Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 JANUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 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 much greater challenge. But with the way Notre Dame's offensive line is blocking and the trio is running, the Irish might be up to the task. Advantage: Even NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. INDIANA PASS DEFENSE At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have to consider the schedules on both sides. We also need to consider the way Notre Dame's of- fense works: The passing game is a complement to the running game. But the Irish have shown that they can be successful with pass-happy game plans against strong run defenses, softening them up and then going back to the ground later. For an example, see Week 7 versus Stanford. Indiana's defense is significantly better, but Notre Dame showed then that it's willing to employ that strategy. Speaking of that Indiana defense, it has also been terrific this season. The Hoosiers allow 5.7 yards per passing attempt, but where they really excel is rushing the passer. Get to know the name Mikail Kamara, because he is one of the best quar- terback hunters in college football. Kamara, another James Madison import, has 10 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumbles recovered this season. He's tied for fourth in the nation in quarterback pressures with 59, alongside Lou- isville's Ashton Gillotte. The Hoosiers will attack opposing quarterbacks from every angle; redshirt senior defensive tackle James Carpenter has 34 pressures and senior linebacker Jailin Walker has 23 in just 59 pass-rush snaps. In total, the Hoosiers have 34 sacks, which is tied for 22nd in the nation. Their pressure cre- ates turnovers, too, with 14 interceptions. When they're not creating pressure, though, they can be vulnerable. The Hoosiers pressured OSU quarter- back Will Howard only 9 times and did not register any sacks. When kept clean, Howard completed 18 of 19 passes for 137 yards with 2 touchdowns. Notre Dame's pass catchers and Ohio State's are not comparable, but they and their quarterback can do some damage when given time. It's a big one for the front five. Advantage: Even SPECIAL TEAMS Notre Dame's kicking game is a complete disaster right now, while Indiana's is not. The advantage has to go to the Hoosiers here. Indiana scores touchdowns enough that redshirt freshman Nicolas Radicic has attempted only 10 field goals and none outside 50 yards, but he's made 9 of them. It remains to be seen if the Cop- pell, Texas, native can kick from distance in cold weather, but he's been better than Notre Dame graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter as of late. Since injuring his hip in Week 7 against Stanford, Jeter is 1 of 5 on field goal attempts with a long of 28. One was blocked, which Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said was not on the kicker but it's still a concerning operational error. The Irish might not have beaten Texas A&M if Jeter didn't nail 3 of 3 field goals that night, but now he needs his confidence back. On the bright side for Notre Dame, graduate student punter James Rendell has averaged 47.6 and 51.0 yards per punt in his final two regular- season games. He's finally found his stride. IU senior punter James Evans is in his fourth season with the Hoosiers and he's been solid, despite dropping a snap and watching another punt get run back for a touchdown by Ohio State. In the return game, the Irish offer very little juice. Graduate student kickoff returner Jayden Harrison hasn't had many opportunities as teams have read the scouting report and kicked away from him. IU hasn't done anything special either. Notre Dame's kickoff team is its calling card, allowing the seventh- fewest yards per return in the nation at 15.56. The X-factor here, of course: Notre Dame's fake kicks. The Irish are technically 3 of 3 on fakes this season and really 4 of 4 if not for a rules mix-up against Virginia. Most recently, ex-quarterback and current walk-on wide receiver Tyler Buchner passed to senior tight end Mitchell Evans for a 23- yard reception on a fake punt against USC. Still, until the Irish prove they can make a field goal, they can't win this phase. Advantage: Indiana COACHING These are two extremely well-coached football teams. Freeman and his staff — particularly offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and defensive coor- dinator Al Golden — have done a tremendous job since Notre Dame's Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois. They have kept the Irish focused on every individual opponent every week, and there won't be any need for extra motivation in the CFP. But on the other side, Curt Cignetti is the likely National Coach of the Year and it should not be close. To take a 3-9 team and go 11-1 in the Big Ten — easy schedule or not — with a roster largely comprised of Group of Five transfers is nothing short of incredible. Both the Irish (tied for second nationally, plus-16) and Hoosiers (fourth, plus-15) dominate in turnover margin, which is a hallmark of good coaching. But while Notre Dame can win with both talent and coaching, Indiana is winning with mostly the latter. Advantage: Indiana INTANGIBLES Notre Dame would have liked a team from some- where in the South to visit South Bend in late December. Those are Freeman's words, not mine. "If we could've chosen, I think we would want a team that maybe comes from 80-degree weather," Freeman said. "But listen, we'll have a home-field advantage just because of the first-ever playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium." Freeman is correct. And as he's explained in the past as well, night games at Notre Dame Stadium are just better. They just are. If the Irish could have picked their CFP time slot, they probably would have picked Friday night. "Our crowd is gonna be crazy," Freeman said. It's also worth noting that Notre Dame expected to be here. When an underdog team like Indiana reaches unexpected heights, it can sometimes let the lights get too bright and make uncharacteristic mistakes. The other side of that argument is that the Hoosiers will be playing with nothing to lose, but the Irish have been playing with everything to lose since Week 3 and they've done perfectly well for themselves in that stretch. Like it did every week for three months, expect Notre Dame to play inspired football. If that hap- pens, expect an Irish victory. Advantage: Notre Dame Junior linebacker Aiden Fisher leads the Hoosiers with 108 total tackles this season. PHOTO COURTESY INDIANA