Anticipation has been building for the first home College Football Playoff game in NCAA history. Naturally, it will take place at one of the most historical campus’ in the nation, Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish host the No. 10 seed Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) on Friday night December 20. Marcus Freeman and his team battled back from a terrible home loss to Northern Illinois in week two of the season and rattled off ten straight victories. For Indiana, their record remained perfect until playing Ohio State in the second to last week of the regular season.
Both teams will be looking to continue their seasons, and a key area of focus will be the Notre Dame offense vs the Indiana defense. Who will come out on top? Let’s take a deep dive into this matchup and highlight the areas Notre Dame must win to leave the field next Friday with a victory, and a trip to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Irish Ground Attack vs Hoosier Rush Defense
The Indiana Hoosiers boast the No. 1 rush defense in college football coming into this matchup. They allow a mere 70.8 yards per game and 2.5 yards per rush which ranks No. 2 in the country only behind Ole Miss. Notre Dame enters this matchup averaging 224.8 rushing yards per game which is No. 10 in the country, and they average 6.3 yards per carry as a team which ranks No. 3 in the country. This is truly a best on best matchup, and with potential elements being a factor, whoever is able to win this matchup with be a heavy favorite to win.
Indiana’s defense is led by their two linebackers, Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker . The two have combined for 180 tackles and 13.0 tackles for a loss on the season. They play a key factor in being the best run defense in the country statistically. With that being said, this duo and the rest of the Hoosier defense, has yet to face a rushing attack like Notre Dame’s. The best rushing offense they faced this year was Ohio State, ranked No. 59 in the country in yards per game. The Hoosiers faced seven teams ranked outside of the top 100 rushing offenses in the country…