Notre Dame vs NIU Score Predictions

so final section of today's show Ryan is we're going to dive into our predictions but first I just want to kind of revisit last week you went 2817 yes correct I went 2416 I went away from what I originally texted you which was 2413 I'm still kicking myself for doing that but I think the game played out pretty much how we expected it to with the and I told you this before and the only thing that was different is I I thought Notre Dame would pull away late I just thought it would be earlier than what it was I thought it'd be more maybe late third early fourth as opposed to the last six minutes where you needed a defensive stop where A&M could have taken the lead to do it so I'm not surprised at the outcome obviously you predicted an 11-point win they won by 10 uh I thought I just thought ner would maybe put him away just a little bit sooner but for the most part the game went exactly how we kind of thought it would go was two great defensive football tombs two two you know there's I would argue three great defensive Minds involved in it with Elco Freeman and of course Al golden uh but overall I thought the game played out how we thought it would would for the Irish yeah I I think I think on the prediction show last week I had said that I thought it was going to be a dog fight for you know three quarters and then Notre Dame was going to have a drive in the fourth that was going to be the separator they're gonna end up winning by I had 11 points and then I obviously ended up being 10 so the score was a little off obviously 2817 compared to 2313 but regardless like I did see it being a very competitive game throughout the majority of the game and then Notre games offense was finally TR able to break through in the fourth quarter and they broke through so ultimately the storyline was similar just the score was a little bit off so so Ryan without further Ado it's time for us to make our previews and predictions for this upcoming game against Northern Illinois so first of all tell me what your score is and then tell me how you see the game playing out I ended up picking Notre Dame 44- 17 is my final score prediction I think that when I when I look at this game I actually think that Notre Dame fans probably and I don't know if I'm going to be on the message board to see kind of the the hysteria that's on there if Northern Illinois scores an early touchdown or two right but I do think that this is first down Ryan people are going to lose their minds based on how the how the chat went last week I'm telling you man this offense is not a is a good unit for Northern Illinois and has some Playmakers on it so I actually believe that it's going to be kind of a close-ish game in the probably the early second quarter like I could see this game even go into like 2110 at halim 2410 at halftime where you're just kind of like seriously man like let's get going here and then Notre Dame ultimately does get going in the second half and the defense kind of stifles a little bit so I think there's gonna be an early score two I think Northern o is g to be one of those just annoying teams in the first half and then ultimately n's going to make a a bunch of explosives throughout the game and I think the depth more than anything is really going to just be the difference in the end so 44 to 17 I think it ends up being a quality victory for Notre Dame I think you see some of the elements that you want to see as far as some explosives in the passing game and the defense clamping down in the second half but I do think that this is a Northern Illinois team that can score a little bit early in the game that's going to just be a little bit frustrating for some fans I've got 41-13 Ryan so we have a very similar margin of of Victory I I I see Notre Dame getting basically one fewer field goal than you and and I would not be shocked if the one of the final scores for Norland Illinois comes late I do think they'll have a driver two early where they move the ball a little bit more effectively but I I think this team showed against A&M last week they adjust very quickly on defense and and and make those and are able to shut down plays I think the experience that guys like Drake Bowen and Kingston and Jaden all and Christian Gray and a Doner got last week is going to make them even more effective in this particular game so I do think Northern Illinois will make some some plays early to get some drives going I do I will not be shocked if they get a first quarter score uh in this game but I think notame settles in pretty quickly the big thing for me though is I actually think this offense is going to have a good start Ryan that's what it comes down to for me and I don't think Northern Illinois's offense is going to have much of a chance to really keep them in this game if they fall behind early because that is that that they want to be balanced they want to run the ball play action movement they don't want to sit there and drop back and throw the ball all over the field that is not their that's not their wheelhouse and if Notre Dame jumps on them early then I I think that puts them behind the eightball and makes life a little bit easier for the notame defense and that's kind of how I see this game playing out a little bit Ryan so uh not quite the dominating margin of victory that maybe some people are thinking I actually have him right at the spread area you have them very close to right so I think the spread is fair about where nerame should be could I see putting even more on him I could yeah uh because of the athleticism difference that's really the big thing for me if the nerame offense does really get hot I could see this one getting really ugly because I think there's a much bigger Gap in athleticism between the Notre Dame offense and the Tex Northern Illinois defense than than the other way around yeah I I know we don't really talk about you know SP sports betting on this show obviously and we're definitely not going to give advice but even before I I didn't even know what the spread was and I predicted the score prediction and then I went and looked and it was like 28 and a half I was like wow I think that line is perfect like I really do I think that that is a very good line which is why the people in Vegas make money obviously but yes I I think that that spread is perfectly on right on que and I ended up picking them by 27 which was right in the shouting distance of the line even before so I think it was pretty spoton so Ryan you have made a prediction of 44 to 17 right yep yep so if the game plays out how you think it's going to play out who gets your game balls on offense and who gets your game balls on defense offens I'm GNA go a little bit off the wavelength here I'm gonna go it's going to be a Jaden great House show especially in the first half I do think that the biggest I maybe not the biggest but I think one of the big advantages Notre Dame has offensively versus defensively is I think the second level Defenders are not very athletic for uh for Northern Illinois so I think Jaden house in the slot position could create a lot of easy separation could find some stuff down the seam a little bit so I'm going to go Jaden great house with an explosive first half that helps lead Notre Dame to Victory it's funny you say that Ryan because I was that's one of the reasons I was contemplating going with Jeremiah love for my player of the game because I'm just envisioning some sort of angle route or wheel route or slide or screen like the screen he caught last week against against Texas A&M you know maybe this time it it gets the corner because they just they're they're they're and their safeties are very long smart quality football players they're not the most rangy explosive guys athletically either uh and so I think a perimeter game is is where it's at I'm actually G to go Chris Mitchell I think Chris Mitchell season is going to start almost like it exactly like it did last year not quite the numbers the same Chris Mitchell had one catch for two yards in the opener last week went for like nine for 2011 in the second game now that was against Maine who's a a quality FCS team this is a better team than that but I I just feel like that the reason I'm really going here Ryan is because I I believe that Notre Dame is going to want to push the ball down the field a little bit more this week and get that part of their game going and I think that Chris Mitchell is going to be the biggest beneficiary of that and so that's that's kind of where I went so um well I kind of went in reverse order so I'm sorry I I my head got a little messed up defensive game ball for you Ryan yep bubacar tayori three sacks in this football game that's my guy I I think that if there's a player that I and say is a true Edge winner I think RJ Obin could have been in that conversation and I would like RJ to have a good game because he was pretty quiet against Texas A&M but I'm gonna go bubacar tayori breakout at the Viper position to create a lethal one-two punch with him and Jordan patelo so I'm going Ryan my score is 4113 as I mentioned I kind of went through already how I see the game playing out I do think the nerame offense gets off to a faster start this week I do think they hit some big plays running backs wide receivers I would love to see the tight ends get a little bit more involved in the past game this week I would I think that would be good too so I I I think that's going to put Northern behind the eightball and once this Notre Dame defense is able to pin their ears back and you lose any semblance of balance you have no chance against this Notre Dame football team and so I actually think the the offense is going to really help out the defense this week and this is going to be a good test for Northern Illinois to kind of to play against this kind of team and help prepare them for what I think is the potential to go make a run in the Mac this year it's going to be a very inter entertaining League this year in my opinion but I just don't think if they had the kind of athletes on defense that Toledo had in the last few years then I think this team would would be a lot more dangerous to stay in a little bit longer I just think the lack of athleticism on on defense is going to be something that's going to put them in behind the eightball a little bit early and and allow their to to make some big plays and and I don't know that their defensive line has the kind of athleticism they need to disrupt Riley Leonard and bring him down that that's going to be a big part of it so as long as the offensive line just kind of shows a little bit of growth compared to last week this should be a game that that that gets over pretty quickly and I say that after telling everyone how much I like this Northern Illinois team I just think with the way notame played offense last week Mike denrock and this offensive unit are GNA kind of have a little something to prove and I just I don't think the matchup works great for Norland Illinois and and my my prediction is that Notre Dame's not going to just come out and play p and pound against an inferior opponent I hope that I'm not wrong on that uh but that's kind of how I see the game see the game uh playing out so my game balls on offense I already mentioned uh Chris Mitchell uh and then my game ball on defense I'm going to go with uh in this particular I'm going Drake Bowen I think this is a drake Bowen game Ryan I think this is the game with with with uh you know the way that they play I mean he's gonna rack up a lot of tackles and and uh and make a lot of stops this is a this is a middle linebackers game the way that they play offense this is a middle linebacker game I'm watching the film and I'm thinking dude Drake bone and Kingston are gonna have a lot of fun facing this offense lot of fun facing this offense yes sir no doubt no doubt all right Ryan well that's going to do it thank you for joining me today I appreciate that say hi to the family for me and then we'll see you again Saturday after the game Ryan you'll be part of the postgame show at Irish breakdown so about five to 10 minutes after the game you're going to join Vince and Ryan and Shawn and the newly married Trevor so no more single guys in our postgame shows man it's all married folks now so uh we're going to be ready to rock and roll so I'm going to get to uh the national stuff here next I want to thank Ryan for once again giving great insights and helping us preview the Notre Dame Northern Illinois game take care fellas thank you all so obviously