Notre Dame Football: Key Offensive Matchups vs. Northwestern
At 8-0, Notre Dame football goes on the road to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.
Coming off of another solid offensive performance, Notre Dame football is traveling to what could be its toughest road test to date.
Notre Dame dominated Navy all over the field last week, but this is a much better defense. Navy’s given up 440 yards per game, which is 104th in the country, but Northwestern averages just over 366 yards per game. That’s quite the swing.
The overall defense of Northwestern is far superior to Navy, so this may not be another 584 yard game for Notre Dame. Let’s look at some key matchups when the Irish have the ball.
Notre Dame offensive line vs Northwestern defensive line
Quite possibly the best unit on the team, the Notre Dame offensive line needs to stay as consistent as they’ve been all year. This may not be the best defensive line Notre Dame has faced this year, but it won’t be a walk in the park, either.
The Northwestern defense is giving up 146 yards per game on the ground, which is respectable, but they don’t really get to the quarterback often. They only have 12 sacks all season.
The top defensive lineman for the Wildcats (and also the top threat to get to Ian Book) is 6-4, 275 pound defensive end Joe Gaziano. Gazanio leads the team with 4.5 sacks as well as 8.5 tackles for loss. He’s accounted for 18 sacks in his career so he definitely knows how to get to the quarterback.
Opposite Gaziano is Sam Miller, who’s only a sophomore but has already shown superstar potential over two seasons. Miller already already has 39 tackles this year which is a higher total in eight games than all of last year.
Up the middle at defensive tackle are Jordan Thompson and Fred Wyatt who have 17 and 15 tackles, respectively. Thompson has two sacks, while Wyatt has yet to record one.
Don’t sleep on Earnest Brown, who although a depth player, does have a sack and a fumble recovery as well.
Overall, Northwestern has a good defensive line. Gaziano and Miller could create problems if they’re allowed any room to work at all. I don’t think those two by themselves are enough to give Northwestern the edge however. Northwestern is good, but Notre Dame is great.