Notre Dame Football: Irish face third top 25 team in Virginia Tech

3. The Irish are held to under 100 rushing yards

There were many questions surrounding Notre Dame’s offense heading into the 2018 season, with one of the top concerns pertaining to the Irish run game. With former standout Josh Adams heading to the NFL, the Notre Dame roster featured little experience at running back. With Dexter Williams suspended through the first four games of the season, they had even less.

This meant someone had to step up. Tony Jones Jr. and Jafar Armstrong answered the call to an extent, but neither of them were able to claim sole possession of the starting role. However, Williams’ re-emergence has been encouraging, and there’s a hope he can take the Irish where they want to be in the run game.

Things were never going to be that easy, but now the Irish face an uphill battle with the loss of captain Alex Bars to a season-ending knee injury. Bars had made the switch from right to left guard in the wake of Quenton Nelson’s departure, but it appears as if Trevor Ruhland and Aaron Banks will now be tasked with replacing the fifth-year senior in his absence.

Factor in the dominating interior play along the Virginia Tech defensive line and things don’t look too bright for the Irish rushing attack in Week 6. The Hokies are currently limiting opponents to 2.6 yards per carry in 2018, putting pressure on Book to deliver for the Irish with their playoff hopes on the line.