Notre Dame Football vs. New Mexico Gameday Primer

Everything you need to know before the No.7 ranked Fighting Irish take on New Mexico in the Notre Dame home-opener today.

After a somewhat stressful Week 1 matchup with a much improved Louisville team, Notre Dame moves on to face the New Mexico Lobos in South Bend. The Lobos will be without former Irish head coach Bob Davie, who is recovering from a health event he suffered during his team’s game last week against Sam Houston State.

Notre Dame moved up to No. 7 from the No. 8 slot in the polls this week, replacing Michigan, who moved down to No.10 after its performance against Army.

Kickoff: 2:30 pm EST

Channel: NBC

Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN

Line: Notre Dame -34.5

Weather: At kickoff, it will be about 72 degrees with 63 percent humidity. The forecast has the chance of rain at 10 percent, with winds ranging from 5-10 mph coming from the west.

Series History: No previous matchups.

Top storylines: 

• Without a doubt one of the most significant storylines heading into this otherwise not-so-exciting matchup is that Bob Davie will not be able to make his return to Notre Dame Stadium. Most remember Davie fondly and were hoping to see him back on the sidelines at Notre Dame but a recent health scare has made it not possible for him to do so.
• Another major storyline of the week is the injury bug that the Irish cannot seem to shake. Injuries to Jafar Armstrong, Jahmir Smith, Cole Kmet and Michael Young have hindered the squad offensively in a big way. That said, it appears Cole Kmet will play today.
• Lastly, can Ian Book and the Notre Dame offense improve and cover what looks to be a very large point-spread? New Mexico is not a good football team by any means and Notre Dame should run them into the ground, but that needs to be led by Book. His decision-making and pocket presence must improve greatly before the Irish head to Athens to play No. 3 Georgia on September 21.

Injury report: Injuries are starting to pile up for the Irish on the offensive side of the ball and they can’t afford to lose many more key players. Let’s take a look at who is banged up for Notre Dame’s  matchup against New Mexico.

• Notre Dame junior TE Cole Kmet returned to full 7-on-7 practice this week in full pads. He is nearing 100 percent as we head toward Saturday’s game. Kmet will see limited action as the Irish should roll over New Mexico, but Brian Kelly noted he did not want Kmet’s first live-action of the season to be against Georgia. Expect to see him on 3-5 series.
• Notre Dame junior WR Michael Young is still recovering from his collarbone injury and Kelly said this week that Young is about one week behind teammate Cole Kmet in his healing process. Young is not expected to play against either New Mexico or Georgia.
• Notre Dame junior RB Jafar Armstrong suffered a groin injury in just the second drive of the season against Louisville last Monday. It was clarified by Kelly this week that Armstrong tore his rectus abdominus. His timeline to return is anywhere from five weeks to a few months.
• Notre Dame redshirt freshman RB Jahmir Smith suffered a sprained toe in practice Saturday, but will be fine to play. He may receive a slightly smaller workload as he will be needed for Georgia, so look for Kyren Williams and C’Bo Flemister to earn some carries.
• New Mexico freshman QB Brandt Hughes suffered a shoulder injury against Sam Houston St. last Saturday and is listed as questionable. New Mexico has three other QBs it uses, so this should not affect the team greatly.

Key Offensive Player for New Mexico: Ahmari Davis, RB

Sophomore running back Ahmari Davis is going to need to be dangerous on the ground if New Mexico wants to stay in this game. Notre Dame showed a susceptibility against the run last week, and if New Mexico can exploit that as Louisville did, the Irish could be in for more of a competitive game than they initially thought.

Davis has tallied 107 yards on 16 carries and two TDs in Week 1. Averaging 6.7 yards per carry is quite impressive, even if it was against FCS Sam Houston State. Davis has breakaway speed and the Irish will need to be sure-tacklers this afternoon.

Key Offensive Player for Notre Dame: Tony Jones Jr., RB

Senior running back Tony Jones Jr. will be asked to carry the workload in the backfield today. Jafar Armstrong and Jahmir Smith both picked up injuries this past week, and the former will not be seeing the field for at least a month, while the latter could see limited carries if needed.

Throughout Jones’ career at Notre Dame, there have been few times he has been called on to be ‘RB1’ for the offense. There has always been a Josh Adams or Dexter Williams in his way, taking the bulk of the carries while Jones would normally be stuck with short-yardage carries or screen passes.

However, today the backfield is his. The only healthy running backs behind Jones at this point are freshman Kyren Williams and sophomore C’Bo Flemister. Avery Davis is also healthy, but he has just moved back to RB, so it is tough to tell if he will be involved.

In a feature role against Louisville last week after Armstrong went down, Jones racked up 110 yards on 15 carries and a score. Expect him to have another massive week against a New Mexico defense that gave up 110+ yards on the ground to Sam Houston State.

Key Defensive Player for New Mexico: Alex Hart, LB

Redshirt senior linebacker Alex Hart is the leader of this New Mexico defense. He has been through a lot in this up-and-down program and is a very resilient player. He will not be fazed by the big stage of playing Notre Dame in South Bend.

A big LB at 6’3″,, 230 pounds, Hart has the size and speed to cause problems for the Irish. He could be a huge part in trying to stop the Irish running game that dominated Louisville.

Key Defensive Player for Notre Dame: Asmar Bilal, LB

As a senior linebacker and a leader on the defense, Asmar Bilal simply has to be better against a team like New Mexico. He just has to. Bilal’s lackluster play was somewhat covered up by the stellar play of fellow LB Drew White and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. He looked sluggish and lost for most of the game last week and that simply must improve or Clark Lea must move on to a new option.

Jack Lamb, Shayne Simon and Bo Bauer are waiting in the wings for their opportunity.

If Bilal looks lost against New Mexico, it could spell bad news for him playing against Georgia. Georgia is no doubt Notre Dame’s biggest game of the season and there will be no room for error or sluggishness against the No. 3 team in the nation. Bilal should have it figured out by now and if he does not by game-time today, who knows what his future holds. His play will be key to watch.