2008 Elite Selection Playoff: Week Seven

Elite Selection Playoff

After another weekend of losses for teams at the top has resulted in the Texas Longhorns emerging as the deserving number one in the ESP (for an explanation go here). The Longhorns sit atop all three ESP components, including the AV computer ranking (see below).

AV Computer Ranking

As mentioned above, the AV computer ranking has Texas in first, followed closely by Alabama. Trailing a bit further are the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Strength of Schedule

Nebraska has taken over the most difficult schedule spot , followed closely by the Washington Huskies. After playing the toughest schedule in the country last year, Washington is following it up again this season with a daunting gauntlet of teams. Tulsa, BYU, and Ball State (not shown) are competing for the easiest schedule in the country. The Fighting Irish finish week seven with the 52nd ranked schedule. The details of quality wins/losses, adjusted win percentage, and margin of victory aren't shown in the interest of brevity.

Notre Dame vs. North Carolina: Keys To An Irish Win

Saturday Notre Dame takes their second road trip of the year fulfilling their part of a home/away series with North Carolina.

North Carolina head coach Butch Davis has the Tar Heels pointed in the right direction, fielding a talented, albeit young, team. The Tar Heels don’t necessarily impress in the statistics columns, but have four wins and only a single loss to go along with a top 25 ranking. Relying on opportunistic play, nearly half of North Carolina’s points have come off turnovers and special teams.

Despite losing the time of possession battle by nearly six minutes a game, the Tar Heels average over 30 points a game, mostly winning the second and third quarters. Combined that with a defense giving up under 20 points per game and you have the recipe for 4-1.

On offense a strong receiving corps is led by seniors Brandon Tate and Hakeem Nicks. Both have the ability to stretch the field and Tate is also a dangerous return specialist. North Carolina is strong inside the red zone converting 55 percent of their appearances into touchdowns and 75 percent into scores. Additionally, the offensive line has only surrendered six sacks through five games.

On defense the Tar Heels frequently drop seven and rely on a stout front four to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Having seven defenders in coverage has worked well, as the defense leads the nation with 12 interceptions on the year. Despite success in other areas, the defense has been generous in the red zone, allowing 53 percent of opponents’ opportunities to result in touchdowns and 84 percent in points.

Against such an opportunistic team Notre Dame must protect the football and play well on special teams, but the remaining keys to winning are more subtle.

Offense

1. Patience, patience, patience.

The Notre Dame offense must exercise patience, both in play calling and execution. The Tar Heels have an opportunistic defense that rushes four, drops seven into coverage, and forces opposing offenses to consistently execute to move the ball down the field.

Offensive coordinator Mike Haywood and quarterback Jimmy Clausen must take what the Tar Heel defense gives. Notre Dame has a tendency to take shots down field, evident by the fact that less than nine percent of the offensive plays have resulted in over 44 percent of the total yards. Against a defense that keeps everything in front of them, this won’t work well.

Additionally, it will take consistent execution, and a lack of mistakes to move the ball into scoring position. Clausen can’t force things and must continue to improve checking down to short routes. Hopefully the turnovers and mistake-prone play of the Michigan State and San Diego State games are gone for good.

2. Win the one-on-one’s.

The Irish offensive line has been exceptional protecting the quarterback this season. However, North Carolina’s defensive line will be a stiff test. The Tar Heels’ front four are big, athletic, and strong. Since there won’t be a lot of blitzing, pass protection will come down to winning matchups with the defensive line.

3. Score in the red zone.

It seems like an obvious key to winning (and it is), but the “bend but don’t break” defense North Carolina employs is an ideal match-up for an offense that lives on the big play. If the Tar Heels prevent big scores the Irish will be forced to work on a short field when they reach the red zone. Against a defense that drops seven there will be precious few windows in the passing game.

Notre Dame must prove they can run the ball in order to loosen up the defense and score points. A vertical passing game doesn’t work with little real estate to stretch the field. Additionally, the Irish must be competent in the kicking game. Otherwise, moving the ball into the red zone will be for naught.

Defense

1. Defend against the long ball.

For the first time all year the Irish do not have a distinct advantage matching up with the opposing receivers. North Carolina has at least two down field threats and they like to use them.

It will be critical for the Irish defense to get home early on blitzes. There will be one-on-one matchups down the field and Notre Dame’s secondary won’t win them all. When North Carolina calls a max protect pass to take a shot, the Irish must pressure the quarterback.

2. Force one-dimension.

North Carolina isn’t exceptional running or passing the ball. If the Irish defense can take one of these two away, it will be a huge advantage. Conversely, if Notre Dame’s defense allows the Tar Heel offense to continually mix in the run and pass, they could be in for a long day.

3. Don’t give any help.

While the Irish defense has committed very few penalties in 2008, the ones they do commit are remarkably untimely. The Tar Heel offense lives off momentum, not consistency. Giving first downs via penalty only adds fuel to the fire.

Additionally, Notre Dame has been able to force opponents into third and long a very high percentage of the time, only to allow a big play to convert the first down. Against North Carolina this must be remedied.

In short, the Notre Dame defense must make the Tar Heels work for everything, yards, first downs, and points. They cannot help the opposing offense by making mistakes of their own.

Summary

The Irish do not match up particularly well with the Tar Heels, especially offensively. The North Carolina defensive game plan is well suited to prevent scores from a team that cannot run the football and has a poor place kicking game. Turnovers and special teams should play a large factor in the outcome of this contest.

Cardinal News and Notes, Irish Style

What To Do With A Lead?

Three times in the 2008 season the Irish haven’t put the game away. Against Michigan an early lead led to the Wolverines chewing yards and committing countless turnovers to preserve an Irish victory. Notre Dame was lucky the Boilermakers abandoned the run and committed remarkably untimely penalties. This week the Irish defense and special teams allowed a fourth quarter rally that nearly cost them the game.

An early lead is great, but only if you know how to protect it. The Irish have yet to close out a game in compelling fashion. With the lead, Notre Dame cannot control the ball with the running game and frequently give possession back to the opponent. It would be wise to continue airing it out, at least until something resembling a rushing attack is found.

Well, It Was Unbalanced

It took three drives of Stanford ramming it down Notre Dame’s throat before the defensive staff made the necessary adjustments to slow the Cardinal rushing attack. I say slow, not stop, because the Irish defense didn’t stop the run all day. Only a large lead and penalties forced Stanford to go to the air to play catch-up.

Stanford came out firing, using unbalanced line formations to isolate an offensive tackle on the Irish defensive ends and it worked to perfection. Against the under-sized front four Stanford ran the ball at will. It wasn’t three and four yard gains. It was seven and eight.

It is puzzling that the defensive coaching staff would take so long to make a rather rudimentary adjustment.

Presumably, the Irish staff didn’t want to expose another area of the defense. But wouldn’t it be more prudent to make Stanford beat you throwing the ball? All year they have proven they can move the football by running it. Rather than waiting to adjust to the Cardinal ground game, isn’t it more advantageous to make quarterback Tavita Pritchard prove he can beat you?

Even without defensive adjustments, the Irish linebacking corps played very poorly. Stanford ran to the unbalanced side of the line an overwhelming majority of the time. It wasn’t complicated, but it was effective. And Maurice Crum and Brian Smith failed to react quickly to relatively slow developing plays.

Emotion To Start

The questions abound. Why does it take comments from an opposing player to generate inspired play? Why does the emotional state of the Irish depend on actions of the other team? Why do Pat Kuntz and company need negative statements directed at them to finally reach the quarterback? And why is head coach Charlie Weis satisfied with this being the most fired up he has seen the team? Isn’t his job, at least partially, to have his players ready to play against every team? Shouldn’t Weis be able to manufacture motivation for the Irish?

Putting Out An A.P.B. For A Kicking Coach

One of seven. That’s what kicker Brandon Walker is for the year. Granted, only one attempt has come within 40 yards but that was a 31 yard attempt Walker missed against Purdue.

And the kicking woes didn’t just start this year. Last year the Irish converted field goals at a rate of less than 50 percent. This included 0 of 2 between 30 and 39 yards, 1 of 5 between 40 and 49 yards, and 0 of 1 beyond 50 yards.

Walker has the distance, that isn’t the problem. It’s concentration, confidence, and technique. A capable kicking coach should be able to solve this problem.

It won’t take long, perhaps even this coming weekend, for the Irish to lose a contest because of their inept kicking game.

Tell You What, I’ll Give You A Head Start

The Irish might as well give opponents a head start before the snap. In the shotgun Notre Dame has passed the ball an overwhelming majority of the time. With two backs the Irish have run the ball an overwhelming majority of the time. Only in the Ace-Trey formation has offensive coordinator Mike Haywood consistently mixed the run and pass.

Part of the reason spread offenses are so deadly is because of their ability to be balanced running the ball out of receiver-heavy formations. The formation spreads defenders sideline-to-sideline and creates lanes for running backs to pick up big chunks of yardage.

But a less obvious reason for the big offensive numbers posted by teams like Oklahoma, Missouri, etc. is their lack of formation tendency. These teams would just as soon run the ball out of a more obvious passing formation than pass out of a more obvious running formation.

Haywood needs to take notes. Defenses are keying in on the Irish. In fact, one time Saturday, the Stanford sideline yelled pass before center Dan Wenger even snapped the ball.

Man, Where Was This Offensive Line Last Year?

It is truly remarkable, and should not be understated, how far the offensive line has come since the 2007 season. The unit has gelled and is much more cohesive than any time last year. This is most apparent in the pass protection where the Irish on are on pace to surrender just over 14 sacks on the year.

Think about it, 14 sacks on the year. Many years that’s likely good for tops in the country.

But the Irish do lack proficient run blocking. And it will lose a game for them if it isn’t corrected.

Pass blocking is largely about playing together as a unit. One missed assignment leads to a breakdown in protection, i.e. it is primarily important that the offensive linemen understand the blocking scheme and work together. As such, a tremendous amount of practice time and many repetitions are needed to perform well.

As far as scheme goes, run blocking is much more forgiving. Paving the way for running backs is less about working as a unit and more about winning one-on-one battles up front. If a lineman misses his assignment it doesn’t always result in a poor run play, particularly if the play is away from him.

But if a lineman loses his one-on-one battle with the defender the play can easily falter. The Irish off-season saw every offensive linemen gain size and strength, presumably to begin winning the one-on-one battles needed to generate an effective running game. So far this season, sans Purdue, it hasn’t shown up on the field.

The offensive line wins one-on-one battles when they engage the defender. The problem lies in each individual putting himself in a position to properly take on the assigned defender.

This leads to the plausible conclusion that a disproportionate amount of practice time is being spent on pass protection. Coming off an abysmal performance in 2007 where the Irish offensive line gave up 58 sacks, it isn’t unreasonable to think the dramatic improvement is the result of a large focus in practice.

Additionally, the Jon Tenuta led defense likely helps give the Notre Dame offense exotic blitz looks in practice that help prepare them for the relatively vanilla packages they see in games. Equally likely is a scenario where the Irish offensive line isn’t challenged in practice by a relatively weak defensive front.

If this is the case, Weis must devote more practice time to the running game.

A Budding Career

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen continues to improve, not just from last season, but also from his first game this year.

Clausen has had two consecutive career days racking up gaudy numbers. His understanding of the offense is readily apparent in his pre-snap adjustments. He has pinpoint accuracy, and is spreading the ball around without forcing throws.

While there is still improvement needed in his post-snap reads and progression (isn’t there always?), Clausen is far ahead of where Brady Quinn was at the same point in his career.

Where is the rush defense?

Perhaps more alarming than the woeful running game is the inability to stop the run. The former is tolerable with the talent at receiver and quarterback and will continue to work until the Irish offensive line proves incapable of protecting Clausen. The latter is a huge liability and will lose a close game for the Irish. Notre Dame’s defense was fortunate to get three Cardinal turnovers early, helping the offense build a three score lead.

Being so inept in both areas is inexplicable and intolerable. Giving up 6.5 yards per carry to a Stanford team with far less talent is criminal. The credit must go to the Cardinal players. Much like Michigan State, the Irish defense didn’t match their intensity.

The Game Lasts Four Quarters Guys

For three quarters the Irish played fairly solid football. After seeing the Cardinal run the ball effectively for three consecutive drives the Irish defensive staff (finally) adjusted to Stanford's unbalanced line and slowed the ground game.

However, in the fourth quarter Stanford began moving the ball at will once again. And the defense wasn’t the only culprit, the Irish offense was unable to generate first downs. Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s defense suffered from a lapse in intensity and concentration. Both contributed to let Stanford back in the game.

Why So Loose?

Similar to the Purdue game, Notre Dame’s secondary gave too much cushion on the outside for much of the day. The defense is going to blitz, opposing offenses are going to get rid of the ball quickly, and tighter coverage is required to stop the short, quick passing game. Double moves aren’t a threat provided the Irish defenders get home.

You Stay Classy Notre Dame

What happened at the end of the game is uncalled for. This isn’t about any specific player and it isn’t about the skirmish. Having fire, playing to the whistle, being “nasty,” are all part of the game. Grouping together and jumping up and down in unison while facing the opponents after a victory is not part of the game, it is classless and unnecessary.

2008 Elite Selection Playoff Initial Release

It's that time of year again. That's right, it's week six of the 2008 college football season, time for the release of the Elite Selection Playoff. For those new to this college football ranking system a detailed explanation can be found here.

Elite Selection Playoff

First out of the gate are the Oklahoma Sooners, largely due to the pollsters (deserved) love affair with this team. The Crimson Tide trail by less than two-hundredths of a point and sit atop the AV computer ranking.

Strength of Schedule

The most heavily weighted part of the AV computer ranking is the strength of schedule. To date, the Washington Huskies have face the toughest schedule followed closely by Nebraska. It is important to keep in mind that the AV strength of schedule is based only on games played through week six, i.e. it does not include every opponent on a team's schedule until the final week of the season.

Margin of Victory

Penn State and Oklahoma have been racking up huge victories over their opponents coming in at one and two respectively in margin of victory.


AV Computer Ranking

Finally, the AV computer ranking (only the top 50 are shown) is led by Alabama followed by Vanderbilt, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. For the Irish faithful, Notre Dame makes their debut at number 34. Their 4-1 record is trumped by the 73 ranked strength of schedule.

Last year Notre Dame's schedule ranked sixth in the country. At the onset of this season it was estimated that the Irish would play the 60th toughest strength of schedule. So far this seems to be very plausible.

Statistically Speaking: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

It was really a tale of two sides for the Irish Saturday. While Notre Dame outgained the Cardinal 430 (6.4 yards per play) to 343 (5.3 yards per play) yards, the Irish failed to perform well in several of the most important statistical categories.

The usually effective Irish coverage units had mishaps and the return teams did little to help generate field position.

The Irish scored at a 50 percent clip when in the red zone but allowed Stanford to convert all three red zone appearances into touchdowns.

Despite holding Stanford to only 22.2 percent on third down, the Irish only converted 28.6 percent of their own attempts. Additionally, Stanford didn’t need three tries to pick up a first down for much of the day.

This game was certainly won in the turnover battle as Cardinal quarterback Tavita Pritchard threw three early interceptions (Stanford also had a meaningless fumble on the final play of the game). But the Irish protected the ball for the second straight week and capitalized on Pritchard's mistakes. After giving up nine turnovers in their first three games, Notre Dame has surrendered zero in their last two.

Offense

It all starts under center for the Irish as quarterback Jimmy Clausen had his second straight career game. With offensive coordinator Mike Haywood calling passes on about 60 percent of the snaps, Notre Dame seems determined to put the game in Clausen’s hands. Over the last two contests, against porous secondaries, the plan has worked well.

Despite this pass happy approach Notre Dame has even managed to control the ball the past two games, albeit only in the second half. Against Purdue the Irish managed a better than ten minute advantage in ball control. Against Stanford the time of possession advantage dwindled, but Notre Dame still managed to hold a six minute edge.

Clausen threw to seven different targets for 347 yards and three touchdowns, completing 72.5 percent of his passes. The Irish signal-caller turn in an efficient, high-powered, and productive day. Over the past two games Clausen has completed better than 65 percent of his passes for 622 yards and six touchdowns. He has also not thrown an interception through more than eight quarters of action.

For the game Clausen averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt and 12 yards per completion. For the year he is at 7.3 and 12 yards respectively. Both numbers are dramatically up from 2007. Clausen’s favorite targets Saturday were Michael Floyd, David Grimes, Kyle Rudolph, and Armando Allen, completing at least five passes to each.

Floyd caught five balls for 115 yards (23 yard per reception average) and a touchdown. On the year Floyd is averaging better than 66 yards per game and 15.9 yards per reception. Coupled with Golden Tate’s 79.4 yards per game and 17.3 yards per reception, Notre Dame packs a powerful one-two punch on the outside.

Grimes caught seven passes for 60 yards (8.6 yard per reception average) and Rudolph had a career day hauling in five balls for 70 yards (14 yard per reception average) and a touchdown. Finally, Allen became Clausen’s safety valve, catching seven passes for 66 yards (9.4 yard per reception average). Allen even managed to turn one short route into a touchdown.

With five different Irish players recording over ten receptions on the year, Notre Dame is starting to force defenses to cover the entire field.

The excellent pass protection continued for the Irish against the Cardinal. For the second straight week Notre Dame surrendered only a single sack. For the year the Irish are averaging one sack per game, or one per 34.2 pass attempts. That’s a phenomenal improvement from last year when Notre Dame gave up 4.8 sacks per game, or one per 6.7 pass attempts.

Although not as big-play potent as last week, Notre Dame still turned in seven big plays for 200 yards (28.6 yard per play average). For those out there keeping count, less than 10 percent of the Irish plays went for nearly half of the total offense against Stanford.

However, the Notre Dame offense also moved the ball more consistently than they had since the San Diego State game averaging 3.8 yards per play not counting the seven big plays.

Unfortunately, that is where the good ends and the bad (or really bad) begins.

Notre Dame continues to struggle getting into manageable third down situations. On the day the Irish offense faced third and five or more yards greater than 85 percent of the time. On the year the Irish suffer this fate at a better than 77 percent rate.

This is undoubtedly linked to Notre Dame’s poor third down efficiency. Against Stanford the Irish converted fewer than 30 percent of their third downs. On the year they haven’t fared much better, successfully gaining a first down on only 33.8 percent of their tries.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. After a break-out performance against Purdue, the Irish rushing attack reverted back to its dormant ways.

On the day Notre Dame recorded only 83 yards rushing on 27 attempts for a paltry 3.1 yard per carry average. Taking out the yards from the single sack, the rushing average peaks to 3.7 yards per carry. However, 23 yards came from a fake punt, bringing the "true" average back down to less than three.

There is no excuse for such an inept running game and in a close game (e.g. Michigan State) this will continue to haunt the Irish.

Defense

The defense played well in some facets of the game and not in others.

Unable to adjust to Stanford’s unbalanced offensive line early in the game, the Irish surrendered 161 yards on 37 carries for a 4.4 yard per carry average. Removing sack yardage tips the yards per carry value to 6.5. In fact, Notre Dame allowed four different Cardinal runners to average better than 4.5 yards per carry.

Only a substantial lead early in the game saved a defense incapable of stopping the Cardinal ground game. More problematic than an anemic rushing attack, the Irish defensive staff needs to find a way to stop the run.

Against Purdue, a team converting better than 90 percent of their red zone tries into points, Notre Dame’s defense buckled down inside their twenty and surrendered points only a third of the time. Against Stanford the Irish gave up a touchdown all three times the Cardinal offense penetrated the red zone.

There were, however, some bright spots. The Irish held the Stanford offense to a 22.2 percent third down conversion rate and forced them into five or more yards on 77.8 percent of the third downs. The primary problem was that Stanford faced only nine third downs.

Notre Dame’s defense gave up a relatively modest 115 yards (33.5 percent of the total offense) on five big plays for a 23 yard per play average. Nearly all of these big play yards came on the ground (four runs for 88 yards). However, even without the big plays Stanford matched the Irish per play average of 3.8 yards.

For the year the Irish are allowing more than 42 percent of opposing teams’ yardage to come from big plays at an average of 29.6 yards per play and 159.6 yards per game.

The Irish also allowed Pritchard to complete 64.3 percent of his passes for 182 yards. On the day, Pritchard was good for a 6.5 yard per attempt and 10.1 yard per completion average. Those attempt and completion averages aren’t jaw-dropping values, but they are hardly respectable.

Notre Dame did, however, have a productive day pressuring Pritchard as the Irish registered a sack for the first time since their week one game against San Diego State. On the day the Irish logged five quarterback sacks for 48 yards. For many, a shade over one sack a game isn’t what was expected from a Jon Tenuta led defense. Hopefully the performance Saturday is an omen of things to come.

Leading the way on the defensive side of the ball was a determined and disruptive Pat Kuntz. With a fumble return, interception, two sacks, and one batted ball, Kuntz had an incredible stat line in the box score.

Following behind Kuntz were Irish safeties Kyle McCarthy and David Bruton. McCarthy logged 14 tackles (seven solo), one tackle for a loss, and an interception. Bruton turned in nine tackles (5 solo) and an interception of his own. Both McCarthy and Bruton have played extremely well all season.

Special Teams

A Notre Dame team typically solid in coverage units wasn’t on Saturday. For much of the day the Cardinal intensity on special teams far exceeded that of their counterparts.

On the year Notre Dame is allowing only 6.2 yards per punt return and 15.7 per kickoff return. Saturday those numbers exceeded 11 and 22 respectively. In particular, the Irish allowed Stanford to have excellent field position via a 38 yard punt return in the fourth quarter and gifted the Cardinal excellent field position another time with a fair catch interference penalty.

The poor coverage units showed as the Irish averaged only 32.2 net yards per punt and 40.2 yards per kickoff. Both values are down from season averages of 39 and 47.2 respectively. Against a good running team a short field is a liability and Stanford proved this.

Notre Dame also averaged only 18 yards per kickoff rerturn and failed to successfully execute a single punt return.

But the most disappointing aspect of special teams is the continued problems in the place kicking game. On the year Notre Dame is now one of seven on field goal attempts. Despite only one attempt coming from fewer than 40 yards, a 14.3 percent field goal conversion rate is unacceptable and easily could have cost the Irish the game.

Summary

Notre Dame was victorious due to a decisive advantage in turnover margin. However, statistically speaking, the Irish did not play a complete game. If not for early Stanford turnovers and big plays that built a lead, a porous Irish run defense would have likely paved the way for a defeat.

The absence of an effective run game and inability to stop the run is a precursor to another loss for the Irish. It is inevitable that Notre Dame will be unable to successfully control the ball and run out the clock. Equally probable is another close game where the defense wears down and yields to a powerful running attack late in the contest.

Notre Dame vs. Stanford: Keys To An Irish Win

The Fighting Irish take on the Stanford Cardinal Saturday. Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh has injected a dose of energy into the program, maximizing the potential of his players.

The strength of the Cardinal is a potent rushing attack and the ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

Through five contests Stanford has rushed for 168.4 yards per game. Additionally, their top three backs are averaging greater than 5.3 yards per carry. This comes against competition that allows approximately 129 yards rushing per game at a rate of 3.8 yards per carry.

For the second straight week the Irish will face a very proficient red zone offense. The direct result of an effective running game, Stanford’s offense is converting 92 percent of red zone attempts into scores.

With an aggressive, blitzing defense similar to that of Notre Dame, Stanford has also recorded 15 sacks.

But that is really where the good ends and the problems begin.

This season, Stanford has passed for only 140 yards per game. The defense is allowing opponents to convert on third down nearly 50 percent of the time and surrenders points 88 percent of the time they enter the red zone. Finally, the Cardinal defense has allowed nearly 260 yards per game through the air.

For Notre Dame the game plan must feature a combination of things from the Michigan State and Purdue games.

Offense

1. Score early and often. While the Irish won’t face a running back of Javon Ringer’s caliber, Toby Gerhart and Anthony Kimble are more than capable runners who form a nice one-two punch for Stanford.

Stopping the run has been problematic for the Irish, giving up 4.6 yards per carry on the year. The strategy of the Irish offense must help mitigate this problem on defense.

As such, it is important to build a substantial early lead. This will force Stanford to abandon the run, instead relying on their anemic passing attack.

2. Be a control freak. Notre Dame must control the football and win the time of possession battle. Offensive coordinator Mike Haywood needs to abandon the vertical passing game on third down in favor of a more consistent, possession offense. This will keep the Irish defense fresh against the Cardinal rushing attack.

3. Be en vogue. The Irish obviously aren’t a run-first team. Against Purdue Notre Dame showed they could open up the run with the pass. It will be advantageous for Notre Dame to use their spread offense to open up the field and get running back Armando Allen space.

In conjunction with this, it is paramount for the Irish to be efficient in their execution. Against a team that turns virtually every red zone appearance into points, the offense must change field position and prevent turnovers in Irish territory.

Defense

1. Sell out. Notre Dame’s defense must shoot the gaps on first down and sell out against the run. The strength of the defense is defending the pass. The Cardinal struggle to execute in their passing game and frequently allow quarterback Tavita Pritchard to be pressured. Getting the Stanford offense in long down-and-distance situations will go a long way to utilizing Notre Dame’s biggest asset.

2. Force Pritchard to win the game. Pritchard is tasked with managing the game, being proficient, and providing relief for the Cardinal rushing attack. He isn’t challenged to win the game. Commit to stopping the run on first down, put the game in Pritchard’s hands, and go after him. Offensive tackle Chris Marinelli has provided all the ammunition needed for an already aggressive Irish defense.

3. Continue the red zone defense. Last game Purdue entered converting 90 percent of their red zone tries into points. Despite surrendering 462 yards of offense, the Irish defense only allowed Purdue to convert one of three red zone tries. This bend-but-not-break defense will be an asset against the Cardinal offense.