Notre Dame vs. Virginia Complete Game Preview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After a near-perfect 38-3 demolition of Texas under the lights in South Bend, Notre Dame football hits the road to Virginia to tangle with the Cavaliers on Saturday.
In the 127th season of Irish football, Notre Dame is playing its first-ever game in Virginia, and the Irish will look to change a recent road trend. Notre Dame has lost each of its last five true road matchups (USC 2014, Arizona State 2014, Florida State 2014, Stanford 2013 and Pittsburgh 2013). The Cavaliers are returning home after a 34-16 loss to UCLA in their season opener.
“The opportunities that come out of where we are now will lend itself later on as the season goes, unfolds, because we're playing some of the best teams that are out there, which is going to require us to execute and perform better,” Virginia head coach Mike London said to reporters Monday.
Notre Dame enters Saturday’s matchup without junior running back Tarean Folston, who is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in the first quarter of the win over the Longhorns. Virginia, meanwhile, lost offensive linemen Jake Fieler and Eric Tetlow for the season as well, Coach London announced Monday.
“I think that first home game for Virginia, playing Notre Dame, they will have a high, high will to win, and we're going to have to match and exceed that if we want to come out of Charlottesville with a victory,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 12
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Place: Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia
TV: ABC
Radio: IMG College Sports, SiriusXM Channel 129
Spread: Notre Dame by 11.5, according to Odds Shark
Notre Dame Keys to Victory
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Start Fast
In their first road game of the season, the Irish could use a quick start. Notre Dame has struggled the last few times on the road, but Virginia doesn’t present nearly the same challenge as, say, USC, Arizona State, Florida State, Stanford or even Pittsburgh.
Still, with an inexperienced quarterback in Malik Zaire, Notre Dame can climb out in front of some of the standard road obstacles by starting fast.
“We've lost some tough games on the road,” Kelly said. “But it's a mature team. There's great leadership. They recognize what it's going to take, and we'll prepare them accordingly in the fashion that we have. But I can really only recall one time [in the last two seasons] where we didn't play up to the level that we were capable of playing.”
Maintain the Pass Rush
Was Notre Dame’s pass rush truly better against Texas, or did the Longhorns’ young line and overall ineptitude concoct something fleetingly illusory?
As Kelly said from a big-picture standpoint Tuesday, the mark of a good defense is in its longevity. If Notre Dame can generate more pressure, especially from its down linemen, the Irish should have no trouble keeping the Cavaliers grounded.
With its four sacks Saturday, Notre Dame matched its season high from 2014. The Irish even nabbed sacks on consecutive second-quarter plays. Seriously. Notre Dame added eight hurries, including four from standout defensive lineman Sheldon Day.
Virginia Keys to Victory
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Pressure Malik Zaire
Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire was granted loads of time to throw Saturday. The Longhorns only tallied one sack and two quarterback hurries.
Similarly, UCLA freshman quarterback Josh Rosen had plenty of time in his debut against Virginia on Saturday and was only sacked once.
“They did an excellent job protecting their quarterback,” London said of UCLA’s offense. “And you could tell very early on that the scheme was to get it out quickly, distribute it to his perimeter players, running backs, and Rosen played an excellent game.”
The Irish boast an experienced offensive line anchored by left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Nick Martin. Expect Virginia defensive coordinator and former Irish coordinator Jon Tenuta to reveal his aggressive mentality. Asked who’s more aggressive—Tenuta or current Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder—Kelly said that “they both probably drink from the same well.”
“I think Brian and Jon would definitely both tell you they'd much rather be exotic and bring pressures if they could,” Kelly added. “Sometimes you're limited by certain situations, but I would say they're very similar from that respect.”
Stay on the Field
In uncharacteristic fashion for a supposedly uptempo offense, Texas only ran 52 plays against Notre Dame on Saturday night. The Longhorns hardly cracked 20 minutes in time of possession.
As a result, Notre Dame didn’t need to dip too deep into its defensive reserves, especially on the defensive line, which allowed the likes of Sheldon Day and Isaac Rochell to keep constant pressure on Texas’ quarterbacks.
However possible, the Cavaliers must find a way to prolong their offensive possessions and wear down the Notre Dame defense, dulling the blows of a pass rush that looked energized against Texas’ inexperienced offensive line.
Cavaliers quarterback Matt Johns managed 21-of-35 passing for 238 yards, one touchdown and one interception—solid numbers from a game-management perspective—but running backs Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell and Albert Reid only notched 76 rushing yards on 28 attempts (2.71 yards per carry).
Notre Dame Players to Watch
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Malik Zaire
Not bad for a season and home debut, huh?
Irish redshirt sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire shredded Texas’ defense to the tune of 313 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-22 passing in his second career start and his first at Notre Dame Stadium.
“There's a lot of things we like, but I would probably default back to the old adage that, when you watch film with us, it's never as good as you think, and it's never quite as bad,” Kelly said Tuesday after having a few days to digest the performance.
Kelly said he was most pleased with Zaire’s accuracy. The lefty deftly placed passes all over the field—to the sideline for Torii Hunter Jr. or on a slant for Chris Brown, for example—and practically decleated Hunter with a rocket on a comeback route. One of his three incompletions, by the way, was a drop by freshman tight end Alize Jones.
Zaire can improve his fundamentals in the running game, as well as some communication issues with protection and cadence, Kelly said. The dual-threat quarterback rushed nine times for just 16 yards, and Kelly said Zaire probably should have had 60 or 70 yards on those runs.
“There's a lot of room for improvement in there,” Kelly said. “He's very capable. He knows where he needs to get better in that. So the fundamentals of working in his reads, and it's all very correctible and things that we'll get straightened out this week.”
Make no mistake: Zaire turned in a terrific performance in Week 1. How close will he come to duplicating and improving upon that outing against Virginia?
C.J. Prosise
Folston is out for the season, and senior running back C.J. Prosise ascends into the top role in the backfield. The former safety and slot receiver, who trained at running back beginning in the spring, carried 20 times for 98 yards Saturday against Texas.
Kelly said he’s comfortable handing Prosise 15-20 carries per game as Notre Dame’s top back.
“We don't feel like we're putting him in a position of taxing him at that number,” Kelly said.
Kelly has praised Prosise’s development at the position, and the Irish should be comfortable with him as their workhorse. Prosise can improve, Kelly said, on some fundamentals that lag because of his inexperience at the position.
“I think we've got to do a lot more work in practice and getting him to finish off his runs with a lower pad level,” Kelly said. “We don't want to turn every run into a rugby scrum at the end. So that's certainly something that he's aware of and that we're aware of, that he's got to finish off his runs.”
Prosise is the go-to guy in Notre Dame’s backfield. If he remains healthy and productive, the Irish can somewhat limit the sting of losing Folston.
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Virginia Players to Watch
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Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell
Cavaliers junior tailback Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell arrived in Charlottesville in 2013 as a highly regarded recruit from Virginia Beach. Through two seasons, the 5’10”, 195-pounder only scored four touchdowns and piled up 899 combined rushing and receiving yards.
Mizzell, however, flashed in the opener against UCLA on Saturday in his first career start, carrying 16 times for 45 yards and adding eight receptions for 100 yards—both career highs—and a touchdown.
“Obviously, Mizzell is the center point of what they're trying to accomplish,” Kelly said. “They're getting him the football in a number of different ways. So we've got to have a plan for him.”
For instance, on Virginia’s opening drive against the Bruins, Mizzell touched the ball on five of the first seven plays.
“We knew what he was capable of,” London said. “And he showed a little bit of it on Saturday. He’ll have to continue to improve and continue to show that he's capable of running and catching the ball.”
Quin Blanding
Virginia star sophomore safety Quin Blanding is more of a known entity at the back of the Cavalier defense. Kelly said he is “outstanding” and was one of the better players in the ACC last year as a true freshman.
Blanding copped All-ACC second-team honors for a 2014 campaign in which he racked up 123 tackles, a total that ranked second in the conference and 12th in the country. Blanding was in on 10 stops against UCLA.
What They're Saying
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“We did have one sack. You try to affect the throwing lanes, the passing lanes with pressure. But I thought he did an outstanding job of being able to handle the pressure. Obviously you want to get to the quarterback and you want to find ways to put hands in the throwing lane, knock passes down.” — Virginia head coach Mike London on UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen on Saturday.
“We have to make sure that the pass rush is as critical as our pass defense and coverage and those things work together. They coincide with one another.” — London on Virginia’s defense.
“Certainly, the measurement of a great defense will be in its longevity. I think we saw some good things last year and then some injuries, obviously, derailed us. I think that will certainly be the case again this year. We're going to need to keep some key players on the field.” — Irish head coach Brian Kelly after Notre Dame held Texas to three points Saturday.
“I think the first thing was communication through our tempo and making sure that we could get our calls in. Obviously, working with the personnel that we have and developing our personnel to get to that end. It doesn't matter what we know; it's what our players know. So the coach and his staff on the defensive side of the ball, we've done a great job of making sure that they know what we know.” — Kelly on defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s adjustments in his second season in South Bend.
“Short answer, I haven't coached a player like him before, period. Yeah, I don't have a lot to say.” — Kelly when asked if junior linebacker Jaylon Smith is the greatest or most versatile defensive player he’s ever coached.
“We loved his makeup, and his makeup was extremely competitive. Really loved the way he competed. Just had no fear. And we saw that on Saturday when he was called, there was no hesitation when he went into the game.” — Kelly on freshman running back Josh Adams, who scored two touchdowns Saturday and rises to the No. 2 spot on the running back depth chart.
“I saw him dunking a basketball at his high school, and I saw this athlete, and I said, I don't know where he's going to play, but we've got to take him. He's just that good of an athlete.” — Kelly on recruiting now-running back C.J. Prosise.
Prediction
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No road game is ever a sure thing.
But even if Notre Dame hadn’t massacred Texas on Saturday, the Irish would still be expected to stroll past Virginia without too many threats.
The Irish offense, with Zaire and Prosise leading the ground game, should be able to cut through Virginia’s defense as long as it takes care of the football.
Defensively, Notre Dame may not duplicate its vise-grip Saturday night. Still, the Irish will likely take care of business against the Cavalier offense.
Notre Dame 31, Virginia 13
All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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