CFB: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Week 12 Preview
By Stiofán Mac Fhilib
Last week should have been a signature win for the Fighting Irish. In fact, it was barely a blip on the radar. Notre Dame will be hoping Virginia succumbs with such ease in Week 12. Let’s dig into our weekly dose of Irish news.
Looking Back at Last Week
Notre Dame once again performed well and won, coming off a bye week under Marcus Freeman. They handed Florida State their ninth loss of a sorry, sorry season as they beat the Seminoles for the fourth straight time, 52-3. It wasn’t the smoothest offensive showing of the year for the Irish, with a couple of punts and a missed FG in the first half. However, they improved after the break, scoring on all four possessions in the final 30 minutes, even when backup QB Steve Angeli was throwing and handing the ball off to walk-ons.
Riley Leonard looked slightly off at times, though several poor drops didn’t help him. That said, he rushed for 70 yards and a pair of TDs while still throwing for over 200 yards and a TD to TE Mitchell Evans just before the half. RB Jadarian Price watched Leonard run for a 34-yard TD in the first quarter and raised him a 65-yard TD scamper in the second. On a day when Jeremiyah Love wasn’t at his best, Price and Leonard did their bit to lead Notre Dame to over 190 yards on the ground for the seventh time in nine games this season.
WR Jaden Greathouse had his best outing of the season to date, snagging five catches for 66 yards. If Leonard can get him the ball more regularly down the home stretch, that will bode well for ND’s passing game.
The defense meanwhile was its usual suffocating self. After an opening drive where FSU were able to run the ball effectively though without significant gains, before eventually being held to a short FG, the Seminoles punted on their remaining five drives in the first half. In the second they went INT, turnover on downs, punt, punt, pick-six. They managed 44 yards passing against Notre Dame’s first-team defense in three and a bit quarters and just 88 overall.
The biggest concern for the Irish was seeing sixth-year DT Howard Cross hobble off with an ankle injury, which looks like keeping him out for several weeks. Almost immediately, his experienced teammate alongside him, Riley Mills, made two sacks in quick succession and then a third later. By the end, ND had got to the Seminoles QB eight times on an afternoon they will want to quickly forget.
The Week Ahead
Virginia Cavaliers (Notre Dame Stadium); 3.30pm EST; 8.30pm GMT
Notre Dame will face the Cavaliers for only the fifth time on Saturday, having won all four previous encounters. Virginia, in their third season under former Clemson OC Tony Elliott, is 5-4 and coming off a 24-19 upset of a ranked Pittsburgh team. That followed a run of three successive losses, including a pair to two of the best teams on the Cavs’ 2024 schedule, Louisville and Clemson.
On offense they have some talented and dangerous skill position players. WR, Malachi Fields, already has almost twice as many yards as Notre Dame’s leading receiver. Expect him to be targeted deep, even on 50:50 balls, if the Cavs’ OL can provide the necessary pass protection for long enough. RB, Xavier Brown, averages 6.4 YPC and can make men miss in the open field.
QB Anthony Colandrea is a dual threat but his accuracy can be questionable, and he throws too many balls up for grabs. When you combine a suspect OL, that has given up 23 sacks in the last four games, with having to face one of the very best pass defenses in all of college football, then it could prove to be a long and uncomfortable afternoon in South Bend.
Defensively the Cavs have been average this season, which is progress on Elliott’s first two years. They have a tendency to sell out to stop the run and that would seem the obvious tack to take when facing Leonard, Love and Price. Notre Dame’s ability to hurt them via the air on early downs, effectively passing to set up the run, will be crucial to an Irish victory.
One bright spot is on Special Teams, where Virginia possess one of the better kickers in college football, Will Bettridge, who is 17 of 19 on FGs for the season. And, of course, ND fans will all remember Chris Tyree’s famous 97-yard kick-off return in an Irish jersey against Wisconsin at Soldier Field. The Virginia native returned home after graduating from Notre Dame though he has yet to enjoy the same success on returns so far this year.
Game Prediction
Notre Dame 41-10 Virginia
The Irish have sometimes played sluggishly on Senior Day but against a Cavs team with a weak defense and pedestrian offense, ND should be able to close the game out in relative comfort. 21 points would likely be more than enough for victory, but in style points season, Marcus Freeman will want at least double that and the Irish should at the very least come close to that.
Where to Watch
Sky Sports NFL (Channel 408 on Sky); coverage starts at 8.30pm GMT
NBC (in the USA)
Playoff Picture
Miami’s first defeat of the season last weekend, coupled with Georgia falling at Ole Miss, combined to see the Irish rise to #8 in the college football playoff committee rankings during the week. At this stage it seems fairly safe to say that if Notre Dame win out then they will be in the 12-team field. The main question remaining in that scenario is would ND host a first-round playoff game at home.
That would likely require several teams currently above them to lose. Texas, Penn State, Indiana and Tennessee are perhaps the teams most vulnerable to falling below ND with a regular season defeat. The only one realistically in play this weekend is the Volunteers, who travel to Georgia, where the hosts could well be eliminated from playoff contention with a third loss.
STIOFÁN MAC FHILIB
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A VERY LONG-DISTANCE SUBWAY ALUMNUS OF NOTRE DAME, COUNTY ANTRIM-BASED STIOFÁN HAS BEEN A FAN OF THE FIGHTING IRISH SINCE 2000. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SMACFHILIB.