Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 25 GAME PREVIEW: INDIANA C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F took advantage of this by blitzing the daylights out of him on passing downs and removing every outlet out of the pocket, with the knowledge that Rourke had no recourse if nothing was open right away. And after the Hoosiers' initial drive, nothing was open right away. IU gained 70 yards on its first possession (resulting in a touchdown) but then totaled just 81 yards the rest of the way. Junior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt is his favorite target, with 49 catches for 890 yards and 8 touch- downs. He and Rourke have great chemistry on back-shoulder throws. Rourke loves to stand in the pocket and push the ball downfield — Sarratt and No. 2 wide receiver redshirt sophomore Omar Cooper Jr. average 18.2 and 21.1 yards per comple- tion, respectively — but this doesn't work if the signal-caller doesn't have time. Before Week 14 at USC, this would be a slam- dunk advantage for Notre Dame (5.6 yards per attempt allowed, No. 2 in the country). But Trojans redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava had great success pushing the ball downfield with 360 yards and 3 touchdowns. For much of that game, the Irish blitzed but couldn't get home, so IU has a blueprint to attempt to follow. Cross (ankle) returning to the lineup will help. Golden will watch that tape and the Ohio State- Indiana tape to see what he can adjust. And Notre Dame's overall résumé as an elite pass defense team speaks for itself. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. INDIANA RUN DEFENSE The Hoosiers are the second-best run defense in college football by yards per carry, coming in at 2.46. They shut down Michigan's strong rushing attack and weren't gashed by Ohio State, which means we're leaning toward calling this group le- git. In fact, this might be the No. 1 strength of each team going head to head. Junior linebacker Aiden Fisher leads the charge with 30 run stops (tackles that result in a failure for the offense) this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Redshirt senior CJ West plays nose tackle, and he leads the defensive line with 17. Everything starts up front for the Hoosiers' defense, which is why they lead all Power Four teams in stuff rate (percentage of runs that result in a loss or no gain) at 28.6 percent. It gets to a point where it's difficult to find a weakness in the Hoosiers' run defense. They do not allow many explosive plays, with 7 opponent carries of 20 yards or more. That's tied for eighth in the nation, and it's obviously the big sticking point against Notre Dame's three-headed rushing attack of sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love, junior running back Jadarian Price and senior quar- terback Riley Leonard. The Irish rank first in the Power Four with 6.3 yards per carry, and they've been unstoppable as of late. Love, Price and Leonard combined for 37 carries for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 14 against USC. The Trojans are also soft, and Indiana will be a Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 28, Indiana 20 Had anyone predicted in the preseason that one of the first-round College Football Playoff games would be an in-state matchup between two teams from Indiana they would've been dismissed as crazy. But in one of the more unlikely developments of this season, No. 7-seeded Notre Dame and No. 10 Indiana both finished 11-1 and will meet to determine who will play No. 2 Georgia in the CFP quarterfinal round. The Hoosiers will put up the nation's second-best rushing defense in the country at 70.8 yards al- lowed per game against a vaunted Irish running attack that averages 224.8 yards per game and ranks 10th nationally. As far as similarities, Indiana ranks fourth in the country in turnover margin at plus-1.25 per game. Notre Dame ranks tied for second in the category at plus-1.33. And finally, the Irish lead the nation in scoring margin at plus-26.3, while Indiana rates third at plus-24.5. Indiana wrote one of college football's best feel-good stories of this season. Notre Dame and its ter- rific defense will bring that story to a close. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 34, Indiana 19 The Hoosiers' extreme makeover — a new head coach and 54 newcomers on the roster — was a rousing success this season. However, despite head coach Curt Cignetti's bravado for his team, I can't help but think Indiana is a bit of a paper tiger. Ohio State provided Notre Dame with the blueprint to take down IU. The Buckeyes defense blitzed the high-flying Hoosiers into their worst offensive performance of this season, and in particular stifled their passing attack. The Irish's pass defense is even better than the OSU's, with the performance at USC more an exception rather than the rule. The belief here is that defensive coordinator Al Golden will dial up a game plan that will help deliver the Fighting Irish's first College Football Playoff victory and their biggest postseason win in three decades. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 28, Indiana 17 Indiana has only faced a defense with as much talent and coaching direction as that of Notre Dame once, and it didn't go so well. The Hoosiers scored 15 points against Ohio State. I expect them to be in that same ballpark against the Irish, and I also expect the Notre Dame offense to control the game with its multi-faceted rushing attack. Indiana has a strong defense, but it hasn't had to stop a three-pronged attack like the Irish have in Jeremi- yah Love, Riley Leonard and Jadarian Price. As for Leonard through the air, he's taking care of the football and throwing at an efficient level. All of those things will continue, and Notre Dame will win by double digits. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 38, Indiana 23 According to Marcus Freeman, the Irish would've much rather seen a warm-weather team in South Bend on a cool Dec. 20 night. Surely, those comments will become great bulletin board material for an Indiana team that is having a historically special season. Still, I look for it to come to an end in the first round with the Irish taking care of business in front of their home crowd. Give me Notre Dame by two scores to secure a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 31, Indiana 21 Notre Dame fans will think I'm being too kind to Indiana, but the Hoosiers seemed to get a case of "the lights were too bright" last time they faced an elite opponent in Ohio State. Had their punt team not screwed up twice (they dropped a snap and allowed a return for a touchdown), this is probably what the score would have been. With experience in a game like that, I think Curt Cignetti will have his guys prepared for what should be an electric atmosphere in South Bend. This one will be close for a while. But the Irish have the edge on both sides of the ball, and they should pull away after the break. Indiana's defensive front, including redshirt senior nose tackle CJ West, has held opponents to an aver- age of just 70.8 rushing yards per game in 2024. PHOTO COURTESY INDIANA Staff Predictions