Irish Sports Talk: Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame finally came away with a win at home. In this episode, we discuss what we learned from the Irish victory over the Hurricanes and is this a step the Irish can continue to build on.

Reuben is picking the Irish to win big, while Randall is picking the Hurricanes for the win. Tweet your score predictions on Saturday and the closest score will win a pound of coffee from Main Street Roasters.

Listen to this episode to find out how Notre Dame's opponents have been doing up to this point in the season and who they'll be facing in week 9 of the college football season.

In this episode, Reuben and Randall discuss Notre Dame's upcoming game against the Miami Hurricanes. Miami's defense leads the nation in tackles for loss but their offensive play has been inconsistent. When pressured, Miami's quarterback, Brad Kaaya is far below average but when given time he is able to pick apart opposing defenses. The Miami rushing game was above average when playing against lower competition but when the Hurricanes started conference play it's dropped significantly. The Irish have 1 of the last 5 games but Miami hasn't been much better lately as they have lost 3 games in a row and dropped out of the top 25 rankings.

This episode is about looking back to the beginning of the season and the expectations that we had and comparing them to where the program is now.

In this episode we look at who Notre Dame's opponents are playing.

Notre Dame scored 10 points on the 2nd and 3rd drives but wasn't able to score after that. The defense continues to play well enough for the Irish to win and now the tables have turned with the defense bailing out the offense.

Hank Waddles of GoMightCard.com answered some questions for us. Check out his preview to see what the opposition is thinking about the Notre Dame – Stanford matchup. Hank Waddles: At this point the Cardinal will take a victory any way it happens, so I don’t think anyone would be disappointed if a hurricane blew through South Bend and Stanford came away with a 3-2 win. My first rational thought is to say that Stanford can’t win this game, that the spiral will continue. But Notre Dame is kind of spiraling, too. Their run defense is vulnerable, which is just the type of defense the Cardinal needs to see right now. I think Stanford will be able establish a running game, control the clock, get a defensive touchdown, and come away with a 17-14 win. Here are some of the questions covered in this episode: What's the primary strength and weakness of Stanford heading into this matchup with ND?Aside from playing better competition, what's been the overall problem the last two games for Stanford?What's the status of McCaffrey for this game and how has his involvement in the passing game changed over the first half of this season?There's concern in the ND camp that Kelly could lose the locker room what's the general feeling of fans and also your opinion about the stability of the locker room and the chances of Stanford bouncing back and salvaging what's left of this season.Stanford has given up 40+ points the last 2 games, what's the primary and secondary reason?The Stanford OLine has been criticised by the media this year, (A) are they better at run blocking or pass protection and (B) what is a strength of this OLine group?What's 1 player to watch on offense and defense?

The Irish defense kept NC State out of the end zone but the offense was unable to make enough plays to put the Irish ahead. Some of the topics discussed will be "expectations" vs "realistic expectations" and if Notre Dame is headed in the right direction with Brian Kelly at the helm. The offense scored the fewest point total in a long time, even though the weather was a factor what could the Irish have done differently?

Listen for Randall and Reuben's score prediction for Notre Dame's matchup with NC State as well as some scenarios that would be favorable for the Irish however unlikely.

Here's a look at Notre Dame's opponents in week 6 of the college football season and some of the top games to watch in week 6.

On Saturday Notre Dame travels into the storm to face a formidable opponent. NC State is 2nd in the nation in 3rd down conversions by converting 55% and on defense, they allow 34% conversion. Their quarterback, Ryan Finley is completing over 70% of his passes but what's really impressive about this team is their defense. NC State tackles extremely well and gets pressure on the quarterback.

DeShone Kizer put up personal best in passing yards and the Notre Dame offense was unstoppable for most of the game. Although the Irish defense gave up 33 points to the Orange there is very good reason to be optimistic moving forward.

Reuben thinks the Irish cover the 11 point spread and hold the Syracuse defense to 24 points. Randall thinks the Irish will win but not the spread.

Each week we’ll look at who Notre Dame’s opponents are playing against and how they’re progressing through the season.