Notre Dame football: Irish need to attack BYU on the ground
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team will take on a ranked opponent out of their bye week, and they should be able to move the ball on the ground vs BYU.
The Notre Dame football team had their bye week in Week 5, as they will wait until their next matchup against BYU. For the Irish, the bye could not have come at a worse time, as they were finally starting to roll on offense, especially on the ground.
During their convincing victory against North Carolina, the Irish ate up the yardage on the ground, led by fantastic true sophomore Audric Estime. Getting a bulk of the carries for a second straight week, Estime ran wild over the Tar Heels, rushing for a career-high 134 yards on 17 carries, while scoring twice.
As a whole, the Irish ran wild against North Carolina, rushing for nearly 300 yards, and dominating the line of scrimmage. Against BYU, the Irish need to utilize the same game plan, as the Cougars are very susceptible against the run, and that could lead to another huge day for Estime and company.
Notre Dame football starting to get the ground game going
BYU is currently ranked in the top-20, and are likely to jump a few spots after beating Utah State on Thursday night. However, Utah State was able to run against this BYU defense, and with a more talented team like Notre Dame football getting their crack at it next Saturday, another 250-plus effort could be coming from the unit that includes Estime, Chris Tyree, and Logan Diggs.
With Drew Pyne at quarterback, the threat of a running quarterback diminishes more than if Tyler Buchner was healthy, but the running back group has picked up the slack. if the Irish can run the ball, and control the clock, they should have their first victory against a ranked team under their belt, and possibly make a move up the AP Poll.