It was a very busy week for the Irish Forum Preview Staff this week, for non-Irish football-related reasons. Given minimal prep time, we must unfortunately keep our Notre Dame at Washington commentary short and sweet.
The Irish outgained (472-322) and out first-downed (27-21) #18 ranked North Carolina on the road two weeks ago and really should have won. Clausen threw 400 yards worth of great balls, but two really bad balls that cost him. Today is huge. A 9 win season remains a stretch goal for this team in IFP’s opinion, but possible. And 9 wins would likely mean playing somewhere on New Years Day. Washington is 0-6, beat up, and playing out the stretch against the toughest schedule in the country. Willingham is the lamest of lame ducks; he has now been fully exposed as all talk, little walk. The Huskies have issues on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense where they are giving up just under 485 yards/game. They gave up 236 yards rushing to Oregon State last weekend in a 21 point loss that typified their season. They tend to hang in there for awhile and then crumble late. Notre Dame’s passing offense has quietly crept into the Top 20, nationally. Clausen’s 14-8 TD-INT ratio is decent but needs to be better. He has thrown 4 picks in road games this year and must keep that in check today. You cannot deny the progress he's made, though. He's a totally different player than he was a year ago.
Closer than we might like, but a "W" on the road nevertheless.
Notre Dame 27 – Washington 21
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