Tulsa @ Notre Dame preview

Tulsa and Notre Dame meet for the first time Saturday as the Golden Hurricane visit Notre Dame Stadium.

Tulsa, out of Conference USA, enters 4-3 while the Irish are 4-4 following last week’s 35-17 loss to Navy.

Led by quarterback G J Kinne, Tulsa ranks eighth nationally in total offense with 492 yards per game and is averaging a robust 38.4 points. Kinne, a junior transfer from Texas, has completed nearly 60 percent of his throws for 1,855 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s having an even better season than he did last year, when he threw for more than 2,700 yards and 22 scores.

Tulsa’s fourth-year head coach, Todd Graham, opened with consecutive 10-win seasons at the school, then the Golden Hurricane slipped to 5-7 last year. His spread offense has been consistently effective, but defense has been a problem. Tulsa ranks last nationally in pass defensive, giving up 330 passing yards per game.

Coach Brian Kelly also brought a spread offense to Notre Dame, and it has been nearly as effective. Dayne Crist has tossed 15 touchdown passes while completing nearly 60 percent of his throws. But he was intercepted twice against Navy.

The Irish have been devastated by injuries the last two weeks, losing receivers Kyle Rudolph, Michael Floyd, and Theo Riddick. The trio accounted for 110 receptions. Only Floyd, who has a hamstring injury, has a chance to play Saturday. Notre Dame will rely more on leading rusher Armando Allen, who has run for 514 yards.

Defensively, the Irish are nearly as bad as Tulsa. Notre Dame gave up 367 rushing yards last week in losing to Navy for the third time in four years. Alexander Teich shredded Notre Dame’s defense for 210 rushing yards.

It wasn’t the fault of sophomore linebacker Manti Te’o. He leads the Irish and ranks second nationally with 92 tackles.

Nose guard Ian Williams suffered a knee injury against Navy and will be out four to six weeks. It was another big blow to a team that probably needs to win Saturday to reach a bowl.

The Irish still must host Utah and play at USC in addition to their annual meeting with Army.