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✦ ON PAPER BY DAN MURPHY more than six yards per carry, led by junior Damien Wil‑ liams with 552 rushing yards (7.5 per attempt) and seven scores. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Blake Bell makes the most out of his carries, too. Bell (6‑6, 254 pounds) has eight touchdowns in 31 carries this season, including four in the Red River Rivalry blowout over Texas. The Irish have a habit of holding teams well below their season average on the ground and are allowing only 3.4 yards per carry. They haven't allowed a rushing touchdown in the last 38 quarters. Advantage: Notre Dame ing corps the Irish have faced to date. Junior Kenny Stills (38 catches for 471 yards and four touchdowns) is a deep threat. Freshmen Trey Metoyer and Sterling Shepard are talented enough to keep defenses from focusing too much on Stills. Fifth‑year senior Landry Jones has not been the Heisman OKLAHOMA PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Sooners have the deepest and most talented receiv‑ candidate he was billed as to start the season, but he still completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 1,653 yards with 12 scores in six games, and brings valuable experience to the quarterback position in Norman. Notre Dame's secondary was the biggest surprise of a perfect first half of the season. Junior cornerback Bennett Jackson's four interceptions helped push the Irish past their season total from a year ago in only six games. Se‑ nior safety Zeke Motta blossomed to tutor a young group that ranks fifth nationally in pass efficiency defense (97.2 rating). Miami's fast receivers found a way to get behind the safe‑ ties a couple of times in early October. Stills and Co. are just as quick and should be able to do a better job of hanging on to the football if they get open. Advantage: Even Atkinson III split carries in the first half of the season made a statement by running for 270 yards against BYU's third‑ranked run stoppers. Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson adds another dimension if he returns to full health and can learn to protect the ball. He lost three fumbles in the win over Stanford. The Sooners average five tackles for loss per game, which NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. OKLAHOMA RUN DEFENSE The Irish trio of Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick and George Junior running back Damien Williams is a home-run threat every time he touches the ball, averaging 7.5 yards per carry with scoring runs of 65, 89 and 95 yards in the Sooners' first six contests. OKLAHOMA RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Oklahoma's top four running backs are all averaging made 28 of 32 career field goal attempts for the Soon‑ ers, with the only miss so far this season coming on his first kick of the year. Irish sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza struggled last week, missing two of his three kicks against BYU. The Sooners get separation in the return game. Okla‑ homa punt returner Justin Brown (19.0 yards per return) and kick returner Roy Finch (35.7 yards per return) both ranked second in the nation in their respective roles. Notre Dame's George Atkinson III has had a chance to return only one kickoff per game so far, but its punt return group has regressed to 2011 levels of futility. Freshman Davonte Neal is averaging 2.8 yards per return, which is good for 111th in the nation. Advantage: Oklahoma SPECIAL TEAMS Redshirt sophomore placekicker Mike Hunnicutt has PHOTO COURTESY OKLAHOMA puts them in a tie for 90th out of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Notre Dame should be able to move the ball on the ground in an effort to keep the Sooners offense off the field as much as possible. Advantage: Notre Dame He threw for 968 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions in his first six games, before sitting out the BYU contest. His ability to scramble has paid dividends at times, but put him in a vulnerable position at others. The Irish made a more concerted effort to throw to senior NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. OKLAHOMA PASS DEFENSE Golson's transition to college starter has been choppy. impressive 14‑year stay at Oklahoma. He and his brother, Mike, helped return Oklahoma to a consistent national powerhouse over the last decade. The natives are getting restless, though, after a few seasons in which the Sooners have not completely lived up to very high expectations. Irish head coach Brian Kelly is on the other side of the arc. COACHING Bob Stoops has a national title on his résumé during an He has Notre Dame off to its best start in a decade and has created a solid foundation to keep heading upward. Advantage: Even tight end Tyler Eifert (19 receptions for 319 yards and three touchdowns) in the past two weeks, and junior TJ Jones (21 catches for 275 yards and two scores) is also coming into his own. Juniors Tony Jefferson and Aaron Colvin headline a defen‑ sive backfield revived by returning defensive coordinator Mike Stoops this season. The Sooners have a top‑10 pass defense, which is no easy feat in their conference. Jefferson leads the team with 48 tackles and senior strong safety Ja‑ von Harris has four interceptions, including two last week against Kansas. Advantage: Oklahoma ✦ PAGE 5 Bob Stoops and won 14 times. All but one of those 14 wins came by a double‑digit margin. The only loss came this season in a 24‑19 upset by then‑No. 15 Kansas State, which currently sits at No. 4 in the national polls. Both teams have BCS hopes going into the game. Notre Dame is 8‑1 all time against the Sooners, but they haven't played one another since Stoops' first season in 1999. An unfamiliar Big 12 stadium atmosphere and Oklahoma's near‑pristine track record at home gives them a mental upper hand. Advantage: Oklahoma INTANGIBLES Oklahoma has played 15 ranked teams in Norman under PREDICTIONS Lou Somogyi: Notre Dame 24, Oklahoma 13 Jason Sapp: Notre Dame 24, Oklahoma 20 Wes Morgan: Oklahoma 21, Notre Dame 20 Dan Murphy: Notre Dame 27, Oklahoma 24