Notre Dame Football: 3 reasons the Irish will upset Georgia in Week 4

1. The pass rush is primed for success

Why are teams rushing so much against the Irish? It might have something to do with the alternative option. Three weeks through the season, the Irish have yet to allow an opposing quarterback to reach 150 passing yards.

Much of that has to do with an exceptional secondary consisting of Troy Pride Jr., Shaun Crawford, Jalen Elliott, and Alohi Gilman. However, it’s the Irish pass-rush that makes life most difficult for teams that choose to drop back and throw. After a pair of impressive sophomore seasons, seniors Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem combined for 23 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks.

Neither has made much noise this far into the season, but that’s mostly a product of game-script. If the Irish defense can at least manage Georgia in the run game, the Irish pass-rush will be able to kick it into high-gear with a stout secondary behind them.

Perhaps one of the most significant contributing factors to the dominance of both Okwara and Kareem is the defensive end depth behind them. Daelin Hayes and Adetokunbo Ogundeji would make a fine pairing themselves, but their presence on the outside makes the entire unit all the more successful. We haven’t seen them truly explode just yet, but if there was ever a game to do so, this would be the one.