Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions vs. New Mexico in Week 3
By Jacob Wilson
2. The Irish combine for double-digit sacks
After being an essentially obsolete aspect of the defense in 2017, getting to the quarterback has been an area of both focus and strength for the Irish under defensive coordinator Clark Lea. In fact, the Notre Dame defense finished the 2018 season with a total of 34 sacks. Eight of those came with Jerry Tillery at tackle, but the Irish are hoping for similar production in 2019.
However, things didn’t get off to the greatest of starts against Louisville as one of the nation’s top pass-rushing duos (Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara) combined for only one sack. Part of this could be attributed to the Cardinals’ frequency of getting the ball out quick, but the sack totals are admittedly lower than you would like to see from this pair of defensive ends.
Potentially complicating things, New Mexico’s offensive line didn’t let up a single sack in their Week 1 matchup. However, this outing came against a suspect opponent in the form of Sam Houston State. Both teams will start fresh on Saturday, but I think we all know which way the scale is tipping as it relates to the battle on the line of scrimmage.
What contributes to the effectiveness of Okwara and Kareem on the outside is the source of capable depth in the form of Daelin Hayes and Jayson Ademilola in the wings. The latter duo can be plugged in at any given moment without a significant drop in production, helping facilitate the dominance of Kareem and Okwara that is very likely to be on display this weekend.