Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech Complete Game Preview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The outlook for Notre Dame football’s season changed when quarterback Malik Zaire’s ankle crumpled in the third quarter of Saturday’s come-from-behind win over Virginia.
But the Irish must find answers—both with the defense and new starting quarterback DeShone Kizer—quickly, as No. 14 Georgia Tech strolls into Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday for a top-15 clash in South Bend.
Since fall camp began in August, Notre Dame has lost starting nose tackle Jarron Jones, freshman nickelback Shaun Crawford, starting running back Tarean Folston and now Zaire to season-ending injuries. Still, the Irish are 2-0 and have a chance to grab a marquee win at home against the Yellow Jackets.
“Teams have to overcome injuries,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said to reporters after Saturday’s 34-27 win over the Cavaliers. “It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. We’ll find a way to put it together so we can win football games with DeShone Kizer as our starting quarterback.”
Suddenly, the questions entering Saturday’s tilt with the Yellow Jackets concern more than just how Notre Dame defends the triple option. Virginia exploited the Irish defense for more than 400 yards, and the Irish have struggled in recent years against option attacks.
“We'll have to be more disciplined in what we do in pass coverage, even against Georgia Tech, or we're not going to be in very good position,” Kelly said in reference to the secondary’s issues against the Cavaliers.
Date: Saturday, September 19
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Place: Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana
TV: NBC
Radio: IMG College Sports, SiriusXM Channel 129
Spread: Notre Dame by 2, according to Odds Shark
Notre Dame Keys to Victory
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Control the Clock
Georgia Tech throttled Alcorn State in its season opener with a 69-point outburst and followed that up with a 65-10 win over Tulane on Saturday.
In 2014, the Yellow Jackets ranked second in the country with 342.07 rushing yards per game, per CFBStats.com.
Georgia Tech doesn’t hide its intentions. The Yellow Jackets will run the triple option and keep pounding the ball. On the other side, Notre Dame will look to control the clock offensively, keeping Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas and the rest of the offense off the field and allowing Notre Dame’s defense, especially the linemen, to rest.
In its opener against Texas, Notre Dame dominated the time of possession battle, holding the ball for more than 39 minutes. Virginia, however, possessed it for more than 33 minutes Saturday.
The dynamic changes against a triple-option offense, but Notre Dame can help itself by keeping the Yellow Jackets on the east sideline at Notre Dame Stadium.
Contain Justin Thomas
The Yellow Jackets won 11 games in 2014, including a 49-34 victory over Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl to conclude the campaign.
Quarterback Justin Thomas powered the offense, rushing for 1,086 yards and eight scores on 190 attempts (5.7 yards per carry). He added 18 touchdown tosses and 1,719 yards through the air, showing a second side to head coach Paul Johnson’s run-first, run-often mentality.
Kelly has been clear through the offseason that special assistant Bob Elliott has been tasked with solving the triple option. Elliott spoke with other teams and other coaches, assembled more information and assessed Notre Dame’s past strategies before the staff built its plan to defend the Yellow Jackets and, in a few weeks, Navy.
“We are not trying to reinvent anything, but trying to really make certain that we are doing the right things and preparing our football team,” Kelly said. “It will still go down to the preparation and in our ability to get off blocks and make plays against a really good Georgia Tech team.”
Containing Thomas and forcing Tech’s backs to make plays could be part of the answer.
Georgia Tech Keys to Victory
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Slow Down C.J. Prosise
A spring depth chart that included Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, Tarean Folston and Greg Bryant has been whittled down to C.J. Prosise and a slew of rookies in the Irish backfield.
Prosise, though, did his part to carry the load Saturday, racking up 155 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts.
If the Yellow Jackets can quiet Prosise and limit his effectiveness, they’ll force Kizer to beat them.
Start Fast
On the road in a top-15 showdown, Georgia Tech will be looking for a quick start inside Notre Dame Stadium.
While it didn’t end up mattering in the evisceration of Tulane, Johnson pointed to Tech’s slow start Saturday.
“I thought we came out a little bit lethargic to start the game even though we scored on the opening drive,” Johnson said. “We weren’t crisp. We were having a hard time with our blocking inside on the triple. I thought we did a much better job in the second half.”
Depending on Kizer’s crispness and which Notre Dame defense shows up, the Yellow Jackets might not be able to afford a slow entrance.
Notre Dame Players to Watch
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DeShone Kizer
One week after bailing out Notre Dame with a last-second touchdown heave to Will Fuller to vault the Irish ahead of Virginia on the road, Kizer will make his first career start in a top-15 matchup.
“We are not going to make any excuses for where we are,” Kelly said in reference to Zaire’s injury. “There's no reason why we can't win with DeShone Kizer.”
Even before the Irish lost Zaire for the season, Kelly said Kizer was a quarterback who could win games for Notre Dame. But, Kelly would say, the goal was to turn Kizer into a quarterback who could win a national championship.
“We saw today: He can win games for us,” Kelly told reporters in Charlottesville after the victory. “We need to elevate him to that next level.”
Kelly said Notre Dame is still comfortable running the big-bodied Kizer, who’s listed at 6’4½”, 230 pounds, and ensured the redshirt freshman will factor into the running game.
“We'll do some things a little bit differently with him than we did with Malik,” Kelly said. “But I also think he has some other skill sets that we can definitely go to that will help our offense.”
Kizer has “excellent leadership skills” and has “a ton of respect from his teammates,” Kelly added. Kelly recalled recruiting Kizer out of Toledo, Ohio and pointed to the quarterback’s makeup, smarts, size and ability to win close games.
By no means was Kizer lights-out in his emergency relief appearance on Saturday; he missed some throws. But a win is a win.
Now how will he do over four quarters against the No. 14 team in the country?
Joe Schmidt
Notre Dame’s defense allowed 27 points and 416 yards of total offense to Virginia. Cavaliers quarterback Matt Johns completed 26 of 38 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
In other words, Notre Dame appeared much different from the defensive unit that limited Texas to three points in the season opener.
The Irish can turn to fifth-year senior captain and middle linebacker Joe Schmidt to inspire the turnaround.
And Schmidt himself appeared to play slightly below par against the Cavaliers, angling over to the flat at the goal line on Virginia’s first touchdown, leaving a man free for the score, for example.
Kelly had mentioned in the preseason that Schmidt was maybe a half-step behind where he was at his peak in 2014 before his own ankle injury. Kelly said he thinks his standout linebacker is close to full form.
“I think he's better,” Kelly said. “I don't think he's all the way there yet. I think he would tell you that he's really close. I think he's going to probably peak here in the next couple of weeks in getting himself back to where he was.”
Schmidt can help key a strong defensive effort against the Yellow Jackets.
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Georgia Tech Players to Watch
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Justin Thomas
Coming off a strong 2014 season, Thomas only played the first quarter in the season opener against lowly Alcorn State and still accounted for two touchdowns (one rushing, one passing). Against Tulane on Saturday, Thomas carried 10 times for 71 yards and a score while adding 97 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 7-of-9 passing.
“I think we came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Thomas told reporters after the win. “Overall, as a team, we started off fast with what we needed to do.”
Adam Gotsis
The senior defensive lineman earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2014 after tallying 36 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
The Abbotsford, Australia native landed on the preseason watch lists for the Bednarik, Nagurski, Outland and Lombardi awards. Through two games, Gotsis has collected seven tackles, including three for a loss (one sack).
“It is very important,” Georgia Tech sophomore defensive end KeShun Freeman told reporters Saturday of Gotsis’ presence on the defensive line. “Adam and I are on the same side, so we really work off of each other a lot. I know if I make a mistake or if he makes a mistake we give notes to each other. It’s very important that we continue to work off of each other. He sometimes sets up things then I can make a play, then I set up things and he can make a play.”
Gotsis will look to play a role in slowing down Notre Dame’s ground game, specifically Prosise.
What They're Saying
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“We need to bring pressure. We’re not very good at getting it with four people. We’ve got to bring pressure and to this point, we haven’t been a very good coverage team. We need to sic ‘em and go get ‘em.” — Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson on his team’s defense
“We’ve done this a long time. Now it’s going to change when the competition ratchets up like anything. But we’ve done this a long time and rushed for a lot of yards over a lot of years, and there’s been a lot of different guys. Now you have to execute. These kids are doing a good job making plays, ripping off plays and blocking. Today was an A-back day really rushing the ball. They were going to take the B-backs away, and we weren’t going to force it to them with everybody pinching. Next week could be a B-back/quarterback game.” — Johnson on Georgia Tech’s offense, which lost its next four leading rushers after Thomas from the 2014 squad
“That’s an outstanding Georgia Tech football team. I expect them to win a lot of games. They competed for an ACC Championship last year, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t do the same thing again.” — Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson after the loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday
“We were largely ineffective in our short-yardage run game. … It’s unacceptable to be that ineffective on third-down situations.” — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly after an 0-for-10 performance on third downs Saturday
“Those are difficult injuries. There’s no question. But we’ve got a lot of really good players around him. DeShone doesn’t have to win it himself.” — Kelly on Notre Dame’s rash of season-ending injuries
“We believe that we've got players that we've recruited that can go in and get the job done. Now it's DeShone's time and I've got confidence in him and I know our players do” — Kelly on Sunday
“We played really hard up front. I was really pleased with the way we played up front. Our front seven played very hard. And we tackled pretty well. But we didn't make enough plays on the back end, and a lot of it was that we were not fixated on our specific jobs. And that's something that is an absolute must this weekend against Georgia Tech.” — Kelly on Sunday
“Malik wears his emotions on his sleeve, as you know, and that's great, because that's who he truly, truly is. DeShone is not quite that type of person, very cerebral. He's a really good leader. He'll probably have to be a little bit more vocal now, being pushed out in front now.” — Kelly on Sunday
Prediction
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Before the season began, the Irish likely would have been favored by a few more points than they currently are at the beginning of this week.
But without Zaire, not to mention Jones and Folston, Georgia Tech gains an edge. The Yellow Jackets will be able to test Notre Dame’s first-time starting quarterback. Plus, Notre Dame now has to worry about correcting issues in its pass defense while also preparing for Tech’s vaunted triple-option attack.
The Irish can certainly win this game and others with Kizer at the helm. But Georgia Tech is a tough first obstacle.
Georgia Tech 28, Notre Dame 21
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