Print Edition of the Irish Insider for Stanford Week, Friday, October 14, 2016

By RENEE GRIFFIN sports Writer

Irish senior captain and linebacker James o nwualu has fond memories of s tanford’s last visit to n otre d ame s tadium.

From that cold, rainy day in o ctober 2014, one moment specifically stands out to him: then- n o. 14 s tanford, up by a touchdown against then- n o. 9 n otre d ame, was deep in Irish territory late in the first half. c ardinal

running back Kelsey Young took a handoff up the middle and burst through a hole in the line. o nwualu, who had yet to make a tackle that game, promptly leveled him with a pop loud enough to be heard on the television broadcast and draw shouts from the commentators.

s tanford turned the ball over three plays later, the Irish offense scored a gametying touchdown before halftime and n otre d ame eventually went on to win

17-14.

o nwualu said that play might be his favorite that he’s made in his n otre d ame career — he described it as “pretty sweet” — though it came in just his fourth start at linebacker.

The s aint Paul, m innesota, native was recruited as an “athlete,” having played running back, wide receiver and defensive back in high school. h e spent his freshman year at wide receiver, catching two passes for 34

yards and earning the starting spot in four games.

e ntering 2016, o nwualu had the most starts of any receiver on the Irish roster despite the fact that he hadn’t played the position in two years.

It was o nwualu’s big hits on special teams that made him consider a switch to the other side of the ball, he said. h ead coach b rian Kelly granted his request, and the rest is history.

“I had some success on

special teams,” o nwualu said. “ c oach kept on talking about my physicality, so I just figured it was worth giving it a shot. I went to c oach and asked if I could get a couple practices to try it out, and maybe go both ways or just play defense, and it ended up working.”

b y the time the seasonopening game of his sophomore year rolled around, o nwualu was a starter at linebacker, playing alongside stars Jaylon s mith and

Joe s chmidt. h e recorded 24 overall tackles in the regular season, plus four more in the Pinstripe b owl at the end of the season.

h e continued to develop at the position as a junior, recording 38 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble in 11 games. This season, he has 32 tackles and a sack, plus a fumble recovery

against n orth c arolina s tate last s aturday. h is two pass breakups this year equal his final 2015 tally in that category, and his five tackles for loss are only one fewer than he had in all of last season.

o nwualu attributed his progress at linebacker to an increase in confidence and comfort level this season.

“Through this year, I feel

like I’ve found a bit more confidence,” o nwualu said. “I feel like I’m more comfortable with where I’m at, not only doing my job but making some plays.”

That confidence and playmaking allow o nwualu, now a team captain, to lead by example. h e said the honor of being named a captain comes with “great

responsibility,” but also that it’s something he enjoys and benefits from as well.

“It’s been fun just being the leader of this team and being around such great guys, and being able to teach them what I know, but also learn a lot from those guys,” o nwualu said.

The need for defensive leadership is especially high in 2016 following the unit’s dismal performance in the first few games of the season, leading to the firing of coordinator b rian vanGorder and the reliance on several inexperienced freshmen to fill some of the holes that opposing offenses have been able to take advantage of.

Whether the team is winning or losing, o nwualu said responsibility, effort and encouragement are what he focuses on when speaking as captain and trying to elevate the team’s morale.

“For me, it’s just holding guys accountable for the way they work … just making sure they’re working every single day to be on point and be the best players they can possibly be,” o nwualu said. “And when they do good things, it’s making sure to let them know that the things that they’re doing are helping them be successful, as well as just continuing to motivate some of the younger guys and not letting them get down on themselves.”

o nwualu said that the emphasis on hard work partially comes from what he learned playing with s mith and s chmidt.

“The things that I picked up from them is how to work every single day and how to carry yourself as a n otre

d ame linebacker,” o nwualu said. “The work that you have to put in, the amount that you have to study the game and really take care of your body — all of those aspects, you learn from guys like that.”

While his predecessors at linebacker taught him what it meant to be a linebacker at the University, o nwualu credits his older brother with teaching him the life skills that allowed him to reach a collegiate field in the first place. o nwualu said it’s part of his game day ritual to text his brother and let him know that he’s the reason “why I’m fighting and playing that day.”

“ m y brother’s my best friend,” o nwualu said. “ h e’s the guy that kind of raised me in my life, and took care of me when I was a kid and always put me in situations I wanted to be in. h e’s definitely my mentor. For me, he’s a brother, but he’s also a best friend and he’s also a father, and I wouldn’t be where I am without him.

“[Football] has always been a motivation for doing well in life: h e was the one that always made me do my homework before I could go to practice and was training me out in the front yard.”

With o nwualu leading the n otre d ame defense’s attempt to make a statement against the c ardinal on s aturday — and perhaps aiming for a repeat of that bone-crunching tackle he remembers from two years ago — it seems those front-yard training sessions paid off.

Contact Renee Griffin at rgriff6@nd.edu

Irish compete with Stanford for top recruits

By ZACH KLONSINSKI

Assistant managing editor

Five-star offensive lineman and r ivals.com’s thirdrated recruit overall Foster s arell headlines n otre d ame’s visit list for what is “the biggest game of the year for n otre d ame,” according to b lue and Gold Illustrated recruiting analyst b ryan d riskell.

s tanford and n otre d ame are two similar institutions that often compete over the same talent on the recruiting trail, Irish head coach b rian Kelly said Tuesday.

“We’re competitive with s tanford in recruiting,” Kelly said. “There is no question that somebody fits the similar profile that would go to s tanford that would look at n otre d ame as well. I wouldn’t say it’s a slam dunk that we’re recruiting exactly the same player across the board, but there’s definitely a similar character kid that fits the profile of n otre d ame and s tanford.

“And, you know, they’re going to win some and we’ll win some on those. I would say more times than not, the fit there is good student, good character kid.”

This weekend is an important opportunity for the Irish to regain the upper hand in their rivalry with the c ardinal, not just on the gridiron — where s tanford has won five of the last seven installments — but also in the battle for recruits choosing between two extremely similar institutions, d riskell said. h e added the c ardinal’s current advantage comes from three factors: a slightly

higher academic ranking, a better geographic location and the program’s stronger performance over the last decade or so.

“The biggest reason to me is just look at the success s tanford’s had the last five or six years,” d riskell said. “They’ve been the better program. s o you’re going to play in better weather, you’re going to win more football games, and you’re still going to go pro. s o I think that’s what s tanford’s had over n otre d ame the last five years. [ c ardinal head coach] d avid s haw has won four Pac-12 titles, and then you look at what Jim h arbaugh did before he got there. They’ve beaten n otre d ame four of the last six times they’ve played.

“ s o that’s why I [said at the beginning of the season] the s tanford game was the biggest game of the year for n otre d ame. s till is, no matter what impact it has on the season because I think it can have a big impact on recruiting.”

s tanford’s recent control of the rivalry is a relatively new phenomenon, d riskell said.

“The reason n otre d ame always got all the recruits they wanted was because they were a far better football program,” d riskell said. “ n otre d ame needs to get back to showing that, ‘ h ey, we’re a better football program than s tanford,’ and beating them this season … would mean [the Irish] have won three out of five. n ow all of a sudden you’re not only competitive with them, but now you’ve got the

edge. And I think that could help sway some of the kids that are really torn between n otre d ame and s tanford, and there’s a few.”

s arell, the 6-foot6, 315-pound Graham, Washington, native, is one of those recruits.

“You look at Foster s arell, for example, who’s visiting for [the] s tanford [game]. n otre d ame and s tanford are two of his three finalists. h e’s also looking at Washington,” d riskell said. “Well, Washington just pounded s tanford, so if n otre d ame can come out offensively, for example, and run the ball well and look good doing it, that’s going to have an impact.”

d riskell said he thinks the geographic distance between s arell’s home and Washington and s tanford as compared to n otre d ame would lead him to believe s arell will stay on the West c oast, but he added a win for n otre d ame this weekend could convince the five star to head east.

“I wouldn’t want to say that going into the weekend n otre d ame’s third — they beat s tanford by 30, they get [ s arell],” d riskell said. “I don’t want to say that.

“ b ut I think the weekend can affect the overall tone of the weekend for his visit. If that crowd’s going crazy and fired up and screaming the whole game because they’re just pounding s tanford or it’s a great game, I think that factors into that experience.

I think then, with a win, going into the dorms and spending the night around the players, spending time

PAId AdverTIsemen T

s aturday night and then the next day s unday with the players, the whole tone, the whole mood can change.

“And those are the things that when it comes down to a kid looking at three schools pretty equally, I think those things kind of can factor into where it’s going to be.” d riskell also said a win this weekend will begin regaining respectability for the Irish for recruits deciding between n otre d ame and other programs it plays like s tanford, U sc and m iami, especially on the defensive side.

“The defense really has

to go show that ‘hey, b rian vanGorder was an issue,’” d riskell said. “‘We’ve fixed the issue. h e’s gone. We’re back to playing defense the way n otre d ame is capable of playing defense.’ And I think that’s going to be a big thing to convince [players like four stars cornerback Thomas Graham and defensive lineman Josh Paschal] that n otre d ame is a team that you can come play championshipcaliber defense for, which they really haven’t shown the last couple seasons.”

Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu

Kelly’s job should be on the line

his actions.

Ben Padanilam Associate sports editor

“ e verybody on our staff for the rest of the [season] is on a very public interview. … All coaches’ jobs are on the line as well.”

That is what head coach b rian Kelly said in a press conference s ept. 25, just one day after n otre d ame’s 38-35 home loss to d uke.

Just over two weeks later and with his team sitting at 2-4, Kelly has very much failed his “very public interview” so far this season.

Annually bringing in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes — and carrying preseason top-10 expectations along with them — n otre d ame clearly has the talent on its roster to be a winning football team this year. b ut it hasn’t played like one, and coaching is a big reason why.

Top-level talent doesn’t cease to be top-level talent just because the stage is bigger. b ut what does happen is that coaches sometimes fail to develop that talent, and that amounts to minimal production as the players fall short of the lofty expectations set for them. And this is a problem Kelly has admitted has plagued the Irish this year.

Well, at least when he’s not blaming just about everyone else around him for his team’s problems. s ure, Kelly has taken some responsibility for his team’s failures this season. b ut that’s only after he’s put the spotlight on everyone else, as if he’s minimized his own role in the losing efforts. And even more than that, he’s come across as disingenuous given

For the first four games of this season, Kelly scapegoated former defensive coordinator b rian vanGorder through the way he handled the situation. s ure, vanGorder needed to go, but for Kelly to stand before the press for four straight weeks — including the very day before he fired him — and both defend and praise him brought further attention to a complicated problem. Firing a coordinator during the season is not easy, but Kelly clearly mishandled the situation and only further fueled the fire. h e also hurt his own credibility, which can create a clear strain in the locker room if players are unable to trust their coach.

s oon after, Kelly put the onus on his offense. h e criticized junior quarterback d e s hone Kizer for not doing enough, then criticized him the next week for trying to do too much. h e said after the loss to m ichigan s tate that Kizer would not be asked to carry the load for the offense this season, but then he seemed to expect Kizer to do just that when he called nearly as many pass plays as run plays this past weekend in conditions as far from conducive to an aerial attack as possible.

And now, he’s put the blame on the special teams unit this week. And just as before, he’s made it a point to say he will have to become more involved in coaching up the group, as if he didn’t already carry the responsibility to ensure its performance was up to the standard he expects from them.

The thing is, a captain is

supposed to go down with his ship when it’s sinking. h e holds the ultimate responsibility for the ship and every single person on it, putting everyone else before himself.

b ut b rian Kelly has given me no reason to believe that he’s done anything but ensure his own safety first while n otre d ame drowns during its disastrous 2016 season.

b ecause the ideal captain would’ve taken responsibility for the poor way in which he handled the midseason coaching change. h e would’ve recognized that he hasn’t put his players in a position to succeed with his play calling, stubbornly running the ball when the lanes weren’t there against the s partans or throwing the ball when the weather just wasn’t having it against n orth c arolina s tate.

s ince he put his program on notice that nobody’s job was safe, Kelly has seen his failures loom larger than anyone else’s on his team. h is job should be on the line based on his own standard.

That’s not to say n otre d ame should fire Kelly. h e’s brought the Irish to a national championship during his tenure with the program,

and he nearly led them into a position to compete for another one last season when they narrowly missed out on the c ollege Football Playoff. And he’s still got at least six games left this season to turn his program back in the right direction, including this weekend’s matchup against rival s tanford.

Zach Klonsinski, a fellow o bserver beat writer, wrote an article earlier this year laying out the case for fans to be patient with Kelly, and he makes a great point: Kelly’s accomplishments at n otre d ame thus far can’t be ignored.

b ut neither should his missteps at nearly every point of adversity this season. c ollege football coaches are expected to be leaders, and he simply hasn’t been that for the Irish this season. h e’s the captain of this season’s ship, but he isn’t acting like it.

b ut if he wants to keep his job come the season’s end, he’s going to have to change that very soon.

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

The opinions in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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CARDInAL PASSIng

When the Irish and cardinal met last november, the notre dame defense held dynamic running back christian mccaffrey under 100 yards rushing. but despite that, the cardinal put up 38 points on the strength of quarterback Kevin hogan’s arm.

hogan’s arm is now gone at “The Farm,” and his replacement, senior ryan burns, has struggled to emulate the success of the now-cleveland browns quarterback. The cardinal have thrown for just 166.2 yards per game, one of the lowest marks in the nation, finding the end zone just five times. but on the other side of the ball, the Irish secondary has been one of the nation’s weaker units this season. notre dame has allowed 10 aerial gains of 30 yards or more this year — at least one in each of its games not played in a hurricane — and 20 gains through the air of more than 20 yards.

saturday’s contest presents an opportunity for either the cardinal pass offense or the Irish pass defense to get its season back on track.

EDgE: EVEn

CARDInAL RuSHIng

stanford junior running back christian mccaffrey entered 2016 among the frontrunners for the heisman Trophy. but without strong play at quarterback or on the offensive line, mccaffrey hasn’t been as effective as expected, rushing for 520 yards and accounting for 154 receiving yards. both those stats, as well as his all-purpose touchdown and return yardage marks, lag behind his 2015 numbers.

but he only factors into stanford’s plans if he’s able to go saturday, after mccaffrey left last week’s game with an injury. cardinal head coach david shaw indicated mccaffrey’s status would not be known until Friday at the earliest. If he doesn’t go, the cardinal will go to sophomore bryce Love, who’s carried just 21 times this year, in mccaffrey’s place.

regardless of who’s in the backfield for the cardinal, though, it will be interesting to see how the Irish attack their opponents’ run game. Last season’s game saw notre dame have success limiting mccaffrey’s impact — having Jaylon smith on the field helped with that. Will Irish defensive coordinator

Carson Assistant managing editor

Greg hudson look to junior nyles morgan to fill a similar role?

notre dame has, at times, struggled to stop the run this season, ceding more than 200 yards against Texas, michigan state and duke. but a matchup against an uncharacteristically weak stanford offensive line gives the Irish front seven a chance to make its mark at home under the lights.

EDgE: EVE n

CARDIn AL OFFE nSIVE COACHIng

For the second time in three years, stanford is firmly out of the playoff picture in mid-october. The cardinal, who went 8-5 in 2014 before rebounding last year to finish the season no. 3 in both the AP and coaches’ polls, have largely stuck with their grind-itout offensive system that relies on getting a strong push from the offensive line.

The Irish defense looked better last week at north carolina state, but weather conditions worked in the unit’s favor. It still needs to find a full-game effort in normal conditions to prove real strides have been made.

EDgE: EVE n

CARDIn AL SPECIAL TEA mS

Irish fans will look to the field saturday and see the man who ended their team’s playoff chances last year: fifth-year kicker conrad Ukropina. Ukropina, who’s already hit from 50 this year, gives stanford a fairly reliable kicker who’s hit at an 81.8 percent clip in his career.

sophomore punter Jake bailey is much improved from 2015, averaging 45 yards per effort this year, while the Irish return game has, bright flashes aside, largely struggled to get going.

EDgE: STA n FORD

CARDInAL SCHEDuLE (3-2)

sept. 2 Kansas State (W, 26-13)

sept. 17 USC (W, 27-10)

sept. 24 @ UCLA (W, 22-13)

sept. 30 @ Washington (L, 44-6)

oct. 8 Washington State (L, 42-16)

oct. 15 @ Notre Dame

oct. 22 Colorado

oct. 29 @ Arizona

nov. 5 Oregon State

nov. 12 @ Oregon

nov. 19 @ California

nov. 26 Rice

eleven months ago, notre dame and stanford played the game of the 2015 season. This week, the Irish start the fight for their bowl-eligibility lives against an unranked cardinal team. What a difference a bit of time makes. here’s the thing about this notre dame team: it’s bad. It should have beat Texas. It didn’t. It should have beat michigan state. It didn’t. It should have beat duke. It didn’t. Perhaps notre dame “should” beat a stanford team that’s reeling right now, in more ways than one. The cardinal offense is miserably bad, and right now, its defense ain’t much better. but despite all that, the cardinal are still going to be the best team the Irish have played.

I won’t take much from last saturday’s joke of a football game, but until notre dame shows the syracuse win was the start of a new trend, not the anomaly, I can’t pick the Irish.

FINAL SCORE: stanford 37, notre dame 24

HEA d

STANFORD

Zach Klonsinski Assistant managing editor

everything I’ve seen this season from notre dame says this should be an easy decision. but everything we’ve seen from stanford the last couple weeks makes it more difficult.

couple that with my gut feeling that notre dame matches up extremely well against a stanford team that may be without its top offensive star and is led by a quarterback that is struggling to fill Kevin hogan’s shoes. don’t read anything into notre dame’s offensive woes last week. In fact, look for notre dame to use that as motivation this week against a rival. If brian Kelly stays out of his team’s way, this could be a game that regains some respect for this season.

That’s a big if, but my gut says the Irish win big under the lights.

FINAL SCORE: notre dame 41, stanford 24

before last week, not many would have predicted notre dame to upset stanford. now, it would not even be an upset.

stanford is struggling, being outscored 86-22 in their last two games, and star running back christian mccaffrey may not play due to injury.

notre dame matches up well with the cardinal, as stanford’s strength is not throwing the football and thus, the weak point of notre dame’s defense — the secondary — may not be tested.

but last week’s loss showed that this team simply isn’t ready, from a mental standpoint, to win close games. All of notre dame’s losses this year have been by one score or less, while its two wins have been blowouts. The

but

OHEA d

NOTRE D A mE

IRISH PASSIng

Junior d e s hone Kizer and the Irish passing game really struggled for the first time all season last s aturday at north c arolina state, but it’s hard to put too much blame on the unit while playing in driving rain and tropical stormlevel wind gusts. The young receiving corps struggled to get open in the rough conditions, as Kizer struggled to a 9-for26 day.

more stock, perhaps, should be taken in the stellar display the unit put forward against s yracuse two weeks ago. Kizer threw for 471 yards, keying in on sophomore receiver e quanimeous st. brown as the target of 182 of them, as he set the school record for passing yards in a win.

stanford’s defense has struggled the last two weeks, giving up 86 points to Washington and Washington state, with the c ougars amassing 357 passing yards in their 42-16 win last s aturday. b ut on the whole of the season, the secondary has been suspect, surrending 200 or more passing yards in every game so far.

EDgE: nOTRE DA mE

IRISH RuSHIng

d espite playing in rough conditions a week ago, notre dame largely stayed away from the ground game at n c state. For most of the game, the Irish offensive line struggled to get the necessary push, as sophomores Josh Adams and d exter Williams combined for just 64 yards on 20 carries. s enior Tarean Folston, through injury, has not seen a carry the last two weeks, with his big run at Texas now a distant memory.

Its crushing loss at Washington aside, the c ardinal run defense has been a stout unit so far this year, ranking 26th nationally in yards ceded — just 120.2 per game. e ven in the Washington state defeat, the stanford rush defense had a solid game, limiting the c ougars to just 101 yards on 30 carries.

The Irish ground game, which rushed for more than 200 yards against both Texas and nevada, has not hit the mark since, will need a banner day to do so against the c ardinal front seven.

EDgE: STA n FORD

Ben Padanilam Associate sports editor

At the beginning of this season, everyone expected this week’s game to carry playoff implications.

but now, the Irish come into the game with a losing record, and the cardinal are missing several key pieces on their defense, still looking for production at quarterback and might not have their best player on the field come saturday.

With just one offensive touchdown in each of its last three games, stanford doesn’t have the pieces to truly take advantage of a weak Irish defense, especially if christian mccaffrey doesn’t play.

And barring a hurricane, the Irish offense should return to form, doing just enough to give notre dame a victory.

FINAL SCORE: notre dame 31, stanford 27

Renee

At last, one of the season’s most anticipated matchups has arrived: no. 8 stanford, with star running back christian mccaffrey, against no. 10 notre dame, with prolific passer deshone Kizer, under the lights.

That’s what could have been written in the preseason. Instead, saturday will be a matchup between the 2-4 Irish, whose playoff hopes were crushed weeks ago, and the 3-2 cardinal, who began the season with three solid wins only to see their dreams crumble after being routed 42-16 by Washington state last weekend. With mccaffrey questionable, this is notre dame’s best chance at another win in notre dame stadium this year. Yet stanford still has plenty of talent, and as brian Kelly noted, the Irish have repeatedly failed to win

games. expect that trend to continue.

IRISH OFFE nSIVE COACHIng

In the last week, notre d ame head coach brian Kelly has often noted that the Irish offense has had chances to tie or win the game in each of the team’s four losses. however, the common retort from Irish fans is that Kelly and offensive coordinator m ike s anford haven’t put the unit in a position to be successful down the stretch. Against Texas, facing third-and-long, the Irish opted for a conservative rush in a tie game, taking away Kizer’s ability to win the game, while last week’s decision to throw 26 times in adverse conditions remains a baffling one.

stanford, on the flip, has seen its defense hemmorhage points the last two weeks after posting three straight solid games to open the season. The highpowered Irish pass game should test a secondary that’s struggled.

EDgE: STAnFORD

IRISH SPECIAL TEAmS

It’s another week for the Irish special teams unit and the story line remains the same: inconsistency. When sophomore kicker Justin Yoon was called upon at n c state, he was successful from 40 yards. b ut junior punter Tyler newsome, after hitting a 69-yard punt earlier in the game, conceded the only touchdown of the loss when his fourth-quarter punt was blocked andreturned by the Wolfpack for a score.

If healthy enough to go, newsome and Yoon will be kicking to c hristian mc c affrey this week. That’s not necessarily a recipe for success.

EDgE: STA n FORD

IRISH SCHEDuLE (2-4)

sept. 4 @ Texas (L, 50-47, 2OT)

sept. 10 Nevada (W, 39-10)

sept. 17 Michigan State (L, 36-28)

sept. 24 Duke (L, 38-35)

oct. 1 vs. Syracuse (W, 50-33)

oct. 8 @ NC State (L, 10-3)

oct. 15 Stanford

oct. 29 Miami (Fla.)

nov. 5 vs. Navy

nov. 12 vs. Army

nov. 19 Virginia Tech

nov. 26 @ USC

Stanford looks to right its own ship against ND

By MAREK MAZUREK sports editor

With a 2-4 record midway through o ctober, it’s safe to say n otre d ame’s season is not going as planned. h owever, when the Irish host s tanford on s aturday, they will take on a team in the same boat.

s tanford opened the season ranked eighth in the country in the AP preseason poll, and the c ardinal promptly rolled off wins over Kansas s tate, U sc and U c LA. h owever, in its past two games, s tanford has been outscored by a 64-point margin and now sits at 3-2 after losses to n o. 5 Washington and Washington s tate.

A point of concern for the c ardinal is the offensive line, which has surrendered

12 sacks in the last two games, but c ardinal head coach d avid s haw said the whole offense unit was to blame in his press conference Wednesday.

“We have been inconsistent from one through 11 with guys on the field,” s haw said. “ r eceivers, tight ends, quarterbacks [and] running backs as well. It is not just the offensive line. It looks like the offensive line just because we did not run the ball very well and have given up sacks in the last two weeks. It’s not just on those guys. They have a hand in it, and we all have a hand in it.”

Another huge question mark hanging over s tanford’s head is the health of star junior running back c hristian m c c affrey. Last year’s runner-up for the

h eisman Trophy, m c c affrey left last week’s game against Washington s tate in the second half and did not return to the game. s haw said m c c affrey’s status is questionable for the matchup with the Irish and stated a decision regarding his availability will not be made until later in the week.

“ h e just got banged up over the course of the game,” s haw said. “We’ll be cautious with him, as we are with all of our guys that are pretty beaten up. We’ll see where he is. We probably won’t have an answer until Friday or so or maybe game time unless we rule him out before then, but I don’t think that will happen. h e already felt a little bit better, but it will be a late-week decision.” r egardless of his status,

n otre d ame is preparing as if m c c affrey is playing and at full health, Irish senior linebacker and captain James o nwualu said.

“ h e’s the guy that kind of wants to get on the edge and use his speed,” o nwualu said. “ s o containing him in the box and playing well against that run game [is important]. Again, he’s trying to get outside, stretch the field. o nce he gets in open field, he’s tough to take down and really contain. s o whatever we can do to keep him as confined as possible.”

Last season, the Irish held m c c affrey in check, allowing him only 97 yards on 27 runs, good for an average of 3.5 yards per carry.

The real hero for the c ardinal one year ago was now-fifth-year kicker c onrad

Ukropina, who nailed a 45yard field goal in the game’s final seconds to end thenn o. 6 n otre d ame’s playoff hopes and give the c ardinal a 38-36 victory.

In recent years, the c ardinal-Irish rivalry has picked up. In each of the last four seasons, the game has been decided by only one score, and in each of those four contests, both teams were nationally ranked heading into the matchup. In fact, this s aturday’s game marks the first time since 2009 that neither team will be ranked the week before the clash.

“I think for both of us, we’ve been wounded, both literally with injuries and with a couple of losses,” s haw said. “ b ut you got two proud football teams, two talented football teams [and] two physical football teams that every year, really in the last seven years, this has been one heck of a football game. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be intense. The records don’t matter: It’s going to be a good football game.”

Irish senior receiver and captain Torii h unter Jr. agreed with s haw and said n otre d ame fully understands the depth of the rivalry.

“I think it’s definitely a game we highlight. I think everybody in the locker room highlights [it], and especially this year,” h unter said. “ b ecause, you know, they took us out of the playoff [picture] last year from what we thought. s o we’re eager to go out there and play these guys and get a little bit of revenge.

“I was actually here for that s tanford game, and they kind of stressed how important the game was and how big of a rivalry it was. And also went to a game the year before that at s tanford, and they talked about it there, too. s o I knew it was a big game coming into n otre d ame and, being able to play in those games, I see why.”

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

nD offense eager for Stanford matchup

By ALEX CARSON Assistant managing editor

Through five games, n otre d ame’s offensive statistics were some of the best in the nation. Last s aturday’s game at n orth c arolina s tate, though, told a different story — though the Irish (2-4) can thank h urricane m atthew for that one. s aying the unit

is happy to be back in s outh b end this weekend may just be one of the year’s biggest understatements.

“I’ve never been more excited to be in s outh b end, I can tell you that,” Irish junior quarterback d e s hone Kizer said. “ h urricane m atthew has gone past, and we’re thankful up here.”

In Kizer’s eyes, though,

the Irish can still find some takeaways from the 10-3 loss in the adverse weather conditions.

“ o bviously it wasn’t ideal for us with the weather, and it was difficult to execute our jobs across the board, but to play against an n c s tate team who has a very strong front line that they had and very sound defense, the things that we can take away are some of the pre-snap looks that we had,” Kizer said. “ … It was nice to see us go out and execute before the ball’s thrown in some of our routes and things like that. We had a lot of premier looks to get the ball out there, but unfortunately with the wet ball that we had it was hard to execute those looks.”

While the Irish pass game has been productive most of the year, n otre d ame has struggled on third downs and ranks 111th in the nation with just a 33.3 percent success rate. Irish head coach b rian Kelly blamed a lack of first-down execution for the third-down struggles early this week, and senior offensive lineman and captain m ike m cGlinchey said

PAId AdverTIsemen T

more success on first, and subsequently third, down will come if the Irish can better attack the mental side of the game.

“I think it is a mindset, and it’s a mindset about execution,” m cGlinchey said.

“And that’s all really offense comes down to is executing your job. b ecause if you

have all 11 guys executing their job, that means somebody’s going down the field or somebody’s getting the right block.

“ … I think it just comes down to a mindset of, ‘Yes, I’m going to get my job done, and I’m going to execute to the best of my ability on each and every play.’ And

as soon as we can do that as consistently as we want to do that, I think we’ll be a lot better off.”

In each of n otre d ame’s four losses this year, the Irish offense has had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final few minutes. b ut in each of those games, the unit hasn’t come up with

that final, signature drive to seize the moment.

s enior receiver and captain Torii h unter Jr. said the Irish just need to play at their “highest level” down the stretch in crunch time.

“Across the board, coaches, players, we’ve just all got to be on our P’s and Q’s and just perform at a high level

at the end of the game, and we’ve just got to make it happen,” h unter said. “I think that’s probably the biggest difference.”

c onsistency throughout a full 60 minutes is also an issue the Irish have identified heading into the s tanford matchup — h unter noted n otre d ame needs to “stand on the gas and continue to put points on the board” when it jumps out to an early lead, while Kizer identified it as a key issue leading to the team’s 2-4 mark.

“We need to be a team that goes out, starts strong, maintains that same strong start throughout the whole game and then finish as strong as we started,” Kizer said. “We go out and we show great spurts. We have athletes all over the field. We have a great offensive line. We’re completely sound across the board and very skilled.

“ b ut with that, we haven’t done a good job of going out and keeping our pedal to the floor the whole game. We hit lapses, and that’s the truth. That’s the reality of how this season has started and those lapses have come back and ended up with four losses.”

Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu

SATURDAY SCHOLAR SERIES

A different game plan for autumn weekends from the College of Arts and Letters

You are invited to join in discussion with Notre Dame’s most engaging faculty in the Saturday Scholar Series on home game Saturdays. Each lecture and Q&A, sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters, is presented in the Snite Museum’s Annenberg Auditorium at 12:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted.

Flooding

the Desert: Faith-Based Mobilizing to Save Lives Along the Arizona-Sonora Border

Kraig Beyerlein Associate Professor, Department of Sociology

Drawing on a large number of original interviews and surveys, this talk focuses on the emergence and growth of the faith-based movement in Southern Arizona to save the lives of undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran desert. Mainline Protestant and Catholic congregations led the way in both phases of this movement. Professor Beyerlein will also discuss resistance to humanitarian efforts along the border as well as how secular participants have been changed through their life-saving work with faith communities.

Saturday, October 15, 2016 4 p.m.

Snite Museum’s Annenberg Auditorium Lecture and Q&A free and open to the public. No tickets required.

" 10.29.16 (vs. Miami)

Representing Latinos in Television’s New Golden Age

Jason Ruiz, Associate Professor, Department of American Studies

" 11.19.16 (vs. Virginia Tech)

Monk’s Tale: The Presidential Years

Father Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C., President Emeritus

To explore the entire Saturday Scholars Series, visit saturdayscholar.nd.edu.

A video of each lecture is available online one week following the event.

sophomore

Saturday

back Nyheim

dives to recover a fumble as a group of Irish defenders surround the loose ball during North

Stadium. The Wolfpack fumbled six times in the game and lost two of them, while the Irish lost two of their four fumbles.