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Scouting Report: Nevada

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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team will play the Nevada Wolf Pack at 3:30 p.m. EDT in South Bend, Indiana. NBC will broadcast the game. The initial forecast calls for 75 degree temperatures and clear skies at kickoff.

The two teams have met once previously. In 2009, Michael Floyd and the Irish smacked Colin Kaepernick and the Wolf Pack 35-0! This year, the Wolf Pack will show up looking to score.

STARTERS RETURN ON OFFENSE 

The scariest part of the Wolf Pack is their plethora of returning starters on offense. The returners include a 1,000 yard rusher in James Butler as well as all their wide-receivers. Three tight ends who made starts will return and the offensive line welcomes back all primary starters. 

James Butler -Wolf Pack

James Butler (Credit: Yahoo)

The most valuable of the returners will be Butler. After averaging 6.47 yards per carry as a sophomore, many conference experts say he has the potential to be named the best tailback in the Mountain West.

In addition to the returners, a big name transfer will add even more to the Wolf Pack’s depth. Running back Akeel Lynch transferred from Penn State in search of more carries

QUARTERBACK QUESTIONS 

 The Pack also returns an experienced fifth year dual threat quarterback in Tyler Stewart. Last year, Stewart rushed for 322 yards on 98 carries. Stewart’s experience has landed him the starting job, but his passing ability has been in question. In 2015, Stewart averaged a league low 6.6 yards per pass completion.
“The passing game needs to be more consistent. The ground attack will be just fine, but the Wolf Pack only managed 200 yards or more through the air 5 times in 2015,” wrote Campus Insiders’ Pete Fiutak in his season preview.

DEFENSE BY THE EXPERTS

“This season the 4-3 needs seven new starters, especially up front and especially on the outside to generate a pass rush to replace Ian Seau and Lenny Jones. The secondary gets back four starters from a good group that didn’t allow a passing touchdown in the final three games and held up well. Again, though, it’s all about the front seven and finding new steady starters.” – Fiutak, CampusInsiders.com
“Any way you look at it the Wolf Pack are in trouble on defense. They are losing 5 out of their top 7 tacklers, and 9 out of their top 14 tacklers from a year ago. In terms of backfield disruption they have to replace 22 out of their 25 sacks from a year ago, plus they’re losing 56 out of their 71 tackles for loss from 2015.” – Eric Murtaugh, One Foot Down
The worrisome part of the Wolfpack is their return of virtually all starters on the offensive side of the ball. What also frightens me about the Pack is their ability to protect the ball as indicated by a mere 12 turnovers in 2015 (ESPN). On the other hand, the front seven of the Nevada defense will be young and inexperienced coming into the early season matchup against the Irish. In response, the Irish should look to establish the run early and often against the Pack.
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