Notre Dame Football: Three bold predictions for the Irish vs. Bowling Green
By Chase Eyrich
At 3-1, Notre Dame’s playoff hopes are still very much alive. Standing at No. 9 in the polls and as the highest-ranked one-loss team, Notre Dame football has zero room for error.
While this weekends matchup with Bowling Green won’t be the bump in the road that derails everything, it’s certainly an important game for the Notre Dame football team.
From this game, Notre Dame’s coaching staff will want two things. First, they want to come out injury-free. Secondly, prepare for the future.
Of course, Notre Dame will want to try some things out this week with the vision of being able to accomplish later this season. But the likely blowout also provides a great opportunity for the future Notre Dame starters to get valuable playing time on the field as well.
The ultimate goal is for the starters to play only one half, if not less.
The Irish come into this game as a lofty 45-point favorite. The only real reason why Notre Dame may fall short of that is dependent on the second string players later in the game.
Just as they did to start the season, injuries have continued to be a storyline for Notre Dame. The Irish came into the season without Michael Young and Cole Kmet. Now both are back and making their impact.
Just as soon as they made their returns to the field, others quickly replaced them on the injury list. Chase Claypool has suffered an ankle injury and will take a few weeks to get back to full speed. Defensively, Daelin Hayes was lost for the season and Shaun Crawford will be sidelined for three to four weeks.
While these are relatively important injures for the Irish, this week is a great opportunity for other players to get their footing.
Despite the undermanned opponent, there is still plenty to talk about for the Irish. For that reason, we prepare as we do every week with three bold predictions vs. Bowling Green.