Miami (OH) @ Notre Dame preview
Notre Dame Stadium
Miami (Ohio) will play its first ever game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, but a warm welcome doesn’t figure to be in the offing. The Irish are 59-15-1 against first-time stadium visitors and will be eager to atone for a 20-19 loss to Georgia in their last home contest on Sept. 9.
Notre Dame is off to a 3-1 start overall, and much of the credit belongs to the team’s opportunistic defense and highly efficient red-zone offense. The Irish have nine defensive takeaways and have turned those turnovers into 56 points while only allowing a field goal on five giveaways of their own. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame offense has come away with points on all 19 of its trips into the red zone, including 15 touchdowns. “Rushing yards don't really matter much, and passing yards don't matter much,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said after his team’s 38-18 win at Michigan State last Saturday. “But when you can take the football away and capitalize on it in the red-zone, those are the real numbers when you get down to it because they equal points and point differentials and they equal winning football games.”
TV: 5 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network. LINE: Notre Dame -21.5
ABOUT MIAMI (2-2): Seeking to defend their 2016 Mid-American East Division co-championship, the RedHawks bounced back from a late-game loss to Cincinnati with a 31-14 road win over Central Michigan in their MAC opener last week. Second-year starting quarterback Gus Ragland accounted for three touchdowns in the game and has thrown for eight scores and rushed for two more on the season while running back Kenny Young (three), wide receiver James Gardner and tight end Ryan Smith (two apiece) all have multiple TDs on the season as well. Linebacker Brad Koenig is the leader in tackles (33 total) for a defense which ranks in the nation’s top 33 in total defense (310.8 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (19.0), but will be without starting safety Tony Reid for the first half Saturday after he was ejected for targeting in the third quarter vs. Central Michigan.
ABOUT NOTRE DAME (3-1): Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush, a first-year starter, bounced back from an 11-of-24, 96-yard, one-interception showing against Boston College by completing 14-of-20 throws for 173 yards and a TD against Michigan State while also rushing for a score for the fourth time in as many games. Running back Josh Adams is a potent complement on the ground with 499 yards and a pair of TDs on 65 carries for a 7.7-yard average. Defensively, the Irish have forced nine turnovers and recorded eight sacks after finishing with only 14 of each all of last season and are allowing 18.5 points and 388 yards per outing.
EXTRA POINTS
1. This will be only the second meeting between the programs and the first since a 46-0 Notre Dame win on Nov. 14, 1909.
2. Miami coach Chuck Martin spent four years as a Notre Dame assistant under Kelly, including two years as the team’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2012-13, before assuming the RedHawks’ helm.
3. Hall of Fame coach Ara Parseghian, who coached nationally ranked teams at both schools, will be honored throughout the weekend in South Bend. Parseghian died on Aug. 2 at the age of 94.
PREDICTION: Notre Dame 34, Miami 14