After a season-opening three game rollercoaster ride, Notre Dame (2-1) hosts Miami of Ohio on Saturday. The Redhawks are the defending champion of the Middle American Conference (MAC). The teams have met three times previously, most recently in 2017. Miami prevailed once, in 1945. This season, the Redhawks are 0-2, having lost close, low-scoring games to Northwestern and Cincinnati. Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on NBC beginning at 3:30 PM Eastern time.

Coach Chuck Martin is in his eleventh season at the school. His overall record is 56-64. The former Irish assistant (2010-13) took over a roster that was 0-12 in 2013 and embarked on a complete rebuild. Despite struggling to a 5-19 record in his first two seasons, Martin has restored the program to health. The RedHawks won the 2019 and 2023 MAC Championship and have been bowl eligible seven of the past eight seasons.

After watching film of the Fighting Irish blowout against Purdue, Martin offered the following comments: “They (Notre Dame) are insanely physically gifted. Not even close to our first two opponents. And our first two opponents were a Big Ten team and a Big 12 team and really, really gifted. We didn’t play MAC teams. This team – they’re nothing like those teams. Nothing. They’re insanely talented. They’ve done a great job recruiting. They play really hard. They know what they’re doing.”

Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman focused on his offense in this week’s remarks to the media. He talked about consistency and eliminating the three and outs that cause frustration. “That’s a challenge that we have to get better at. You score the first drive, three-and-out, second drive. Score the third drive, [then] three-and-out the fourth drive. You are not going to score every drive, but we have to be able to move the chains and look at the reasons why we went three-and-out and what happened on those series.”

The Irish are still digesting the devastating news on the injury front after last week’s win. Center Ashton Craig and defensive end Jordan Botelho are out for the season while guard Billy Schrauth may be able to return later this year. A pair of defensive linemen, Gabe Rubio and Josh Burnham, will not play this week.

NOTRE DAME’S OFFENSE vs. MIAMI’S DEFENSE

Miami sets up defensively in a 4-2-5 alignment. The front four is undersized but experienced and scrappy. Senior ends Brian Ugwu and Corey Suttle lead the way. Ugwu is a productive pass rusher with a pair of sacks and four quarterback hits in two games.

The Redhawk safeties and two senior linebackers form the core of the back seven. Ty Wise is a thumper in the middle at 250 pounds. He is an effective blitzer who has three tackles for loss and a sack to his credit. Next to him is weak side linebacker Matt Salopek, who has a team-leading 19 tackles. Junior safeties Eli Blakey and Silas Walters are on the back end. Blakey is a physical player at 6’2” and 215 pounds.

Miami’s corners are young. Sophomore Raion Strader is the more experienced of the two. Freshman Luke Evans just arrived this summer after spending a redshirt season at Mississippi State. He was originally a highly rated recruit out of his native Florida.

Even with its patchwork offensive line, Notre Dame should be able to run the ball on this unit. The Irish can neutralize the aggressiveness of the Redhawk linebackers with Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price. The Irish can create favorable matchups in space and use their speed advantage in the passing game.

Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock also wants to create downfield passing opportunities for quarterback Riley Leonard. This dimension has been noticeably absent to date. Denbrock and Freeman know they need to establish this capability to succeed down the road. They and Leonard have been working to keep Leonard’s eyes focused downfield while in the pocket. He tends to default to the run and has failed to spot open receivers as a result.

MIAMI’S OFFENSE vs. NOTRE DAME’S DEFENSE

Sixth year quarterback Brett Gabbert leads the offense. He has a 62% completion rate and has had success throwing intermediate and longer routes. The team has scored a touchdown only twice to date, both times through the air. Gabbert has suffered three interceptions as well. He is not a threat to run although he may have to do some scrambling this week.

Slot receiver Cade McDonald is Gabbert’s favorite target with 16 catches. He is teamed with Reggie Virgil and Javon Tracy to form a solid receiving corps. Each has an average per reception of greater than 15 yards. Senior tight end Jack Coldiron is also an effective player at 6’5” 258 and obvious winner of my Coolest Name award.

The top two Redhawk running backs are relatively small in stature. Starter Keyon Mozee is only 5’7 while backup Kevin Davis is a couple inches taller but only 170 pounds. The speedy Davis is targeted extensively in the passing game. This group runs behind an offensive line that has the requisite 300+ pounder seniors and juniors. Therefore, it is hard to understand why the running game is so anemic. Miami has only two first downs rushing in two games and 64 net total yards on the ground. The Redhawks have 583 yards through the air and throw it 63% of the time.

Mozee and Davis are not going to break many tackles given their diminutive size. Martin may bring in 233-pound reserve tailback Jordan Brunson on short yardage to improve his odds. The line has obviously struggled to create running lanes, although it has given up only two sacks for five total yards on pass plays. Gabbert has been hit an additional ten times though.

Martin addressed the need to improve his ground game production. “We have to. We have to“, he emphasized. “We like to run the football. Both the Northwestern and Cincinnati game, there was some positive stuff. But it’s so inconsistent. There were times when the Cincinnati D-line got after us. But in a couple key situations it was a tight end missed block. A couple key situations it is a tackle’s missed block, a guard’s missed block. Another situation is we blocked up, and our back’s got to hit the hole. Another situation a receiver misses a block. When you run the ball it’s everybody. It’s running backs, O-line, tight ends and receivers.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

Miami punter Alec Bevelhimer sports a 42-yard average on eight attempts with a long of 49 yards. Kicker Dom Dzioban has converted three of four field goal tries. His longest is 43 yards and he has missed from 50. Davis returns kickoffs while McDonald handles punts. Both are dangerous but neither has had much success as yet this season.

Notre Dame is still waiting for a breakout performance by struggling punter James Rendell. If things go as hoped this week on offense, Rendell will not get many opportunities to demonstrate improvement. Freeman spent a lot of time discussing Rendell in his weekly press conference. Suffice it to say the issues are mainly a matter of bringing his work in practice to the field on Saturdays. Freeman likened it to golf, where good performance on the driving range does not necessarily transfer to the course.

Jordan Faison is back in the lineup and ready to return punts with Jaden Greathouse. Hopefully, Notre Dame will get ahead comfortably on the scoreboard and bring back walk-on Max Hurleman into this role.

SUMMARY

The Irish defense presents a difficult matchup for a Miami offense that has struggled to block the likes of Northwestern and Cincinnati. Al Golden’s formula for success should be to shut down and discourage the run while making life miserable for Gabbert in the pocket. The Redhawks have a capable passing attack when given time but Notre Dame’s secondary should be up to the challenge. McDonald will be a difficult player to defend, so expect him to have some success. The key for the Irish is to limit yards after the catch. Gabbert will endeavor to get the ball out quickly. Look for Davis to be a frequent target as a safety valve or on screens.

On offense, the Irish want to prove that Leonard is a capable downfield passer. Both his poise in the pocket and throwing accuracy remain in question after three games. Leonard will get additional opportunities to silence the critics in this contest. He must force future opponents, including Louisville next week, to respect that part of his game.

Here are a few questions that will shed light on the outcome:

• Will Notre Dame suffer another emotional letdown after a lopsided win?
• Can the Irish stuff Miami’s running game and make them one-dimensional?
• Which team will have the fewest penalties and turnovers?
• Will the Irish special teams win the battle of field position?
• Can Notre Dame’s secondary limit yards after catch by the Redhawk receivers?
• Will Love and Price continue to break off big chunk runs?
• Can Notre Dame pressure Gabbert into a subpar performance?
• Will Leonard get the Irish passing game off the ground?

PREDICTION

Miami is another well-coached, veteran MAC team with a solid quarterback. That is where the similarity to Northern Illinois ends. The Redhawks do not have the physicality or running game that the Huskies demonstrated. Nor are the Irish likely to sleepwalk through another home game.

Notre Dame’s focus this week is on execution. The staff will develop a game plan to attack the Redhawks but success will be defined by how well they run, pass, block, and tackle. The Irish do not need to out-scheme Martin and his staff in order to win. The advantage they enjoy in talent alone should be decisive. The outcome will not be truly satisfying, however, unless the team can answer most of its lingering questions.

NOTRE DAME 41  MIAMI 13

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