Many who know me know I love to fade Notre Dame. This week is nothing different with a very dangerous Tulsa team that can score with the best of them coming in with extra preparation as they were on a bye week last year.
QB GJ Kinne the former QB that played behind Colt Mccoy called this the be biggest game in school history. This is a game that many want Tulsa to be competitive in since it will be on national television on Saturday. That's not why they cover. They cover because they have the extra week and they are going against a Notre Dame secondary that is very beatable. Notre Dame faced two balanced teams this year at home in Michigan and Stanford and they lost both.
Tulsa has faced three teams that remind me of what Notre Dame can do and can not do. Tulane SMU, and East Carolina all feature Top passing games, but a poor running game. All three feature subpar defenses, but SMU is clearly better than Notre Dame as they nearly defeated Navy a couple weeks ago as Navy just killed Notre Dame. Tulsa lost 18-21 to an SMU team on the road despite getting two field goals blocked. AGainst Tulane and East Carolina they put up 101 points. They lost on a hail mary 49-51 to East Carolina and they beat Tulane two weeks ago 52-24.
This is a very dangerous game for Notre Dame who is licking their wounds after getting pounded by Navy. Now they face a passing team ranked 28th that can also run ranked 12th. A balanced offense is not what they want in this situation and that's exactly what Tulsa has. Tulsa will give up yards too so I'm expecting a shoot out. Tulsa's 120th ranked pass defense will face Notre Dame ranked 18th, but couple reasons this doesn't scare me like it may have many on Notre Dame. #1 Tulsa has faced passing attacks all season with 5 in the top 50 in passing offense so this is nothing new and probably why they are ranked so low in pass defense. #2 Notre Dame is banged up Cris has already lost Rudolph for hte season and while Michael Floyd is probably he'll lose Theo Riddick who is doubtful those are his top three targets all with injuries.
Tulsa has a lot of next level talent nobody has heard of. FB Chris Clay is a player Notre Dame can't prepare for and hasn't seen all year. he is tied in receptions on this team with Demaris Johnson the nations leader in all purpose yards a year ago. Johnson can hurt you in punt or kick returns and might be the fastest player on the field.
East Carolina and Central Florida square off on Saturday where the winner will be the favorite to win the conference. East Carolina is a different team than their past their offense is really surprising many ranked 36th on the season. Central Florida features #7 total defense, but they have faced 1 team with a pulse in the passing game and that was NC State and they lost by a TD at home. Now they feature Dominique Davis who can hurt them ast hey are ranked 13th in the passing game in the nation.
Really like this game to stay close as the recent meetings have. East Carolina has owned Central Florida with 4 wins in a row and 8 of 9. Either way it will be a close game and I think this is too many points for UCF that hasn't faced a stronger schedule than East Carolina. Both teams have similar results against common opponents in NC State and Marshal. East Carolina was +20 vs. NC state and Marshall +127 both at home while UCF was +69 vs. NC State and +123 at Marshall. East Carolina has faced an opponent with a Top 15 defense in Southern Miss that draws even more common traits to Central Florida with a 31st rushing attack and 53rd passing game. UCF is 89 and 30th very similar with a strong defense. East Carolina and their up tempo offense went on the road and won 44-43 against Southern Miss.
