Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest Complete Game Preview

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly is fond of saying November is for contenders. The Irish vaulted over their first late-season hurdle Saturday in the win over Pittsburgh and now face Wake Forest on the path to a potential playoff berth.

After a bye week and back-to-back road games in Pennsylvania, Notre Dame’s four-week home layoff ends when it takes the field at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday afternoon against the Demon Deacons on Senior Day.

“They’ve done a great job of staying in the moment, staying in the present,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said of his team when asked about looking ahead. “We’ve got great leadership. They clearly understand it’s about preparation from week to week. Their focus is on this week because it’s the seniors’ last home game.”

Wake Forest, meanwhile, checks in at 3-6 and is coming off a bye week. The Demon Deacons have lost three consecutive games to North Carolina (50-14), NC State (35-17) and Louisville (20-19) since their 3-0 win over Boston College in mid-October.

Date: Saturday, November 14

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 27, according to Odds Shark

Notre Dame Keys to Victory

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

KeiVarae Russell

Red-Zone Efficiency

In four trips to the red zone against the Panthers, Notre Dame collected four touchdowns, capping a slew of successful drives (10 plays-75 yards, 8-75, 9-50 and 10-62).

After the win Saturday, Kelly said the staff had spoken to the offense during the week about being more alert and aware of the various play calls in the red zone.

“I think it was just a heightened awareness, an emphasis we placed on it, that we’ll continue to place on it,” Kelly said. “I don’t think you can do it for just one week. It’s something that we’ll have to continue to build with our offense week in and week out.”

Notre Dame climbs to 58th (tied with Georgia Southern) in the country in red-zone touchdown rate (62.2 percent). As a defense, Wake Forest is 17th in the country, allowing touchdowns on only 44 percent of its opponents’ drives into the red zone.

Limit Big Plays

It’s no secret that Notre Dame’s defense has struggled with back-end breakdowns and big plays this season.

Even amid a fairly thorough showing against Pitt—the Irish led 42-17 in the final five minutes—the Panthers struck for a few big plays. Quarterback Nate Peterman connected with star wideout Tyler Boyd for a 51-yard touchdown after Notre Dame’s secondary appeared to have a miscommunication on coverage.

A slip-up here or there likely won’t be cataclysmic for the Irish against Wake Forest or Boston College. Still, the secondary likely has the most room for growth in the final three regular-season contests.

Wake Forest ranks tied for 104th in the country in most plays from scrimmage of 10-plus yards. The Demon Deacons have totaled 13 plays of 30 or more yards from scrimmage, tied for 113th in the nation.

Wake Forest Keys to Victory

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

John Wolford

Limit Turnovers

Against Louisville on Oct. 30, Wake Forest threw four second-half interceptions—three from John Wolford and one from Kendall Hinton.

“That was a tough one,” Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson told reporters after the loss. “I told our team that if football was just based on effort, we’d be undefeated. But it’s also based on execution and understanding situations and making critical plays. When you have four turnovers in the second half, you don’t give yourself a chance against anybody.”

Against Notre Dame on Saturday, Wake Forest figures to have an even slimmer margin for error.

Protect the Quarterbacks

After the loss to Louisville, Clawson told reporters one of his team’s major points of emphasis is “don’t beat yourself.” In addition to the interceptions, Wake Forest allowed four sacks.

The Demon Deacons have now allowed a whopping 31 sacks this season, the seventh-most in the country. Notre Dame notched three sacks against Pitt on Saturday, as senior defensive end Romeo Okwara provided a pair and junior linebacker James Onwualu added one.

Notre Dame Players to Watch

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Josh Adams

DeShone Kizer

Irish redshirt freshman quarterback DeShone Kizer turned in a terrific performance against Pittsburgh, completing 19 of 26 passes for 262 yards and five touchdowns, while adding a two-yard rushing score as well.

“I would probably agree that it was his best performance this year,” Kelly said Sunday.

The head coach added that Kizer graded out “very, very high” in his pocket presence and ability to escape the pocket.

“I think that probably is because he’s gaining so much more confidence and seeing some things that he feels really comfortable with that has allowed him to now elevate his game to the level that it is right now,” Kelly said.

Like Pitt—as well as upcoming opponents Boston College and Stanford—Wake Forest has been solid defensively, slotting tied for 40th in the country in scoring defense (23 points allowed per game). Can Kizer continue to make the second-half strides he said he hoped to coming out of the bye week in October?

Josh Adams

With C.J. Prosise banged up at the end of the first quarter Saturday, true freshman running back Josh Adams stepped into a starring role and delivered 147 yards and a (technically) receiving touchdown on 20 carries.

On Sunday, Kelly said Prosise is going through the concussion protocol and was better the day after the game.

“He’ll go through a physical conditioning [Monday],” Kelly said. “If he obviously passes that, then we’ll move to the next stage. But we’re hopeful that if he takes the steps necessary, we’ll have him back out on the practice field this week.”

Even if Prosise doesn’t miss any game action, Kelly said Adams’ performance earned him more work moving forward.

“I think he proved to everybody that he’s capable against a very good defense in Pittsburgh of getting deserved carries, earned carries,” Kelly said. “He earned that opportunity in this game. Yeah, I think he can lessen the load for C.J. and provide us with another option in there, as well.”

Just how much Notre Dame needs Adams remains to be seen.

Wake Forest Players to Watch

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Brandon Chubb

Brandon Chubb

Demon Deacons redshirt senior linebacker Brandon Chubb leads the squad with 78 tackles, 27 more than second-place defensive back Brad Watson. Chubb has added 6.5 tackles for loss and a team-high five quarterback hurries.

Chubb, who hails from Marietta, Georgia, is a two-time team captain building off a redshirt junior season in which he racked up a career-high 109 tackles.

In Wake Forest’s last victory against Boston College, Chubb tied for the team lead with nine stops, including three tackles for loss.

Kendall Hinton and John Wolford

Wake Forest quarterbacks Kendall Hinton and John Wolford have each appeared in eight games this season.

Hinton (907 yards, three touchdowns, five interceptions and a 51.7 completion percentage this season) and Wolford (1,143 yards, seven touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 59.5 completion percentage) have produced similar results through the air, while Hinton leads the team in rushing attempts (82), yards (316) and touchdowns (six).

“I just trust in Coach [Dave] Clawson’s game plan and just know that we’re going to change offenses as different quarterbacks go in different situations,” Hinton told reporters after Wake Forest’s one-point loss to Louisville at the end of October.

What They're Saying

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Brian Kelly

“We think that C.J. is going to be able to get back out on the field for us. If not, we have great confidence in both these guys.” — Irish head coach Brian Kelly on running back C.J. Prosise and backups Josh Adams and Dexter Williams.

“I think his high-school teaching and understanding, then just having a pretty good football IQ has helped him a lot.” — Kelly on freshman running back Josh Adams’ pass protection.

“I just think it’s the nature of college football. The ball is going to be in the air. There are no shutdown corners. There’s guys that are just going to have to make plays. I think it’s the nature of college football today that corners are going to have to have short memories, come back and make some plays, like he has this year.” — Kelly when asked if cornerback KeiVarae Russell has been targeted more.

“I think each and every week has been one where he’s gaining more and more confidence in different things. Different throws that he struggled with, he’s not struggling with. Different reads that may have not come as easy. I think just overall there’s growth in so many different areas.” — Kelly on quarterback DeShone Kizer.

“No, not with a special player. When you have a dominating player like a Jaylon Smith where you’re not going to take him off the field, really didn’t consider that because he’s just so important to our defense.” — Kelly when asked if he considered using star linebacker Jaylon Smith on offense, too.

“He’s moving along very well. He’s got two more weeks and then the boot comes off. He’s been throwing in practice. Some of our drills where there’s not a lot of movement, he’s in there already throwing. He already feels part of it again.” — Kelly on injured quarterback Malik Zaire.

“It shouldn’t be anything that prohibits him from practicing on Tuesday.” — Kelly on right tackle Mike McGlinchey (sprained ankle).

Prediction

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

Senior linebacker Joe Schmidt

Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer played at an even higher level Saturday, and the Irish offense was even more efficient against Pitt.

Enter Wake Forest, which has struggled mightily to produce big plays offensively and is still trotting out a pair of quarterbacks.

Pair the current states of both teams with the Senior Day environment for the Irish veterans, and it’s difficult to see Notre Dame letting Wake Forest hang around.

Prediction: Notre Dame 48, Wake Forest 17

All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco on Twitter.