CougZone.com - Remember The Alamodome

October 30, 2009

CougZone Staff

If everything goes as planned this weekend when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Washington State University Cougars in a football game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Notre Dame will win their sixth game of the year to officially become bowl eligible and then use their appearance in the state of Texas to bolster their recruiting efforts there. That is the plan, anyway, and there is not much opposition to that plan.

The reason for that is simple - the Cougars have not had much success at stopping the pass [they rank 118th in the country in pass defense] and the Fighting Irish have a passing offense that is ranked 11th in the nation with a passing efficiency rating of eighth. The primary reason for those high numerals are named Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate. Clausen, the quarterback, and Tate, the receiver, have proven to be an effective one-two punch against virtually all opposing defenses in 2009. Clausen is ranked second in the nation in passing efficiency and 11th in total offense while Tate is ranked fourth in receiving yards per game [121 yards per game], 10th in receptions per game [7.43] and 17th in all-purpose running, to boot. The Clausen-Tate connection has been responsible for the five Irish wins so far this year and brought them close enough to wins against Michigan and USC - Notre Dame's only two losses this year - both by single digits.

Normally, that would be enough to certify that Notre Dame will win the game easily, but, there is a catch. While the Cougars' pass defense is horrific at 118th in the nation, Notre Dame's pass defense is only slightly less horrific, as they sit a single spot above the Cougars at 117th in the nation in that category. Yet another caveat enters the fray, however, as, although Notre Dame has exhibited poor pass defense for much of the year, they have shown sparks of life - as exhibited by defensive back Kyle McCarthy's five interceptions this year, placing him in a tie for third among the country's leaders in that department. In addition, the Fighting Irish tout linebacker Darius Fleming with two sacks and nine tackles for loss as well as freshman linebacker Manti Te'o [four TFL's and one sack] who was last year's top recruit in the nation.

Turnover margin is another area where Notre Dame is expected to flourish. The Fighting Irish are currently fourth in the land in that category with a +10 number after seven games. Meanwhile, the Cougars are languishing a bit further down with a -1 in that regard.

The special teams should be a slight advantage to Notre Dame as Nick Tausch has made 12 out of his 13 attempts while Cougar punter Reid Forrest is averaging nearly 44 yards per boot and could possibly help keep Tausch out of field goal range.

In the big picture, Notre Dame's offense is likely to have success against the Cougar defense - enough to compensate for any success the Cougar offense will have against the Notre Dame pass defense. All in all, if everything goes as planned, the Irish should have fond memories of the Alamodome.

Click here for NCAA Statistical Profile For Notre Dame

WSU continues their football season against Notre Dame at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 31 in San Antonio.

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Autumn is here?and you know what that means?It's time for a whole new season of Cougar Athletics! Football, soccer, volleyball, men's & women's basketball, baseball, track & field and tennis, just to name a few, are coming up right around the corner. If you need "game action" photographs for your newspaper, magazine, web site, blog, etc., then Greg Davis Sports Photography should be your choice for all things "Cougar" and "Pac-10 Conference"! Coverage for specific athletes or upcoming events is also available. Check out the images from games, practices and events from last season, and be sure to come back often for uploads from all of this season's action.

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