The 3 Biggest X-Factors for Notre Dame vs. Northwestern

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maybe mercifully, Notre Dame football can put Saturday’s loss to Arizona State—which Irish head coach Brian Kelly called “the Debacle in the Desert”—behind it and shift gears toward Northwestern.

Effectively removed from the College Football Playoff hunt, the Irish still have plenty left to play for. The final quarter of the regular season—games against the Wildcats, Louisville and USC—begins Saturday in South Bend.

So, what are the biggest X-factors for Saturday’s regional matchup?

Everett Golson’s Ball Security

Matt York/Associated Press

This one is obvious.

Quarterback Everett Golson committed five turnovers against the Sun Devils on Saturday in Notre Dame’s 55-31 loss. Arizona State ripped off two interception returns for touchdowns and scored 28 total points off Irish turnovers.

“We get really great batches of work,” Kelly said of Golson on Sunday. “It's really gaining that consistency for four quarters. So my eyes tell me the body of work just needs to be more consistent.”

The only constant in Golson’s play of late has been the miscues. After a secure start to the season, Golson has continually coughed up the ball, routinely giving opponents short fields with which to work.

Obviously, similar performances won’t get the job done down the stretch, even if Northwestern is far less daunting an opponent than Arizona State. For the Irish to get their eighth win and Golson to gain some trust back from Kelly and the Notre Dame fanbase, the quarterback will need to play clean football on Saturday.

Irish Offensive Line

Matt York/Associated Press

Though the bulk of the blame falls on Golson’s broad shoulders, the offensive line did him no favors Saturday against the Sun Devils.

Golson was under constant pressure from the get-go, and Arizona State notched seven sacks. Notre Dame, by the way, allowed just eight sacks all of last season.

Now things are bound to lighten up this weekend when the Wildcats come to town, if only because not many teams blitz as much as Arizona State.

Through nine games, Northwestern has compiled just 14 sacks this season, which cfbstats.com indicates is tied for 105th in the country.

But if other teams catch on, start pinning their ears back and bring heavy pressure, things could get murky for Notre Dame again.

Trevor Siemian

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The Northwestern quarterback has had his share of struggles this season, but the redshirt senior posted a solid performance in Saturday’s 10-9 loss to Michigan. Siemian completed 32 of 49 passes for 273 yards and one touchdown.

He was, however, sacked five times and did toss two interceptions.

Maybe even more important than the overall stat line, though, were the final two drives by the Northwestern offense.

Siemian spearheaded a 19-play, 95-yard possession to spur the Wildcats to a field goal and followed that up with a 14-play, 74-yard jaunt that put Northwestern in position to tie the game in the final seconds.

On a day when the Northwestern defense handled its business, Siemian and the Wildcat offense started doing its job in the fourth quarter.

Facing Golson and the Irish, the Northwestern defense will have its hands full. But if Siemian and company can’t move the ball with any degree of success, it won’t matter much how stingy the Northwestern defense plays.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.