thier way to Tanner.

Edge: Even

Irish Run Offense vs Wake Run Defense

Notre Dame’s running back duo of senior Jonas Gray and junior Cierre Wood are every bit as important to the Irish attack than what Floyd & Rees are. Without them, as was shown when
the Irish lost 31-17 to USC, the Notre Dame offense struggles to find a rhythm. This should be another very solid perfomance on the ground against a Deacon defense that gives up 134 yards on the ground and is ranked 101st in rezone defense.

Fifth year senior Cyhl Quarles leds the Wake run defense from his strong safety position, that in itself is a positive for the Irish. Quarles has had 69 tackles through eight games.

Edge: Notre Dame

Irish Pass Offense vs Wake Pass Defense

Sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees has made dramatic improvements so far this season, but he is still susceptible to youthful mistakes, especially when defenses find a way to eliminate senior wide receiver Michael Floyd. Two teams have held Floyd to four catches this season (Pitt and USC), and those were Notre Dame’s two ugliest games on offense.

Wake Forest has a veteran secondary with Quarles and fellow fifth-year player Josh Bush at the safety positions. Bush leads the team with three interceptions this season. However, the Tar Heels torched them for 338 passing yards and three touchdowns, which dropped them to 89th in the country in passing defense.

Notre Dame’s offensive line has been one of the best in the country at preventing sacks. They’ll face a worthy adversary in nose guard Nikita Whitlock. The 5-11, 260-pounder has burrowed his way into backfields for three sacks and 12 tackles for loss already this season.

Edge: Notre Dame

Irish Special Teams vs Wake Special Teams

Irish freshman George Atkinson III is now the 8th ranked kick returner in the nation with his 30.24 yards per return setting the Notre Dame offense up in very good field position. GA3 has a breath taking turn of pace that the Irish fans have not seen since Raghib ‘Rocket’ Ismail’s freshman year in 1988. For the rest of the Irish special teams though….it’s as mediocre as it gets. Kicker David Ruffer is steadily improving, as is Punter Ben Turk. The Punt Return game is the nations worst.

Wake Forest kicker Jimmy Newman tied his own school record against East Carolina by hitting his 12th straight field goal, however, all of those are from the 40 yard line in. Wake Forest is posting 20.9 yards per kickoff runback and 4.8 yards on punt returns.

Edge: Notre Dame

Prediction:
At the beginning of the season this game looked like an easy win.  But after Wake got off to their hot start including the win over Florida State, this game appeared to be much tougher.  However, with blowout losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina and a narrow one-point win over Duke since then, the Demon Deacons once again appear to be ripe for the picking.  

This will be the toughest game for the Irish over the next three weeks, but it’s not one that should give them much trouble.  As long as Notre Dame commits to the run and doesn’t turn the ball over, this should be an easy win.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame – 41, Wake Forest – 14

Miscellaneous Notes:

• For the first time in history, Notre Dame will play three straight ACC teams when it clashes with Wake Forest (Nov. 5), Maryland (Nov. 12) and Boston College (Nov. 19). In fact, this will mark the first time the Irish will face ACC foes two consecutiveweeks.


• In the first seven games this season, junior running back Cierre Wood averaged 17 carries per game, while senior Jonas Gray averaged only seven. But Gray’s 8.49 yards per carry and continued hard work were too much to overlook. He received the start against Navy (his first in two years) and had 12 carries for 69 yards — dropping him to “only” 8.0 yards per carry — to Wood’s 11 for 66 yards. Kelly said the excellent competition there makes
who starts irrelevant. It’s about getting equal distribution for both.