Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Miami (OH) in Week 5
By Jacob Wilson
1. Notre Dame has two special teams touchdowns
Notre Dame has yet to return either a punt or kickoff for a touchdown, but have been close on a couple of occasions. While punt returner Chris Finke has struggled to get anything going in the punt return game, junior C.J. Sanders has displayed his explosive speed numerous times over the course of the season.
Miami has also shown itself to be susceptible to return touchdowns, allowing two kickoff returns of 99 and 97 in their Week 1 matchup against Marshall. They have also allowed two interception returns for touchdowns on the season, and while those don’t often correlate to special teams success, this team clearly has a problem with keeping returners contained.
With the combination of Notre Dame’s exceptional kick return game and Miami’s struggles with containing returners, this game may see the Irish record their first special teams touchdown, potentially adding a second as well.
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If the Irish can manage to demoralize the RedHawks early in Saturday’s contest, there’s little reason to doubt their ability to take advantage of a drained Miami special teams unit. Expect specialists Justin Yoon and Tyler Newsome to do their job, but don’t be surprised to see a hungry Sanders go above and beyond his.