Notre Dame Football: Top Storylines vs. Georgia Bulldogs

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ATHENS, GA – SEPTEMBER 14: D’Andre Swift #7 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs for 48 yards after a reception for a touchdown in front of Antonio Fletcher #14 of the Arkansas State Red Wolves during the first half of the game at Sanford Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

Georgia Run Game vs Irish Defense

It’s not a secret that Georgia’s offense has been clicking on all cylinders so far this season — averaging a little under 300 yards on the ground per contest, 8th most in the country. Conversely, the Notre Dame defense has, at times, looked like a broken engine.

Still finding their answers at linebacker after losing veterans Drue Tranquill and Te’von Coney to the NFL, while the defensive line hasn’t performed as expected with the returning talent, the unit is currently giving up 230 yards per game on the ground — good enough for 120th in the country (out of 130 teams).

It’s hard to spin that in any positive way other than the fact that it’s early in the year and the unit should improve as the season goes on.

It’s this seemingly huge mismatch that has many Irish fans worried, and for good reason. Being able to withstand and slow down the Georgia rushing attack for four quarters is going to be a huge task for Clark Lea and his group.

Forcing Georgia to throw the ball, and become more one-dimensional than they might want to would be a huge factor in Notre Dame pulling off an upset. In a situation where the Irish are in a hostile environment facing a tough opponent, the last thing they can let happen is for Georgia to control the line of scrimmage and wear down the defense as the game goes along.

The somewhat good news is the Bulldogs have yet to play a team with the talent that the Irish have through three games. Yes, that same talent is giving up 230 yards rushing per game and hasn’t faced a team as good as Georgia, but the group overall has more skilled players and is still better-coached — and that should be taken into consideration.

As a side note, a little mini-storyline will be the ability of the Notre Dame defensive line to find a way to get to quarterback Jake Fromm. A front line that returns NFL-caliber edge rushers in Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem has a combined four sacks in two games. They will have to disrupt Fromm and help the secondary to keep Georgia out of rhythm and the Irish in the game.

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