Utah looking to inflict damage against Notre Dame
After no. 14 Utah Utes' embarrassing loss last weekend against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs (TCU), they will be looking for vengeance against the unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. For the Utes, a win this weekend coupled with a TCU
loss will put them in prime position to challenge TCU for first place in the MWC.
Utah’s previous games
The 8-1 Utes opened their season against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who received a pre-season ranking of 15. Utah came through with a victory in overtime, 27-24, and since then reeled off seven more victories, leading up to last week’s debacle against
TCU.
The Utah offence has scored more than 50 points in four of their games this season, with an outburst of 68 against the Iowa State Cyclones. This gives the offence a ranking of nine in the points-for category; however, by season’s end they would have only
played two ranked opponents, the aforementioned Panthers, and TCU.
After suffering that lop-sided loss and having their hopes of a national championship dashed, the Utes are looking to finish their schedule on a strong and winning note.
"We need to bounce back and put the loss behind us and resume our schedule. We still have a chance to have an excellent season," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said to espn.go.com.
The Fighting Irish’s season so far
Notre Dame has had a rough season to say the least. Weighing still on their minds was the death of their practice cameraman, as well as their pedestrian record of 4-5.
They opened their season with a win against the Purdue Boilermakers, but followed that up with a three-game losing streak to Michigan, Michigan State and Stanford.
However, the offence must have had a re-awakening of sorts as the Fighting Irish went on a three-game winning streak against Boston College, Pittsburgh and Western Michigan. Their previous two games have been lacklustre to say the least, as they have succumbed
to two unranked teams in Navy and Tulsa, with the score against Tulsa being 28-27.
Notre Dame will be without starting junior quarterback Dayne Crist as he was injured in the loss to Tulsa. He suffered a season-ending knee contusion, bringing in freshman Tommy Rees to take the helm of the offence that ranks 76th in points-for
per game.
Keys to the game
Utah needs this victory and will be fighting for their conference and bowl lives when the game commences. Their biggest asset will be their well-rounded offence. Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn will be looking to rebound from his worst performance of
the season against TCU, and lead these Utes to the promised land.
He does have numerous weapons on offence, which include senior running back Eddie Wide, who has an average of 4.9 yards per touch, and receiver DeVonte Christopher, who is averaging 17.9 yards per reception. They will have to pound Notre Dame’s defensive
line with their running game to open up the holes down field.
Notre Dame, which will be playing mainly for pride, are going to have to be strong on defence to give their freshman quarterback an opportunity to put some points on the board. Currently, the Fighting Irish defence is giving up 24.9 points per game, which
gives them something positive to build on.
Offensively, Crist will be counting on his number one receiver Michael Floyd, who has caught 55 passes for 728 yards and eight touchdowns. The Notre Dame running game is pretty much non-existent as they come in at 100th in the country, rushing
for an average of 113.4 yards per game.
Prediction
Utah 51 – Notre Dame 14
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