Hitting the road for the first time in nearly a month, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish face a dangerous challenge against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday. The Irish enter the game as slightly more than a touchdown favorite but will have to deal with a noisy crowd in a domed environment at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Both teams have shown that they can score points, though the running games have done much of the damage to their respective offenses. At 5-2, Georgia Tech is in a position where an upset can put them in contention for a prominent bowl. Meanwhile, the 5-1 Irish need to keep winning to help bolster their credentials for a postseason playoff berth.
Below are some of the numbers to consider on Saturday:
Run Don’t Walk
Notre Dame’s offensive success has primarily relied on the run, though recent games have seen more attention paid to developing the passing attack. Still, having the running game in sync will not only keep the ball out of Tech’s hands but also bode well for the Irish’s chances of walking away with a victory.
In Notre Dame’s one loss and its tightest win, the Louisville victory, the Irish struggled to establish a running attack, averaging just 4.07 yards per carry. In stark contrast, the other four wins saw Notre Dame runners chew up plenty of yardage, averaging 6.92 yards per carry.
A similar story can be told with the Yellow Jackets, with their two losses due in part to difficulties in setting up the run. From a per-carry perspective, those defeats weren’t noticeably different, with a 5.81 average in the losses and 6.07 in the wins. What does stand out, however, is that the past two wins have seen Tech roll up slightly more yardage than in the past three victories, 616 to 605.
Notre Dame’s defense will be challenged to neutralize their potent Yellow Jackets weapon, though simply keeping the yardage in check may be its best hope. Interestingly, the two teams have nearly allowed the same amount of rushing yardage in their five wins, with Notre Dame giving up 538 and Tech 535. Not surprisingly, the worst performance against the run for the Irish came in the Northern Illinois loss. In Tech’s two defeats, its defense largely held its own but was victimized by the passing game.
Bringing Heat
The Notre Dame pass rush is at its peak midway through the season and needs to keep up that consistency on Saturday. After the first two games, the Irish had picked up just one sack and were coming off getting shut out in the loss to Northern Illinois. That embarrassment appears to have lit a fire under this group, with 15 sacks collected in the ensuing four games, all victories.
For Georgia Tech, two-thirds of its nine sacks on the year have come in two games, including three last Saturday against North Carolina. The correlation between sacks and wins is just as pronounced for the Yellow Jackets, with all but one of those takedowns coming during the team’s five victories.
On the offensive side, Notre Dame’s line has yet to record a no-sack game, allowing nine quarterback takedowns on the year. Ironically, the unit has improved since the Purdue injury onslaught forced two starting lineup changes, with just one sack allowed in each of the last three contests. Tech’s inconsistency in getting to the quarterback may offer the Irish the chance to finally keep Leonard upright for the entire game.
Despite the success enjoyed by Notre Dame’s sack pack, it’s facing a Yellow Jacket offensive line that’s only given up a single sack all year. That number has been achieved even though Tech averages 29 pass attempts per game. While the Yellow Jackets hope to rely on its runners, the Irish’s chances of winning could improve if they can deliver some takedowns.
Ain’t That a Kick
Whether Saturday’s game will be decided by the respective kicking games is unknown right now. Yet, the Irish could be in a dicey situation if Mitch Jeter’s injured groin keeps him out against Tech. He’s made all 28 of his extra points and his three field goals in the opening win at Texas A&M were important pieces of that victory puzzle. The South Carolina transfer has been strong from inside midfield, which is an uncertain distance for potential replacements, Zac Yoakam and Marcello Diomede. Both of them are walk-ons.
The situation for the Yellow Jackets isn’t quite as pressing, with Aidan Burr ready to test his otherwise healthy leg against Notre Dame. Yet, Burr’s inconsistency may keep him from being trotted out in certain situations. That would force Tech to either go for it on fourth down or punt the ball away. The reason is that he’s connected on all five attempts within the opposing 40, but has hit on just one of six tries from beyond that distance.
