You can already feel the anticipation in advance of one of the best November Saturdays in many years.
It’s hard to recall another non-rivalry November Saturday which offers so many games loaded with national significance for both teams.
One of the six gems on this gorgeous Saturday slate is Notre Dame-Arizona State, the game that will dominate the 3:30 Eastern time viewing window. If the weather is nasty where you are, know that the Tempe (Ariz.) forecast for Saturday is 86 degrees and clear. Notre Dame and Arizona State will feel the heat of the afternoon, but that heat won’t compare to the pressure of a de facto elimination game in the race for a College Football Playoff spot.
The editors of The Student Section discuss, to varying degrees, these teams’ levels of readiness for the playoff, and how they match up against each other.
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Notre Dame’s and Arizona State’s defenses are on two different paths to their clash. Suddenly, the Irish defense is getting gashed, while the Sun Devil defense that gave up 62 to UCLA in a loss is now stout. Which team is built better to succeed in the playoffs, and who wins this weekend?
Bart Doan:
On Twitter: @TheCoachBart
I know the job description is to give hard takes on anything and everything, but in this case, I honestly don’t know. Notre Dame’s harrowing, aggressive defense seems to be a thing of September and long gone.
Arizona State was supposed to be a mixed drink full of offense and light on a few shots of defense. Early in the season, those narratives seemed mostly on point. Now … not so much. Common logic suggests that whoever’s playing the best defense has the best shot. Great defense will always give you a shot. Great offense can come and go.
If Taylor Kelly turns out to be “right,” you lean to Arizona State both in the short and long term. He’s a player who is special and capable of being the best player on the field by a long shot and getting you a win. But in his first stint back after injury, ASU’s offense looked like cleaning popcorn out of your teeth with a water-logged toothpick.
Does that continue? If it does, the ASU defense would have to be awfully special.
For Notre Dame, the Irish just have that old Notre Dame thing where they simply find ways to win (other than against Florida State, technically). Their defense has gone from more “read and react” in years past to constant pressure, forcing action. What happens there is vulnerability to big plays and, by proxy, lots of points for the other team if it gets out of hand… which is what has been happening.
Looking at the upper crust of college football, you don’t see any great defenses patrolling the top of the rankings as you did in years past. If there is one still lurking, it’s Michigan State, but even the Spartans have proven to be pliable and rely more heavily on offense than in previous years.
That lends itself to say that the team that can compete offensively with those big, high-powered offenses run by guys like Jameis Winston, Dak Prescott, Nick Marshall, Trevone Boykin, Marcus Mariota, etc., will be better served to hang around in the playoffs.
I’m taking the easy way out in this one: Florida State is at the top of the heap, or one of the teams at the top. We know Notre Dame can compete with and potentially defeat the Noles, so I’ll take that route.
My gut tells me Notre Dame wins this weekend, too. My gut also likes White Castle, however, so take everything in perspective.
Each team has a prominent Kelly who will figure heavily in shaping this contest. Arizona State’s Kelly is Taylor Kelly. Everett Golson is the more established big-game quarterback, so there might not be a more important person on the field than Arizona State’s signal caller when this game begins.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter: @SectionTPJ
Notre Dame is the better built team for the College Football Playoff.
That’s not to say that Sun Devils aren’t a contender. Aside from a turnover-filled loss against UCLA (which was Mike Bercovici’s first career start), ASU has looked like a championship-caliber team all season long, racing out to a 5-1 record in Pac-12 play. With an offense that averages 483.6 yards per game, and improving defense that hasn’t allowed more than 283 yards in its last three contests, the Sun Devils have proven that they can compete with anyone.
However, the Fighting Irish have the better defense, which is why they’re better equipped for the College Football Playoff. The Notre Dame front seven has done an excellent job stuffing the run against elite competition this fall, limiting Stanford (1.5 yards per carry) and Florida State (1.9) to fewer than two yards per carry. Similarly, the secondary has frustrated opposing quarterbacks all season long, as the Irish have registered 12 picks in 8 games this season.
So who will win this weekend?
I’ll go with the Fighting Irish. After all, Notre Dame beat the Devils at a neutral site last year with Tommy Rees as the quarterback. Now that Everett Golson – who’s lost a total of one regular season game as the starter – is under center, the Irish should have no trouble equaling last season’s 37-point, 423-yard performance. While the Devils’ offense should keep it close in the first half, Notre Dame will pull away late in the game.
Notre Dame’s Kelly is head coach Brian Kelly. He led the Fighting Irish to the national title game two years ago. If he can beat Arizona State this weekend, Notre Dame will likely be in the playoff discussion at the end of the regular season, marking an extremely impressive feat in light of last season’s struggles and the suspensions of four players at the beginning of this 2014 campaign.
Matt Zemek:
On Twitter: @SectionMZ
I love this Saturday’s matchup so much, and not because I was born in Phoenix, which is a suburb of Chicago and therefore a huge Notre Dame town.
This matchup — which resonates deeply in my birthplace — is so fascinating because Arizona State just finished playing a team I call “The Notre Dame of the West,” the Utah Utes.
What does that label mean?
Notre Dame is a team that, no matter the opponent, plays that opponent close on many occasions.
Stanford, North Carolina, Florida State, Navy — four very different teams in terms of styles and skill sets — all found themselves in close games against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish aren’t good enough to crush teams, but they’re sound enough that they’ll never be noticeably outclassed. This is how Notre Dame is; the Irish were this same way in 2012, when they reached the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama (and then got blown out by one of the few teams that was good enough to lay a thumping on them).
Utah, then, is so much like Notre Dame. The Utes have played Washington State, UCLA, Oregon State, USC, and Arizona State in recent weeks. Those teams also have different skill sets and different skill levels. Utah has played all of them closely, in victory or defeat.
It will be very interesting to see, then, if ASU’s experience against “Notre Dame West” toughens up the Sun Devils in the right ways and in the right places for the original Notre Dame this Saturday. Notre Dame seems to be a better version of Utah, certainly with a far better quarterback (Everett Golson compared to Travis Wilson), so Arizona State’s defense should prepare for a much tougher test than what it faced against the Utes. The showcase matchup will clearly be ASU’s offense against Notre Dame’s defense, with line play probably becoming the focal point. The Fighting Irish have not been entirely convincing on defense, but if line play is a wash, the outcome will have a lot to do with whether Taylor Kelly — sluggish since returning to the lineup following an injury — regains 2013-level form or not.
I can’t wait for this particular game. It could spill in any direction. However, Notre Dame, based on a proven ability to raise its level of play for top teams on the road under Brian Kelly (Florida State this year, Oklahoma in Norman two years ago), deserves a definite edge at kickoff time. We’ll see if Arizona State — a team that historically does not win these kinds of games — can change the equation. The Sun Devils face the greater burden of proof in Tempe.