Notre Dame offense has a chance to have an explosive day against Northern Illinois this weekend
It was a tremendous opening season 23-13 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies last weekend. Now Notre Dame must move forward, and do their best to maintain the momentum from that big road win at Kyle Field. Next up on the schedule is the Northern Illinois Huskies, which doesn’t appear imposing on paper but does […]
It was a tremendous opening season 23-13 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies last weekend. Now Notre Dame must move forward, and do their best to maintain the momentum from that big road win at Kyle Field. Next up on the schedule is the Northern Illinois Huskies, which doesn’t appear imposing on paper but does bring a ton of intrigue offensively.
Defensively, Northern Illinois is much less exciting. It sets up for a perfect game potentially for the Irish to jump start their offense. There is a lot of talent on that side of the football, and a tune up game could be very advantageous to begin reaching their potential. That brings three keys to victory for Notre Dame when they have the ball on Saturday.
Get Riley Leonard creating explosive plays
Notre Dame got a glimpse of the upside for Leonard against the Aggies, seeing his potential for making big plays. That showing was more on the ground, where the former Duke transfer was impressive at Kyle Field. Seeing the talented signal caller be able to create some explosive plays in the passing game would be huge for this Mike Denbrock offense long term. Think of this game as a glorified scrimmage, testing things out and getting timing down. If Leonard can be the best version of himself on Saturday, and during the rest of the season, the offense has a chance to be special.
Offensive line improvements
One of the best parts of the road victory against Texas A&M was that the Notre Dame offensive line started to show massive improvements by the end of the game. We saw true freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp and redshirt freshman left guard Sam Pendleton grow up before our eyes. The Irish entered the game with six career starts and a complete wildcard, and showed that the future is bright. Now you want to see Joe Rudolph’s group take the next step against Northern Illinois. Incremental growth is what you would like to see, even against a MAC defense.
Get tight ends involved
Notre Dame is a school known for developing tight ends at a high level. They weren’t really a part of the game plan in the matchup against Texas A&M. Cooper Flanagan made the only reception of a tight end during the contest, hauling in two passes for 25 yards. Mitchell Evans was limited due to his recovery from injury, and Eli Raridon didn’t record a catch. Getting those younger tight ends some confidence during this three-game stretch should be huge. I wouldn’t expect to see Evans a ton during this contest. That should allow you to really begin to build out your depth down the road.
