(Photo: Chad Ryan/Fighting Irish Preview)
I told you Wisconsin was pretty good, and I told you not to be surprised if Notre Dame started a little slowly. Heck, I even pretty much had the final score exactly right.
My documented here on the site prediction was Notre Dame 34, Wisconsin 13, and there it sat until CJ Carr hooked up with Nolan James for a 28-yard touchdown with less than two minutes to play.
Thanks, CJ.
But, I forgive you.
Besides, maybe the late, great St. Vince Lombardi was looking down on Lambeau Field and decided Notre Dame deserved one more touchdown.
Okay, Lombardi hasn’t actually been canonized. But in Green Bay, I’m not sure anyone has bothered to make the distinction.
And what really mattered Sunday night was that Notre Dame went to Lambeau Field, got punched in the mouth a little bit early and then did exactly what a team with national championship expectations should do. The Irish settled down, took control and walked away with a convincing 41-13 victory.
Marcus Freeman wasn’t surprised by the early struggle. He said afterward that he had warned his team all week that Wisconsin was good, well-coached and that this was going to be a battle.
It was, until it wasn’t.
Now Notre Dame has to turn around and get ready to play again Saturday, and while Rice certainly doesn’t have Wisconsin’s talent, the Owls present a very different kind of challenge.
This Isn’t the Navy Option
Let’s get one thing out of the way right now.When you hear that Rice runs an option offense, don’t immediately start thinking about Navy.
This isn’t that.
We’re accustomed to seeing the traditional option with the quarterback under center, the fullback dive, the quarterback coming down the line and the pitch man outside. Notre Dame knows that offense very well. The Irish have been preparing for some version of it against Navy for decades.
Rice comes at you differently.
The Owls operate primarily out of the shotgun, spreading the field and putting quarterback Jacurri Brown several yards behind the line of scrimmage. Brown is a legitimate running threat, and from that shotgun look Rice can put defenders in conflict with the quarterback run, the running back and option concepts that attack inside and outside.
It’s still option football. Assignment discipline still matters. Somebody has the quarterback, somebody has the back and everybody better know his assignment.
But it doesn’t look like Navy. And on a six-day week, that matters.
Rice piled up 465 rushing yards against Houston Christian on Saturday. Before anybody gets too carried away, Houston Christian is an FCS program and Notre Dame is going to have a massive talent advantage this weekend.
But 465 yards is still 465 yards.
Freeman made an interesting comment after the Wisconsin game when he was talking about making adjustments. You can change things, he said, but ultimately players have to be able to play with clarity. You can’t ask them to do things they haven’t practiced and expect them to execute them at a high level.
That might be even more important this week.
Defending option football isn’t about being clever. It’s about knowing your responsibility, trusting the guy next to you to handle his and not getting caught watching the football.
Notre Dame has six days to get that straight.
I don’t expect Rice to come into Notre Dame Stadium and run for 465 yards. Not even close. But I do think this is a more interesting second game than it might appear when you first look at the schedule.
Wisconsin tested whether Notre Dame could handle some early adversity and eventually impose its will on a pretty good football team. Rice will test something different: Can the Irish quickly change gears, prepare for an unusual offense and handle a team they should beat comfortably without allowing that offense to make things uncomfortable?
And they get to do it at home.
Lambeau Field was great. It was a terrific setting to start the season, and Notre Dame certainly made itself at home in Green Bay. But it’s not home.
After a long offseason, a trip to Lambeau and a 28-point victory to start the season, Notre Dame football is now bringing the “leave no doubt” tour to the hallowed confines of Notre Dame Stadium.
And there’s no place like home.