Notre Dame Football: Top Offensive Matchups vs. Virginia
After a tough loss at Georgia, the Notre Dame offense will look to regroup against a talented Virginia squad in South Bend this weekend.
Virginia is currently 4-0 with wins against Florida State and Pitt on their resume. Part of the reason for their record to start the season and No. 18 ranking is their impressive defense. They have accumulated 20 sacks as a whole already, while also having one of the best defensive players in all of college football in the back end of their defense. Here is what we should expect this coming Saturday when Notre Dame has the ball.
Notre Dame Offensive Line vs. Talented Virginia Pass Rush
As mentioned in the intro, Virginia already has 20 sacks through 4 games this season. They also have 39 tackles for loss. The offensive line for Notre Dame that showed up against Georgia will need to show up on Saturday as well. If they don’t it, could be a long day for Ian Book. A lot of their sacks come from unconventional sources as, nine of them come from their two starting inside linebackers — Jordan Mack and Zane Zandier — and their free safety, Joey Blount.
However, their pass rush is performing strongly by itself , with six combined from two of their best outside linebackers, Charles Snowden and Noah Taylor.
Notre Dame will be the best offensive line Virginia sees to date and likely this season, therefore, the Irish uglies should be just fine and exude some confidence after last week.
Chase Claypool vs. Bryce Hall
If Hall would have declared for the draft last season, he very likely would have been selected in the first round and been the first corner taken. He chose to stay for his senior season, setting up a terrific matchup on Saturday between two of the best at their positions in college football. So far this season, Claypool has 15 receptions and 2 touchdowns in 3 games played — while generally towering over his counterparts. Although he still has the height advantage on Hall, the Virginia defensive back is a lengthy corner with top notch NFL attributes.
A quarter of the way through the season, and Hall hasn’t been tested much. With that said, he has been active in other ways — with one sack and three tackles for loss. He can diagnose screens and come up and make stops closer to the line of scrimmage, so Claypool’s blocking could be put to the test as well. Fortunately, that is something he takes pride in.
The NFL scouts in attendance might want to pay special attention to this specific matchup most of the night.
Irish Running Backs vs. Virginia Front Seven
Obviously, the Notre Dame run game hasn’t been anything to write home about thus far. However, this isn’t Georgia and the offensive line looks to be rounding into form. It is time for Tony Jones Jr. and company to leave a mark on opposing defenses and provide some balance to the offense while Jafar Armstrong is out. Jones had a solid week 1, but during the New Mexico and Georgia games, the traditional run game was nearly invisible.
Next. The Virginia game will show who Notre Dame really is. dark
The Virginia linebackers are good, and the Virginia defense is only allowing an average of 75 yards per game on the ground. It is a tough matchup, but Notre Dame is the more talented team in all facets. They need to lineup on every down and prove that. The sweeps and push passes are a nice way to supplement the run and pick up chunks, but the running backs also need to consistently pick up yardage between the tackles. This will be a nice test for them.