Notre Dame Looks to Handle Rice in Week 2
Via Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are looking to part with their early season woes against inferior competition with today's matchup against the Rice Owls.
As most Notre Dame fans know, the Irish are 0-3 against FBS opponents in Week Two during Freeman's tenure. Heartbreak losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois, and Texas A&M sent bone-chilling reality checks across the fanbase.
In this year's Week Two matchup, Rice presents an uncommon challenge: the Owls run an option offense out of the shotgun formation.
In a short week where the Irish have to master an odd-looking scheme, here are a few things Notre Dame needs to do to stave off another crushing defeat.
Start Hot, Stay Hot
In any game where there is a definitive favorite and underdog, the longer it stays close, the more it favors the underdog.
If this game resembles last week where the Irish weren't firing on all cylinders in the first half, then some of those flashback losses can re-enter the Fighting Irish faithful's brains.
The way Rice's offense is constructed, this game will play very similar to a matchup against Navy and Army. The Notre Dame offense will not get a lot of possessions, and Rice will try to dominate time of possession.
However, like past year's against the Midshipmen, if the Irish score on their first few possessions, it puts the opposition in an uncomfortable position: playing from behind and trying to throw the ball.
Expect CJ Carr to utilize his wide receivers in a bigger way this week against a less-athletic Owls secondary. If Rice drops two safeties like Wisconsin did last week, the Notre Dame running back room will have to continue to build on the improvements they made in the second half.
Ultimately if Notre Dame gets up early in the first quarter and doesn't let the Owls hang around, some of the little game letdown nerves can be eased.
Defensive Depth
In a relatively tight-matched game (for the first half) last week against Wisconsin, Notre Dame wasn't able to rotate a ton of young defenders, outside of defensive tackle.
With the losses of S Brauntae Johnson and DT Jason Onye, Notre Dame will showcase some new options in their highly-touted defense.
Transfers Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray shined in their limited snaps last week. Expect them to rise to a significantly bigger role alongside Armel Mukam, Elijah Hughes, and Sean Sevillano Jr.
At safety, Luke Talich will plug-and-place for Johnson's absence, but it will be interesting to see whether the Irish turn to five-star freshman Joey O'Brien or Ethan Long as the first to come off the bench this week. O'Brien received some snaps in the 4th quarter last week.
Backup Quarterback
It is hard to write this section given Freeman's struggles against lesser opponents, but in a dream world, this game is put away as the Irish enter their home tunnel for halftime.
If that is the case, Notre Dame can finally see who the first quarterback off the bench is and get them meaningful game reps.
From the depth chart provided by the Notre Dame Football Communications Department, it will be a true freshman: either Noah Grubbs or Teddy Jarrard.
Letting them get into the game and operate the offense is uber-important and something that is crucial to develop their skills in case of an emergency to Carr.
Predictions
With Marcus Freeman's well-documented Week Two struggles, I'd expect an Irish team coming out firing. Ultimately the downfall in two of those three losses (Marshall and NIU) came down to poor quarterback play, and I don't anticipate CJ Carr playing poorly. And for that reason, I expect the Irish offense to start humming. First, on the ground with Williams, James, and Young, and when the Owls put one extra man in the box, Notre Dame will able to finally connect on big plays through the air to Mylan Graham.
Notre Dame 52, Rice 10
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