Notre Dame Football: 3 questions heading into Wake Forest
The Notre Dame football team has a number of questions that need answers as the Fighting Irish head into a contest against Wake Forest later today.
It’s been three weeks since the Notre Dame football has won a game. That’s a bit misleading of course, with the bye week. But it’s still been a while since Fighting Irish fans got to savor a win.
Interestingly, there is quite a bit in common with the Irish’s opponent today and the last team Notre Dame beat. At the top of the list is that Vegas believes Marcus Freeman and company should blow out Wake Forest.
The last time Notre Dame football was this big a favorite over an ACC opponent, they went out and blew the doors off of Pittsburgh. In fact, they beat the Panthers so badly that their head coach publicly questioned their talent level.
With that said, the Golden Domers have some questions heading into the game against the Demon Deacons. There are some things that will need to be answered affirmatively in order for the Irish to win.
Will the Notre Dame football wide receivers finally step up?
There was a time this season when you could blame the offensive struggles on the wide receiver corps being hurt. Jayden Thomas and Jaden Greathouse injuries were thought to be the problem with the passing game.
They’re both back now and the passing game has still been mostly bad. Can the Irish get off the snide against Wake? And if they do, can they sustain it for the rest of the season?
How does Sam Hartman play against unfamiliar foe and familiar friend?
The second half of this season has been a kind of “this is your life” tour for quarterback Sam Hartman. Today will be the culminationation of that tour with a team the signal-caller has never played against, because he’s spent his career playing for them.
Does he come out looking like the gunslinger Notre Dame football thought they got in the transfer portal? Or does he look timid as he has far too often down the stretch?
How many interceptions will Xavier Watts have
Notre Dame football fans likely know that Xavier Watts leads the nation in interceptions. What they probably don’t realize is how many of his seven interceptions have come in the last calendar month.
Going into the USC game, Watts had just two interceptions on the season. Then he had two against the Trojans, two against Pittsburgh, and one against Clemson.
When Wake Forest quarterback Mitch Griffis throws a pick, he tends to do it in bunches. He has seven picks this season and he has two multi-interception games. Will Watts be able to take advantage of the freshman quarterback? Notre Dame football is certainly hoping so, considering Watts’ multiple interception games tend to lead to big wins.