OUInsider - Owen Field

Nice post. I just don't see how the Irish can score, since they have had trouble doing it on everyone. Don't think ND will be ready for OU's speed, either. It will help that Brian Kelly has experienced the atmosphere and the quick strike OU offense before when he brought in Cincinnati. I'm sure he will have his team as ready as they can be. I just don't see it being enough

Good post. I expect a tough game as well. ND has shown itself to be a salty club with a lot of character. I don't expect it to be a walk like a lot of OU fans think it will be. ND has a D comparable to KSU and KSU was able to rattle Jones. I think Jones is playing much better now but he also hasn't faced any significant pressure since KSU. If ND is able to pressure Jones then ND will be in the game heading into the 4th qtr where ND has played excellently this year. IF ND can't pressure Jones then it should be a comfortable OU win because of OU's skill athletes.

ND hasn't allowed a rushing TD this year? I didn't know that. Bell should be the first then.

Great post man! Finally a ND fan on here that knows football. I think your absolutely right this game comes down to can Notre Dame survive the storm early then they have a chance. However I feel even if they do that OU will pull away in the second half because I just don't think your offense will have much success against OU's D they are good and play hungry and will easily be the best your offense has faced this year. They aren't a great Dline, but a good one and the corners are outstanding in man allowing OU to use the Safeties in the run game to help the LBs the weak spot of the defense, but they have been improving. If that's the case your D will be on the field a lot and wear down in the second half. Your right about the ugly game thing as well and I think if its an ugly that tilts the game in Notre Dames favor, but I don't see an ugly game as this game comes at a perfect time for OU as they have hit their stride in all three phases of the game and are looking to make this a statement game in front of a national audience.

The first ND poster made a lot of sense. In fact, bad weather might even be in ND's favor. However, I doubt the grass will be very long. If it is an ugly game, ND has a great chance. ND has a Tough Defense and is Mentally Tough.

On the other hand, I think we come out and go Tempo, Tempo, Tempo and try to get the ND defense on their heels. The first quarter will be critical.

If OU can't get the Tempo going early on, then GAME ON. It will be close and could easily be like the K State game. On the other hand, if we hit a couple of big plays early, then it could easily be like the FSU game two years ago.

NDfan20, I absolutely think we can score 40 on your defense. Not saying we will, but it is the nature of our offense. If we are on, and get your DBs guessing, we will score a lot. But if you shut us down in the first quarter, we might be lucky to get 17.

In the back of my mind, i can remember Kelley zinging off a little to Stoops when he brought his Cinci team in, and baited Stoops about the sellout there at Norman.
Stoops mentioned yup, they've been selling out for ....x years, and Kelley quoted the (at the time) "glossy" OU at home record in a challenging? arrogant? tone of voice.
OU killed them.
I'm sure Kelley is super motivated. Stoops probably remembers, but with MStoops back and the defense, unless the ND defense get turnovers, OU ..after seeing Landry throw so well the last three games, probably has ESTABLSIH THE RUN in their hip pocked. I also think the Penn State transfer guy will set up OU in good field position, and Millard and, pick a running back, will have great games.
I'm going with OU 34 Notre Dame 17.

Thanks for posting! It's always fun discussing football with informed, open-minded fans. It's especially impressive when a fan of one team has knowledge about other teams!

Oh, and ... really glad to hear that OU is winning you money!

I agree that Nix vs Ikard Is a key match-up. That is a big boy and I'm not sure that we've faced a team this year with someone in the middle that can blow up a play. I also remember when we had that type of explosiveness in the middle of the D-line and how it could disrupt opposing offenses.

My feeling is that we'll be able to deal with that schematically. We've been pretty successful out of sets that have two fullbacks and a tailback in the backfield. Nix will probably have to get past Ikard ... and then get past a fullback ... before he gets to Landry. I think we'll be ready to get rid of the ball quick enough to win that battle most of the time.

If I'm wrong about that ... ummm ... this might be the "ugly" style game that works to your benefit.

Regarding Tuitt, I think we'll be fully respectful of his skills. My thought here is that we just recently spent a lot of time planning to handle two awesome DE's at once (Okafor & Jeffcoat). We seemed to be successful at pretty much taking them both out of the game (and one of them out of the season). To me, this is where the other fullback comes in.

The one thing you might be overlooking (understandably, given our recent past) is our ability to run. To me, on the offensive side of the ball, this is what's primarily responsible for our improvement over the last few weeks. I still think our passing game is explosive. But, the running game is opening up everything else. It's allowing us the opportunity to wear down the defense, keep the defense guessing, and make play-action work. Ultimately, it gives Landry the opportunity to throw short or deep without the defense being able to tee-off on him because they know exactly what's coming. Oh, and, by the way, D Williams can take it to the house from 95 yards out.

I think the key to the game is whether we can stop ND's run or not. We looked awesome, IMO, against TT and the cows because we shut down their running game. But, we had trouble stopping the running game of K-State, Kansas, and even UTEP. If we had only had this trouble against K-State and UTEP, I could say it was just the early part of the season. But, Kansas was after the TT and cow game.

If ND can run on us, they'll have the chance at making this the grind-it-out kind of game that ND wants. If ND can't run on us, OU probably wins big.

My personal feeling is that ND will not be able to run on us (at least not in a controlling way).

This.

Don't know about the goat stuff....Landry is 33 and 9 record as a starter. Don't believe the ESPN propaganda. Don't think the game will be close....Landry is going to hang half a hundred on you.

Can any ND fans posting tell me exactly what offenses they have played against so far this season that could even remotely be thought of as dynamic or explosive? OU has more highly skilled players on offense than ND wil see in its other 10 games(excluding USC) combined. That won't be an easy in-game adjustment to make.

Actually OU is going to score 52 and then shut it down and put the 2nd and 3rd stringers in. Then ND will score a touchdown or two. Otherwise the ND offense won't do jack. Sorry, my friend.

This is a big game for you guys, biggest since 2000 per your coach. A lot riding on this game for OU. In many respects ND is playing with house money. Nobody expected us to be undefeated at this point. I am amazed how confident the posters are on the board, I honestly have not watched many of your games so maybe your confidence is well grounded.