The only real opponent game I could find for Notre Dame was USC (I am limited by the youtubes). There isn't anything fancy or flashy about them. On defense they're going to line up in a even front, 4-3 and play man. They really like their one corner who will play more on-man or press man than the other, but they will go man across the board. No one in their front 7 really stands out. They're not big, they're not fast. The secondary is where their bread is buttered. Their safeties will come flying up the field on the bubbles and tunnels (I'm waiting for us to go screen and go one time). Our man coverage beaters need to be on (I don't think I've seen UGA run mesh a single time this year for some reason but that's another post). Any type of double tight or tight/wing formation they'll have 8 in the box, and I still think you can run on them then. USC hurt them with H back insert and double insert which is something we've been doing a little more of lately. They're not soft up front, there's just nothing special about their front 7. They don't blitz a lot but they will slant and stunt their defensive linemen, which is what you have to do when you're smaller.
On offense it's very similar. Not a whole lot of layered pass concepts. It's pick/rub routes and I don't think any of their receivers scare me. Their QB is not afraid to tuck it and run and he's pretty good at that. Our scheme where we pressure with 5 and have Jalon eyeing the QB and triggering whenever he commits will create big plays for us on defense. They haven't seen anyone with near our team speed on defense. They're pretty vanilla. It's tough to say how good their offensive line is because USC defense is just bad. Notre Dame's offensive running stats aren't eye popping but their running back is fairly quick and he's tough. He's not afraid to stick his nose in. I would bet that they'll run the Q on the zone read early to see how we defend it; early stops in the game will be critical for us to set the tone and make them adjust to what we do. I think we can go man on them and just load up against the run and force them to try and beat us with the Q's arm- probably what they will do to us with their defense as well but I like our run game more. We have more diversity and explosiveness there then they do. I think we match up very well with what they do on offense. Having Mykel or Jalon bust up their QB early would be great because he's never seen anyone with our size and speed combination.
On offense it's very similar. Not a whole lot of layered pass concepts. It's pick/rub routes and I don't think any of their receivers scare me. Their QB is not afraid to tuck it and run and he's pretty good at that. Our scheme where we pressure with 5 and have Jalon eyeing the QB and triggering whenever he commits will create big plays for us on defense. They haven't seen anyone with near our team speed on defense. They're pretty vanilla. It's tough to say how good their offensive line is because USC defense is just bad. Notre Dame's offensive running stats aren't eye popping but their running back is fairly quick and he's tough. He's not afraid to stick his nose in. I would bet that they'll run the Q on the zone read early to see how we defend it; early stops in the game will be critical for us to set the tone and make them adjust to what we do. I think we can go man on them and just load up against the run and force them to try and beat us with the Q's arm- probably what they will do to us with their defense as well but I like our run game more. We have more diversity and explosiveness there then they do. I think we match up very well with what they do on offense. Having Mykel or Jalon bust up their QB early would be great because he's never seen anyone with our size and speed combination.
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