Notre Dame Football: 5 overreactions from strong victory over Wake Forest

3. The defense will shut opponents down

Notre Dame has defensive talent all over the roster and should be a major problem for opponents going forward. As a whole the Fighting Irish finished the game with 10 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks.

Drue Tranquill was a monster against the Demon Deacons offense all game, finishing with eight tackles, including two tackles for a loss and a sack. The senior linebacker picked up his first sack of the season but has been a consistent defender and has made at least seven tackles in each game this season.
When you look at the box score it may seem like the running defense struggled, but Wake Forest ran the ball 61 times! There isn’t a defense in the country that wouldn’t give up a big play or two when being attacked that relentlessly.

While Wake averaged over four yards per carry, if you take out the five longest runs which totaled 94 yards, they averaged just 2.9 yards per carry on the other 56.

Is that a blueprint for success against this defense? More than likely no but we know the top teams in the country all have formidable running games and with Bryce Love coming to town, the defense should be tested plenty of times next week.