Frankie V’s Prediction: Notre Dame’s Offense Continues to Improve on the Road

Notre Dame hits the road this weekend in Atlanta to take on a banged-up Georgia Tech team that will be missing its starting quarterback. The Irish have mounting injuries of their own, with news of Benjamin Morrison’s season-ending injury earlier this week. As we get closer to kick-off, the Irish are settling in as a two-touchdown favorite as they look to build on the momentum of last weekend’s blowout of Stanford.

What Worries Me This Week

Notre Dame’s rushing attack

Georgia Tech doesn’t have a great defense in its entirety, but their run defense is pretty darn good. If Notre Dame comes out and just tries to run it right at them, they could struggle to move the ball early. If they do what they did against Stanford and practice some patience running the ball, and Riley Leonard is as effective as he was early last week, the offense will be just fine. If Leonard regresses, the offense could struggle to move the ball on the ground.

Doesn’t Worry

Georgia Tech’s rushing attack

This would have been a worry if Haynes King was healthy and playing, but with him out, the Yellow Jackets lose a dynamic runner who is the catalyst for their offense. Georgia Tech will have a tough time moving the ball on Notre Dame in this one with King out. Tech has struggled to throw the ball this year even more than Notre Dame. Without King, they will have a tough time moving the football on the Irish defense. The line in this game moved 4-5 points in Notre Dame’s favor as soon as news broke that King was out – that’s how much he means to the Yellow Jacket offense.

Notre Dame moving the ball through the air

Riley Leonard is looking more and more comfortable each week, and the passing game took a big step forward last week. There is still a lot of work to be done, but things are pointing in the right direction for the Irish passing attack. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Leonard goes off for 300+ yards, but I think another game of 200+ is a really good bet. And that’s a good thing. This offense is at its best with balance, so if the Irish run for 200+ and throw for 200+, that’s where they want to be as an offense.

A lot can still be unlocked with the passing game, too. Mitchell Evans hasn’t been prominently featured yet. Jordan Faison hasn’t been 100% for most of the year. And the deep ball isn’t quite there for Leonard yet, though that’s getting closer. All three things don’t all have to happen this weekend, but if Notre Dame makes progress on one of them, they’ll be in good shape.

Players to Watch

• Gabriel Rubio – After returning last week, Rubio will be called upon a lot again tomorrow with Jason Onye out for personal reasons again.
• Beaux Collins – He’s had a problem with drops for the last couple of weeks but is still consistently getting open. A big game feels inevitable for Collins sooner or later. Maybe it’ll be sooner.
• Mitchell Evans – Notre Dame has to get Evans going for this offense to reach its ceiling. He’s got just 10 catches on the season and didn’t have a single catch last week.
• Josh Burnham – With all the injuries on the edges of the defensive line, Burnham’s return last week was a huge boost, and he made one of the plays of the season.
• Karson Hobbs – Leonard Moore will start in place of Benjamin Morrison, but Hobbs will end up seeing the field.
• Jeremiyah Love – He only had six carries last week and only had 34 yards rushing against Louisville. He probably won’t stack up carries since Tech’s run defense is stout, but a long second-half touchdown feels likely.

Prediction

If Hayes King were playing in this game, Notre Dame would have had a much more difficult time, but with him out, this should be a much easier afternoon for the Irish. Tech might be able to make things a bit difficult for the Irish offense in the early going, but they won’t be able to move the ball consistently on the Irish defense, and Leonard and the Irish passing game continues to improve.

Notre Dame 38, Georgia Tech 13