Notre Dame football vs. Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl: 3 bold predictions
By Andrew Hall
Notre Dame football vs. Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl: 3 bold predictions
The Fighting Irish force several turnovers
The Notre Dame football ranks 18th in the country in turnovers forced. This season, the Irish intercepted 15 passes and recovered 8 fumbles. Oklahoma State ranks 77th in giving the ball away. Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders has been intercepted 12 times including 4 times against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship.
Sanders can be rattled. In addition to his poor Big 12 Championship performance, Sanders was intercepted multiple times by Baylor (regular season) and Oklahoma. In comparison, Jack Coan has not thrown more than one interception in a game this season. Basically, whenever Sanders has played a quality defense, he has struggled to protect the football.
To overcome what might be a pedestrian offensive performance, Notre Dame needs to find other ways to score or give the Irish offense short fields. Forcing turnovers is a perfect opportunity to do that. Notre Dame has the scheme and the defensive front needed to throw Sanders off his game.
Generating a turnover off of Sanders is almost guaranteed. However, it will be much more difficult ripping the ball free from a wide receiver or running back. Oklahoma State has only lost 6 fumbles this season.