After veering from a horrible to a near-perfect performance, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hope for a steady course toward victory on Saturday. That’s when they’ll host the Miami of Ohio Redhawks in which the Irish hope to capture their first home victory of the season. That was supposed to happen against Northern Illinois, another MAC school, but that result instead served as an early reality check.
The RedHawks will be looking for their first win period after dropping their first two contests. The most recent came in a 27-16 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, with Miami’s potentially potent offense still looking for its first outburst of the season. Currently, they’re averaging a mere 11 points per game in 2024. After facing the Irish, they have one more non-conference contest before starting MAC play.
Below are some of the key matchups to watch for on Saturday:
QB Riley Leonard vs. Miami of Ohio Defense
Leonard unleashed most of his damage against Purdue with his legs, rushing for 100 yards and scoring three touchdowns. The most impressive of these scores was the 34-yard scamper that boosted the Irish advantage to 21-0. He’s still looking for his first Notre Dame touchdown pass. However, given the RedHawks’ vulnerability against the run, the ground game may again take precedence.
Miami’s defensive unit has had trouble stopping opposing runners in its two defeats. This unit is allowing an average of 5.6 yards per carry and gave up a total of 215 yards in the Cincinnati loss. Keeping tabs not only Leonard but the one-two rushing punch of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price will serve as a huge challenge for the RedHawks.
Notre Dame Defense vs. Brett Gabbert
After struggling against Northern Illinois, Irish defenders delivered a commanding performance against Purdue. Notre Dame has only allowed one touchdown in each of its three games and completely shut down the Boilermakers in third-down situations, allowing only one first down in 13 attempts. They can expect an air assault from Gabbard on Saturday.
Gabbert is a potential candidate to make in the NFL but his main problem with the RedHawks has been staying healthy. Last season ended in October after a nasty leg injury. He’s in his sixth season at Miami but has only reached double-figures in games played twice. This season, he’s thrown for 566 yards but his two touchdown tosses have been countered by three interceptions.
RB Jeremiyah Love vs. MLB Ty Wise
Love is making the most of his chance to shine after gaining 279 yards in the first three games. He’s only 106 yards away from matching his 2023 output, something he might accomplish on Saturday. Against Purdue, he showed off moves and speed in tallying the first Notre Dame score and has reached the end zone in all three Irish games. This year, he’s gaining eight yards every time he carries the ball.
Wise has already made 13 stops in two games and collected three tackles-for-loss. Last year, he had a breakout season with the RedHawks after beginning his collegiate career at Indiana. He finished with 122 tackles, including nine behind the line. His hard-hitting style also forced a fumble and he can also be a threat in passing situations after five pass breakups last year.
CB Benjamin Morrison/Chrisitan Gray vs. WR Cade McDonald
Morrison and his partner Christian Gray didn’t have much trouble in the Purdue blowout, with the Boilermakers completing just 11 passes and throwing for only 124 yards. They should be much more active this week considering that Gabbert has already aired the ball out 72 times, with McDonald his favorite target.
McDonald is averaging eight catches per game and is already halfway past his 28-catch effort from all of last season. He started out at Michigan State back in 2019 but never saw much action in four seasons with the Spartans. Gabbert may try to spread his throws around but McDonald has already broken the century mark in each game for receiving yards.
TE Mitchell Evans vs. WLB Matt Salopek
Evans’s progress in getting back to his pre-injury form continues. After getting his bearings back in the opener against Texas A&M, he’s caught five in the past two games, including three against Purdue. Before last year’s injury, Evans was developing into another in the long line of excellent Irish tight ends. On Saturday, he’s likely to do battle with not only Salopek but strong safety Eli Blakey as well.
In truth, Salopek is likely to be all around the field during the contest. His numbers over the past three seasons as well as this year help explain his nickname of The Tackling Machine, with the sixth-year senior collecting 398 stops, including 19 this year. He’s made his share of stops behind the line but is versatile enough to duel it out with Evans.
Just watched the Connor Stallions documentary on Netflix. The guy is a freak. If his system is legit, than he’s really smart and Notre Dame need to do this.
If he really did pay people to attend other games then he’s crooked.
But Notre Dame needs at least a good method to make sure their signes are protected. I know this is changing but it does seem Notre Dame has often seen opponents now what the play is.