Notre Dame Football: Irish on upset alert vs Wake Forest

5. Wake Forest can keep Notre Dame off the field

At this point, Notre Dame needs all the possible help they can get. Short of turning the ball over themselves, they’ll need to find ways to generate as many offenses possessions for themselves as possible. More chances will lead to more points, but they might not get many opportunities.

Wake Forest isn’t your traditional clock control team, but they are going to run the ball early and often. The Demon Deacons rank eighth in the nation in total rushing attempts, essentially a hair behind the triple option teams and the service academies. A shortened game won’t do the Irish offense any favors. Neither will Wake Forests’ effectiveness on third down.

Wake Forest owns a 43.9 percent third down conversion rate whereas Notre Dame sits at 36.4 percent. In close games. which the Irish have played in a lot of recently, one extra fourth quarter possession can be the difference between winning and losing. Wake Forest is going to get enough opportunities to put several points on the board. The Irish offense is so weak that they might not be able to do much late in the game even with a miraculous rise in their third down effectiveness.

This team has College Football Playoff dreams, but it’s going to fall much shorter of those lofty dreams. If not this one, the next one, but sooner or later Notre Dame is going to stumble. Wake Forest could be the beneficiary.