Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Football: Three Storylines vs Northwestern

By Connor McJunkin

SAN DIEGO, CA - OCTOBER 27: Helmets of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish near the bench area in the 2nd half against the Navy Midshipmen at SDCCU Stadium on October 27, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - OCTOBER 27: Helmets of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish near the bench area in the 2nd half against the Navy Midshipmen at SDCCU Stadium on October 27, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
Notre Dame football
SAN DIEGO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly walks onto the field at the end of regulation against the Navy Midshipmen at SDCCU Stadium on October 27, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football is sitting at 8-0 and face a tough Northwestern team this Saturday. Here are the top storylines for this week’s matchup.

Notre Dame football got past its first test of the second half of the season last week, taking down Navy 44-22. The Irish offense bounced back nicely after the struggles two weeks prior vs. Pittsburgh, and the defense pitched a first half shutout. It was a nice team win to get the momentum rolling for this late season push to the playoff.

The situation hasn’t changed and won’t change moving forward when it comes to Notre Dame making the College Football Playoff. The first playoff rankings were released on October 30, and the Irish landed in the No. 4 spot behind Alabama, Clemson, and LSU. Many thought the Irish shouldn’t have been leap-frogged by a one-loss LSU team, but that outrage is a waste of time. There are still five weeks of football left to be played, including conference championships. Teams will lose and these rankings will look different every week.

For Notre Dame, however, the formula is simple. Keep winning. That is the easiest way to take the control out of the voter’s hands and keep your name out of the “best one-loss team” discussion. As long as this team keeps rolling, they are in a great spot to make their first ever College Football Playoff.

The next step towards that goal is beating Northwestern. This is a game many had circled before the season started as a potential trap game for the Irish. Over the last three seasons, the Wildcats are 27-12 with two 10-win seasons, and are 2-1 in bowl games.

They are currently 5-3 and have won four straight since losing to Michigan 20-17 earlier in the year. They are a bit of a mystery, having double digit wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin, but barely getting by vs Rutgers, Nebraska, and dropping a game to Akron. They are currently ranked a respectable 51st in total defense and giving up 23 points per game. On the opposite side of the ball, they are 96th in total offense and have the 127th ranked rushing offense in the country.

The Wildcats have the talent and experience to make this a game. They are a tough, physical team who have already played three ranked Big 10 opponents and won’t shy away from a top-ranked Irish team.

It will be another game the Irish are more talented in all-around and should dominate on paper, but could also be a much closer game than most would guess. Here are the top storylines to watch for this weekend vs Northwestern.

Home/Notre Dame Football