No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs Preview
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
*RNG’s college football game of the week preview as voted upon by the fans on Twitter!
The best college football game of the 2019 season is going down on Saturday when No. 7 Notre Dame (2-0) travels to Athens to face No. 3 Georgia (3-0). The game pitting two of college football’s bluebloods against one another will not only attract a national audience but may help define how the College Football Playoff teams are selected at the end of the conference championship season.
The Fighting Irish head to Georgia after two easy tune-up games taking down Louisville (35-17) and New Mexico (66-14). In Week 3, Notre Dame had their way with the Lobos compiling 591 yards of total offense with 434 coming in the aerial attack led by Ian Book’s 360-yard five-touchdown performance without a pick while adding a rushing score. The Irish’s defense has been stingy holding teams to 16 points on average.
The Bulldogs’ offense has steamrolled through the first three games working their way into one of the best units in the nation averaging 565 yards per game. The unquestioned leader of the offense is quarterback Jake Fromm. Fromm has been on point completing 75 percent of his passes for 601 yards with five touchdowns and has yet to thrown an interception this season. Georgia’s defense is doing their part making life easier for the offense holding the opposition to an average of eight points per game, third best in the FBS ranks.
At this point in the season both squads are paper giants having yet to play a team up to their billing. Which team walks away a national title contender or the pretender?
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Georgia Game Details
Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Spread: Georgia -15
Three Things to Watch for with Notre Dame
How Ian Book Responds to Georgia’s Defense
One can argue that Ian Book showed up big in games last season, if one considers the Stanford and Syracuse games “big” games. Book threw for 278 yards with four touchdowns against then-No. 7 Stanford and tossed for 292 yards with two scores in the win over No. 12 Syracuse. How he may be judged, right or wrong, is off his performance against Clemson in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers harassed Book into a 17 for 34 night covering 160 yards with one interception while taking six sacks.
Safe to say the Bulldogs’ defense is more akin to Clemson’s than the Cardinal or the Orange. How will he respond?
Ground Game Traction
The ground game for Notre Dame has been remarkable chomping up 194 yards per contest thanks to Book and junior running back Tony Jones Jr. Book and Jones have managed to cover the same amount of ground (127) with Book leading the duo in touchdowns 2-1. Key backup Jahmir Smith missed the Lobos game (toe) and is not expected to play against the Bulldogs.
In three games Georgia has allowed 298 total yards on the ground holding teams to a 2.1 yard per carry average. One of the early breakout stars for Georgia on defense has been defensive back Mark Webb. Webb leads the team in tackles (16) followed by linebacker Monty Rice (15). The pressure up the middle is coming from tackle Tyler Clark. Clark leads the team with 2.5 tackles for a loss followed by linebacker Jermaine Johnson’s two.
Irish WR vs. Bulldog DB
Just two games into the season and 12 players for Notre Dame have already caught a pass. Top of the pigskin food chain is Chase Claypool, Tommy Tremble, and Lawrence Keys. Claypool leads all receivers with nine receptions for 190 yards and a score. Don’t overlook Javon McKinley. He has just three receptions but he has been a big play threat covering 96 yards with two scores in those limited opportunities.
If there is any sort of fly in Georgia’s defensive soup, it would be the pass defense. The unit is allowing 182 yards, ranked 34th in the nation out of 130 teams. The leaders of the secondary are Richard LeCounte and J.R. Reed. Reed was a preseason first team All-SEC selection by the coaches.
Three Things to Watch with Georgia
Fromm vs. Notre Dame’s Pass Defense
The Bulldogs played six ranked teams last season, splitting with a 3-3 record. In the three losses (LSU, Alabama, and Texas), Fromm had one great game (Alabama), one average game (Texas), and one bad game (LSU). Against the Tigers, Fromm was ordinary completing 16 of 34 for 209 yards with a score while throwing two picks and taking four sacks. Against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, he was lights out hitting 25 of 39 for 301 yards with three passing scores. There is growth in the mix of tough losses.
The last time Notre Dame played a team similar to Georgia they lost 30-3. This has to be a statement game for the Irish’s defense and coordinator Clark Lea.
Georgia’s Ground Game
Where Georgia tends to separate from the pack is their offensive line and run game. The Bulldogs’ offensive line is a group of maulers led by junior left tackle Andrew Thomas. Five different Georgia players have already rushed for over 100 yards led by preseason first team All-SEC tailback D’Andre Swift. Swift rushed for over 1,000 with 10 touchdowns a year ago and is on pace for another big season coming into the game with 290 yards and two touchdowns averaging a mind-blowing 9.4 yards per carry. If Swift needs a breather, there is no drop off in Zamir White or Kenny McIntosh.
What Georgia does well, Notre Dame has had trouble stopping. The bulk of the returning talent for the Irish’s defense is in the secondary with just one lineman, Khalid Kareem, back. Playing against teams far below their talent grade, they are still allowing 231 yards per game on the ground.
The Detailed Stats
Stats are what one makes of them, and this early in the season some are credible while others are not. One thing that is always a sign is third down conversion rate. Georgia has been solid converting 13 of 27 chances. The Irish have not faired so well being forced off the field taking advantage of just 6 of 22 opportunities. If Georgia is allowed to control the game with their ground game eating up the clock and then taking shots downfield to see if anyone is sleeping, this is going to be a long game for Notre Dame.
Final Analysis
Notre Dame has a lot of returning talent on offense, especially on the offensive line needing to replace only their center; this side of the ball should be an interesting challenge for Georgia. The Irish’s defense might not be ready for this showdown. Just off the Louisville game alone seeing the Cardinals rush for 249 yards averaging 5.3 yards per carry should scare Lea and company.
Georgia is accustomed to big games, even if they do not always show up as expected. This will be the Bulldogs first opportunity to show the Texas loss in the Sugar Bowl was a bad day and a thing of the past.
Prediction: Georgia 38, Notre Dame 21
Photo credit: USA Today