Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest Fearless Prediction, Game Preview

By Pete Fiutak | September 19, 2018 2:26 pm CT

Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest fearless prediction and game preview.

Broadcast

Date: Saturday, September 22
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: BB&T Field, Winston-Salem, NC
Network: ABC

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Notre Dame (3-0) vs. Wake Forest (2-1) Game Preview

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One Reason Why Wake Forest Will Win

The Notre Dame offense isn’t working yet.

The running game isn’t there, the third down conversions aren’t coming, and coming up with points is like pulling teeth at times. And why? The offensive line has been just okay.

The Irish are struggling at keeping teams out of the backfield, and Wake Forest is fantastic at getting behind the line. The defense has been great at coming up with tackles for loss over the last few seasons, and the pass rush continues to be amazing.

The Demon Deacon rushing attack has been terrific, the first downs are coming, and there aren’t a slew of tough mistakes – they’re second in the nation in fewest penalties. But …

One Reason Why Notre Dame Will Win

Wake Forest has lost the turnover margin in all three games. For a Notre Dame offense that needs to manufacture points with easy chances, the defense coming up with a few takeaways would be nice.

So far, the Demon Deacons have given up two turnovers or more in all three games, and Notre Dame is coming off a three takeaway game against Vanderbilt.

The Wake Forest passing game has been good, but it gives up picks. In a perfect world, it gets the running game going right away, but Michigan and Vanderbilt each finished with under 100 yards, and Ball State – despite committing to the ground game with 47 carries – only averaged 3.6 yards per run.

Te’von Coney and Drue Tranquill form a killer linebacking tandem that’s eating everything up. Coney made 12 stops last season against the Demon Deacons, and Tranquill made six. They know this team.

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What’s Going To Happen

The Notre Dame grind continues.

Wake Forest is good enough to keep the game close, but it’s about to have a problem with the Irish running game that’ll finally get going.

The Demon Deacon run defense hasn’t been bad so far, but it got hammered by AJ Dillon and Boston College last week, and it’s about to give up over 200 yards to the Irish.

But this is a feisty enough Wake Forest offense to stay in it until the end. If Ball State and Vanderbilt can make it a fight, so can this team.

But once against, Notre Dame will find a way.