Defenses expected to dominate Saturday in Notre Dame-BYU matchup
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
The fifth-ranked Irish have faced some good defenses this season, but none may be better than the one it will face at 3:40 p.m. Saturday in Notre Dame Stadium.
BYU, 4-3 overall, comes to town with an impressive defensive unit. The Cougars currently rank fifth nationally in total defense, allowing 260.86 yards per game, and seventh in scoring defense, permitting 13.57 points per contest. Furthermore, BYU is even more impressive against the run where it gives up a mere 67.86 yards on the ground. Only Alabama and Rutgers allowed opponents fewer yards rushing.
By comparison, as good as Notre Dame’s defense has been this season and it has been really good, the Irish rank 11th in yards allowed (287), second in points given up (8.67) and 25th against the run (113.5).
No doubt Notre Dame’s offense will have its hands full against this BYU defense.
Prior to last Saturday’s home loss to No. 10 Oregon State, 42-24 (a game that was tied 21-21 in the fourth quarter), BYU’s defense had allowed just four touchdowns in six games.
It’s a Cougar defense that last time out allowed 450 total yards, including 332 through the air. To be fair though to BYU, Oregon State does have one of the nation’s top 10 passing offenses. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has the 86th-ranked passing offense, gaining 206.5 yards through the air.
Playing good defense is nothing new for Cougar coach Bronco Mendenhall’s program. Last year, BYU’s defense was ranked 13th in total defense, allowing 313.4 yards. What’s really impressive was none of the final six opponents reached the 300-yard mark.
This year the Cougars have held six of their seven opponents to less than 300 total yards. Irish coach Brian Kelly compared playing BYU to playing yet another Big Ten team because of how physical the Cougars are.
The headliner on the Cougars’ defense is inside linebacker Brandon Ogletree, a team captain and Lott Trophy watch list honoree. He has a team-best 57 tackles, including 6.0 for loss.
It’s a BYU defense that, although it doesn’t generate a lot of turnovers, it puts pressure on opposing signal callers. The Cougars rank 13th in the country with 22 sacks this season. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who appears on both the Lombardi and Nagurski trophy watch lists, has accounted for more than half of those (7.5 to rank tied for 13th in the FBS).
BYU certainly has the defense to win big. Its problem has been on the other side of the ball.
Part of the Cougars’ issues on offense has been with injuries hitting their quarterback position.
Senior Riley Nelson, a transfer from Utah State, has played with an injured back most of the season. Since Nelson is called upon to run the ball often and considering he’s not the most physically imposing guy (6-feet, 199 pounds), protecting him game in and game out and to say the least challenging.
Nelson got banged up against Weber State and tried to play in the next two games, which turned out to be close road losses to Utah and Boise State, but was not effective.
He gave way to Taysom Hill, who shined in Nelson’s absence. However, Hill, who threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns this season, blew out his knee last in the 6-3 win over Utah State and Nelson was pressed back into service.
Nelson is completing 57.5 percent of his passes (92-of-160) and has thrown for 1,059 yards with six touchdowns.
Against Oregon State, Nelson struggled. He threw three interceptions (he has eight on the season). Nelson did finish with 305 passing yards, setting a new career high in completions (28) and attempts (51).
What BYU misses with Hill on the shelf is he was a better threat than Nelson running the football. Hill gained 336 yards rushing, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, and scored four TDs via the ground.
A couple of receivers to keep an eye on are junior Cody Hoffman, who has a team-high 41 grabs for 534 yards and a pair of scores this season, and junior tight end Kaneakua Friel, who has hauled in 23 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns.
Hoffman is the 13th player in BYU history to have at least 2,000 career receiving yards. He has 2,004.
BYU likes to distribute the ball somewhat evenly when running it, but you’ll see more of freshman back Jamaal Williams than anyone else. Although he’s very young, he’s talented. Williams averages 5.3 yards per carry (65 rushes for 345 yards) and has five rushing touchdowns.
Injuries have taken a toll on BYU’s depth at running back, too. Starter Michael Alisa broke his arm early in the Hawaii game. In pretty much four games, Alisa gained 222 yards and scored a touchdown.
BYU’s offense is generating about 400 yards per game to rank 71st nationally. Its pretty fairly balanced, too, with 173.57 coming on the ground (52nd nationally) and 223 through the air (68th).
What really hurts the offense is how prone it is to turnovers. BYU has 14 giveaways this season and ranks tied for 97th nationally in turnover margin (nine takeaways).
Another area of weakness for this BYU team is in the field goal department. Riley Stephenson and Justin Sorensen have combined to connect on 5-of-9 field goals in 2012 with a long of just 35 yards and one of their kicks has been blocked. In fact, the Cougars have only attempted one field goal of more than 40 yards this season (a 44-yarder against Utah).
Its punting game is much more effective. Stephenson is one of the nation’s best. He averages 46.53 yards per boot, good for fifth in the country.
BYU seems to have Notre Dame’s undivided attention or so that’s what Kelly claims.
Our kids turn on the film and look at BYU and go, ˜That’s a good football team,’ Kelly said. We are not turning on the film and looking at a team where kids go, ˜Oh, these guys can’t play.’
They are physical, play hard and play for four quarters.
My Take
Is this the proverbial trap game for the Irish? It could be, but I just think this team is so focused right now that it doesn’t have a letdown in its chemistry.
No doubt, Notre Dame is coming off a dramatic overtime victory against Stanford and most of the national pundits don’t give BYU a chance as they’ve already started to look ahead at next week’s showdown against Oklahoma in Norman.
I just think Kelly has his team in fact taking this magical run one game at a time and seizing the moment at hand.
As far as BYU’s chances in Notre Dame Stadium are concerned, the Cougars no doubt possess the kind of defense that can get the job done. Their offense though is cause for concern.
BYU has a banged up quarterback, relies on a freshman running back and is prone to turning the ball over with regularity in big games. That’s not the recipe for success against the Irish defense.
You would like to see Notre Dame’s offense get untracked, especially with a date with the Sooners looming.
Perhaps the Cougars will struggle again with ball security and create short fields for the Irish. And maybe just maybe that will be just what Notre Dame’s offense needs.
However, don’t expect the Irish to move up and down with regularity against this outfit. They’re good and it would be wise if Notre Dame protects the ball better than it did last week.
I really like the way the Irish defense is playing and think it will have a few big plays that will give Notre Dame a little breathing room in this one.
Notre Dame 24, BYU 3
ND Nuggets
– The Irish are favored by 13 points over the Cougars.
– Notre Dame leads its all-time series against BYU 4-2 with the last matchup resulting in a 49-23 Irish win in South Bend.
– According to The Weather Channel’s website, Saturday’s forecast calls for rain showers early with some sunshine later in the day. The high temperature in the South Bend area will be 55 degrees with a 50 percent chance of rain. It will be rather windy as winds are expected to be out of the west northwest at 15 miles per hour.
– Notre Dame is 6-1 in its last seven games decided by a touchdown or less.
– The Irish are the only team in the FBS to have already defeated three ranked opponents.
– Notre Dame has limited each of its past five opponents to less than 300 total yards. It’s the first time the Irish have held five consecutive foes to less than 300 yards of total offense since the 1989 Fiesta Bowl and the first four games of the ’89 season.
– The Irish defense has not allowed a touchdown in the last four games (16 quarters). It’s the longest streak by a Notre Dame defense since the 1980 defense did not allow a TD in 23 consecutive quarters.
