Notre Dame (3-0) takes its first road trip of the season on Saturday when the Irish take on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem North Carolina. Brian Kelly’s attack has been slowed by inconsistent performances at quarterback and along the offensive line, while Offensive Coordinator Chip Long has failed to develop a steady flow or rhythm. The Deacons (2-1) have many returning key contributors from last year’s 8-5 campaign, but are now breaking in a new freshman quarterback, Sam Hartman. Coach Dave Clawson in his fifth year at the helm, having delivered two straight winning seasons after a rough initial rebuilding effort. The game will be nationally televised on ABC beginning at 12:00 Noon ET.

Kelly is preparing both Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book at quarterback for this contest. It’s no secret that he is dissatisfied with the production to date from his passing game, and the player that displays the hot hand will take most of the snaps. Notre Dame has not scored more than 24 points this season, but it will likely require a number in the thirties to win this week. These teams combined for over 1300 yards and 85 points last November. The Deacons’ success was attributed to Clawson’s familiarity with the Irish defense, since 2017 Coordinator Mike Elko and current DC Clark Lea served on his staff for several years and employed virtually the same scheme.

Clawson did not want to claim an advantage earlier this week, instead electing to praise his opponent. “We know the defense well”, he said. “Coach Lea was on my staff at both Bowling Green and Wake Forest. He learned this defense from Coach Elko and there are a lot of similarities to what we do. They are executing it at a very high level right now. It is a lot of the same package that Coach Elko ran here. It starts with having good players. …They are Notre Dame and get the best of the best. They have all four and five-star guys who look the part.”

The Irish remain without tight end Cole Kmet, but there were no other significant injuries last week. Fellow tight end Alize Mack was banged up a bit against Vanderbilt due in part to a few well-placed cut blocks. This triggered a verbal dust-up between the head coaches this week as Kelly let it be known what he felt about the Commodores’ style of play, and Derek Mason responded with a vigorous defense punctuated by a silly playground challenge. But enough about that.

Meanwhile, the Deacons have been hit hard. Veteran left tackle Justin Herron was lost for the season earlier this year as was defensive lineman Elontae Bateman. Also, starting safety Cameron Glenn, who led his team with 13 tackles against Notre Dame last year, and wideout Scotty Washington, who caught eight passes in the same contest, are now questionable for Saturday.

NOTRE DAME’S OFFENSE vs. WAKE FOREST’S DEFENSE

It’s clear now that the Irish staff is not going to tailor the offense to suit Wimbush and to accentuate his strengths. His grasp on the starting position has slipped from firm to tenuous as he struggled with defensive pre-snap shifts, finding secondary receivers, and throwing mechanics. Book appears to be more decisive in the pocket and is a serviceable runner, but he does not approach the extraordinary athleticism of Wimbush. Wake Forest must be prepared to defend both players.

The Deacons run a 4-3 set and are experienced up front with a pair of senior tackles, Zeek Rodney and Willie Yarbary. Demetrius Kemp is the only returning starter at linebacker, and Glenn’s absence would put a large hole in the secondary. Cornerback Essang Bassey is the other difference maker in this group. Notre Dame has an edge in talent across the board in terms of talent, but this must translate into points if the visitors expect to win.

There will be pressure on Kelly and Long to put the Irish offense in position to be consistent and successful, regardless of the quarterback. The obvious downside of alternating players is creating further disruption to a group that is among the worst in the nation at going three and out. The best outcome would be for one of these players to perform well from the outset and not look back.

The Irish should be able to run the ball with Tony Jones, Jr. and Jafar Armstrong, although the statistics show Wake Forest has been quite vulnerable to the pass even with Glenn in the lineup. They have surrendered ten touchdown passes and over 300 yards per game through the air despite playing only one major conference opponent. This vulnerability will undoubtedly be too tempting for Kelly and Long to ignore, so expect Notre Dame to throw it early and often.

WAKE FOREST’S OFFENSE vs. NOTRE DAME’S DEFENSE

This year’s edition of the Deacon attack has been plagued by turnovers, where they are minus four on the season. Some key miscues in the red zone have cost them scoring opportunities and denied them a chance to win last week against Boston College. Senior center Ryan Anderson addressed these issues after that 41-34 loss. “We need to fix the mistakes. Some of the mistakes we had been making in the first two games caught up with us, like turning the ball over and not scoring in the red zone. We got away with it against Tulane and Towson, but we didn’t get away with it against BC. I think if we fix those I think we can beat anyone.”

The loss of Herron up front put a large dent in a veteran group that had returned all five starters from last season. Right tackle Jake Benzinger has moved to the left side and junior reserve Nathan Gilliam has been elevated to backfill on the right. Anderson and the two guards are seniors, but the unit struggled in pass protection last week without Herron as Hartman was sacked four times.

The ground game is quite good, however, as the one-two punch of Matt Colburn and Cade Carney each ran for over 100 yards last week. Carney may be the more explosive runner while Colburn is the better pass receiver. Hartman is also a legitimate threat to contribute positive plays with his legs. The Deacons have quality players at the skilled positions, and the Irish defense could have a long afternoon if they don’t adequately stop the run.

Hartman has hit just 55% of his passes, with five interceptions against six touchdowns. His receivers are dangerous weapons that can run forever in the secondary if he can deliver the football. Primary among them is Greg Dortch, who generally operates out of the slot position. Dortch went down with an injury very early in last year’s game and is looking forward to a second chance at Notre Dame. Other targets include senior Alex Bachman, Sage Surratt, the team’s second leading receiver behind Dortch, and tight end Jack Freudenthal.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Notre Dame started to show signs of actual competency in special teams play last week. The punting improved after a shaky start to the season and Michael Young broke off a 50-yard kick return at a key moment. Justin Yoon remains a solid weapon in the kicking game, and Jonathan Doerer recorded touchbacks on most of his kickoffs.

Wake Forest employs a freshman kicker, Nick Sciba. He has done well in the short range with six field goals in seven attempts, but has not tried one from beyond 35 yards. Junior punter Dom Maggio averages 41 yards per boot and does not allow much room for a return. Dortch is the main threat in bringing back kickoffs and punts, and he is superb. He already has two touchdowns on punt returns this season, and is also among the nation’s best in kickoff return average. The Irish must be extremely disciplined and sure-tackling when Dortch touches the ball in these situations.

SUMMARY

Both offenses have stumbled trying to convert scoring opportunities to touchdowns with any consistency. Notre Dame has the superior defensive unit and place kicker, so the scales should tip in their favor if variables such as turnovers and mental mistakes don’t plague them. Clawson managed to keep the Irish defense off balance last year, but he had a senior quarterback to run the show.

Another area for Kelly to address is the poor second half performances of his team, particularly on offense. Notre Dame led Wake Forest 31-10 at the half last year before being outscored 27-17 in the final two periods, and three games this year have yielded similar results. In each case, opponents have made strategic adjustments while the Irish staff has struggled to counter them. A strong second half on Saturday would be welcome, and might even be necessary to secure a victory.

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

Will the Irish defense be able to create turnovers against the freshman quarterback?

Can either quarterback take the reins and get the Notre Dame offense into high gear?

Will the Irish be able to contain Dortch in the open field?

Can the Deacon tackles hold up against Notre Dame’s pass rushers?

Which team will create a more productive running game?

Can the Irish special teams win the battle of field position?

Who will be Notre Dame’s quarterback at the end of the day?

PREDICTION

The Irish are struggling to find an identity on offense, and the margin for error continues to shrink as the defense takes more snaps and the quality of the opponent improves. The first half against Michigan was lightning in a bottle, but has not been seen since. The Deacons will make this a competitive game and push the visitors with a few serious offensive weapons, but Notre Dame should prevail against their suspect defense unless both quarterbacks play poorly.

NOTRE DAME 34 WAKE FOREST 27