by CoachKen
A quick overview of the game and its importance:
For the Irish, losing this game means a losing season and another nail in the coffin for head coach Charley Weiss so don’t think for a minute this is not a critical game for Notre Dame. A win puts them in the positive for the year and breaks a dismal bowl record. The “Fighting Irish” will be fighting hard. Fortunately they are the home team and on the sunny side of the field! (yes, it will make a difference!)
The key to stopping Notre Dame will be two things. Stop the running game (which includes no big runs from scrmmage) and pressure on the QB. This team is the second most talented team we will play all season after Florida so don’t let their record fool you! There are more high school All Americans on this team than you can imagine. Do they have speed? Yes! Do they have size? Yes! So why haven’t they won more games? Tough question because it has nothing to do with talent. This is a mistake prone team and a “mess up at the wrong time” team which usually means there is a mentality on the team that probably expects something bad to happen. That being said for them to mess up early (fumble, penalities, interceptions) will be extremely important. If there offense scores often and early it will be tough for UH to come back.