Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-3) vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-3, 4-2 ACC)
Wake Forest’s sophomore QB Tanner Price took his lumps last year as a first-year starter, but the trial by fire seems to be paying off in 2011.
Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem NC
Saturday, Nov. 5, 7:00 pm EST
NCAA Odds from Sportsbook.com:
MoneyLine: OFF
Spread: Notre Dame -13.5, Wake +13.5
Over/Under: 55.5
Price is commanding a passing attack that ranks 30th in the nation with an average output of nearly 276 yards per game. The Austin, TX native has chucked for just shy of 2,000 yards to go with a 14-6 TD/INT ratio. The bulk of Price’s tosses find their way into the hands of junior WR Chris Givens, who has 52 receptions for 928 yards and eight majors on the year.
This weekend, in comes a Notre Dame offense that can chuck the football, too. Irish pivot Tommy Rees also finds himself just shy of 2,000 yards passing on the year (1,930) to go with 15 TDs. The duo of WR Michael Floyd and TE Tyler Eifert have combined for over 100 receptions and the Irish are also getting plenty of mileage out of their RB duo of Cierre Wood (721 rush yards, eight TDs) and Jonas Gray (502, 8).
Conventional knowledge would have it that this would be a barn-burning game with loads of scoring on both sides, but convention can often be tossed out the window when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are involved. The Golden Domers followed up two straight losses to start the year with four consecutive wins, against strong opponents. A disappointing showing against rival USC two weeks ago was followed up by a nice bounce-back win versus Navy last Saturday, 56-14. The Irish interchangeably move from well-oiled, surgical destructions of teams to listless head-scratchers. They will have to be the former against a scrappy Wake Forest team. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Deacons must lean on the passing attack a little more this weekend, as starting RB Josh Harris is listed as Doubtful for this week’s contest. The talented Harris has been banged up all season; he is spelled by senior Brandon Pendergrass, who has been rather pedestrian in 2011. Look for Price to go to Givens and sophomore WR Michael Campanaro early and often. More intriguing, though, is the clash between the Irish offense and the Deacons’ “D”. Wake Forest’s defensive unit ranks only 78th in the nation in points for – they give up nearly 30 points per game. If Notre Dame plays anything like it did last week against Navy, the Wake defense could be in grave trouble.
Talk of Notre Dame eventually rescinding its lofty Independent status to join the ACC or the Big East Conference makes this game a little more interesting. Wake Forest has been a decent ACC team, but it seems like the Irish would align pretty well in this conference – somewhat of a lame duck football conference compared to the Big Ten (also long a possibility for the Irish), the SEC or the Pac-12. The Irish probably would never give up its tasty NBC broadcast rights, but if Notre Dame can travel to Winston-Salem and put a stomping down on a team like Wake Forest – and with traditional powers like Florida State and Miami also scuffling – it may gradually seem more enticing to make the switch. It starts with Rees and his leadership of a talented group on offense.
The Notre Dame defense has been pretty respectable, even without its starting defensive ends Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore, for the past several weeks. Price and the Wake passing attack should find some success this Saturday night, but Wake’s one-dimensional offense likely won’t find enough yield from the Irish “D” for success. This shouldn’t be a blow-out win, but I like Notre Dame’s chances to snatch a road win in tobacco country this weekend.
Score Prediction: Notre Dame 33, Wake Forest 24
Over/Under Prediction: 57
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