Football preview: Western Michigan at Notre Dame
Western Michigan (2-3) at Notre Dame (3-3)
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium
TV: Channel 5; Radio: WLS 890-AM
Series: Notre Dame leads 2-0
Coaches: Bill Cubit (36-30, sixth year at WMU); Brian Kelly (3-3, first year at Notre Dame, 174-60-2 overall)
WMU players to watch: Western Michigan doesn't run the ball much or well, but redshirt sophomore QB Alex Carder gets to throw it around. He's averaging 25 completions and 42 attempts per week and owns 1,290 yards with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Senior WR Jordan White ranks among the nation's top 10 in catches (37) and yards (535). Senior center Nick Mitchell (Fremd) will make his 21st career start while sophomore ILB Dex Jones (Montini) leads the Broncos with 7 TFLs and also owns 3 sacks.
ND players to watch: Notre Dame's passing attack takes a hit with the season-ending hamstring injury to TE Kyle Rudolph, but QB Dayne Crist still has lots of targets. He's on-pace to join Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen as the only Irish QBs to throw for more than 3,000 yards and 20 TDs in a season. ILB Manti Te'o ranks ninth nationally with 11.5 tackles per game. K David Ruffer has converted all 11 field-goal attempts and all 15 extra points.
The skinny: Believe it or not, Notre Dame hasn't played a Mid-American Conference school since the league originated in 1947. For those of you into comparison scores, Michigan State defeated Western Michigan 38-14 two weeks before it stunned Notre Dame in overtime 34-31. While the Irish defense ranks 99th in passing yardage allowed (252.2 per game), they're 58th in pass efficiency defense (122.4 rating). They've picked off 8 passes while allowing just 7 TDs. That's going to be important since Carder might put it in the air 60 times, which will make WMU's NBC debut last longer.
He said it: Brian Kelly on Kyle Rudolph's absence: “Well, certainly, you lose one of the best tight ends in the country. That's a loss. But, you know, not one player is going to stop what we do. It's a next-man-in philosophy for us. Tyler Eifert, Mike Ragone, Jake Golic; those guys are going to have to step up and play the position for us at a high level.