Notre Dame football vs. Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl: 3 bold predictions

Notre Dame football vs. Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl: 3 bold predictions

Notre Dame limits sacks

Oklahoma State leads the nation in sacks with 54. This is bad news for a team that ranks 97th in sacks allowed. However, the vast majority of these sacks occurred in the beginning of the year before Notre Dame settled on an offensive line. With the addition of Joe Alt and Andrew Kristofic to the lineup, the Irish offense performed much better.

However, with the loss of Josh Lugg, another variable enters the equation for the Fighting Irish. Blake Fisher, an ultra-talented freshman who is coming off an injury, will replace the long-time starter in Josh Lugg. The swap of Lugg for Fisher is intriguing. Fisher is more talented. However, he has less experience and is coming off an injury that he suffered in September against Florida State.

The range of Fisher’s play may fluctuate from high to low more than Lugg who stays consistently above average.

Fisher and Alt are future first-round NFL picks. Their size and athleticism are rare. They certainly have the ability to stand up to anything that Oklahoma State plans to throw at them including sack leader and fellow freshman defensive end Collin Oliver. Oliver leads the Cowboys in sacks with 10.5. Senior defensive end Brock Martin is second on the team with 7 sacks.