Notre Dame Football: 3 keys to victory vs. Virginia in Week 5

Notre Dame football will invite the Virginia Cavaliers to South Bend on Saturday. Here are three keys to a Fighting Irish win.

The Fighting Irish invite the ‘Hoos from Charlottesville to Notre Dame Stadium for a mid-afternoon kick. Notre Dame comes into this game after a hard-fought 23-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium in Athens.

The Virginia Cavaliers come off of upset alert after almost losing to the Old Dominion Monarchs winning 28-17 at Scott Stadium.

The Cavaliers (4-0) visit South Bend looking for both conference and national respect. Notre Dame seek to keep their playoff hopes alive, and avenge their loss last week to the Bulldogs.

The Irish should take care of business against he Cavaliers, and here are three keys to victory.

3. Notre Dame must utilize home-field advantage

The Irish need to take advantage of being in South Bend.

Notre Dame Stadium has one of the best student sections in all of college football, and it should be a raucous crowd Saturday afternoon. After a hard-fought, yet disappointing loss to Georgia, the Irish could use the energy from the home crowd to get off to a fast start and hopefully force some early turnovers from the Cavaliers.

This would be a really good week to restart the running game. Jahmir Smith should be back to add some punch to the run game to go along with Tony Jones Jr., and they also get some needed speed with the return of Michael Young to the lineup.

A home game and some returning players from injury could be just what the doctor ordered.