Notre Dame Fighting Irish take down Wake Forest Demon Deacons 28-7

After grinding out a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard TD scramble by DeShone Kizer with 3:06 left in the first quarter, the Irish jolted Wake Forest with a pair of stunning big plays on the way to a 21-0 halftime lead. It is highly unlikely, but if Wake Forest is able to get of to a quick start and Notre Dame struggles, momentum and emotions can do very odd things and Wake Forest making this a game would be just another example. It will air Saturday, Nov 14 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

It’s Senior Day this weekend for Notre Dame as they prepare for Wake Forest but star wide receiver Will Fuller won’t be saying any goodbyes this weekend as he plans to return to school next year for his senior and turn down the NFL Draft. The Deacons entered ranked 111th in total offense at just 339.9 yards per game. The last two of those games came on the road and the Irish certainly earned the win over Temple, which saw the Owls push Notre Dame in the fourth quarter. “I just did the best I could not to get tackled”. It marked the seventh straight game where the Irish had an interception. The Fighting Irish defense held Wake Forest to 0-for-3 on fourth down. In those last four games Kizer has accounted for 13 TDs and 1,263 yards of offense. “He’s grown in a very short period of time this year into the kind of football player that I think has a huge growth potential in front of him”. His 44 receptions this year would have been the second-leading total on last year’s team, but teammate Chris Brown already has 40 catches this year.

Following No. 4 Notre Dame’s 28-7 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, Irish head coach Brian Kelly highlighted his senior class, which closed out its run at Notre Dame Stadium with another victory.

And if both the Irish and Tigers run the table and Clemson remains atop the rankings, it’s reasonable to assume that Notre Dame will get into the playoffs with the best one-loss resume in the country despite losing at least six starters to season-ending injuries. I believe he already broke the record for punt yardage earlier this season.

Note: Notre Dame linebacker James Onwualu suffered an MCL sprain.

A tri-captain Patrick Hodan free kick in the 14th minute was punched aside by Alec Ferrell, starting a counter attack for the Demon Deacons. Stanley, who is eligible to return for a fifth season, said he won’t return. He should see a lot of action as I suspect the Irish will score in bunches.

Indeed, Wake Forest (3-7) averages only 16.5 points, but it outgained the high-flying Irish by 58 yards, collected eight more first downs and had an 11½-minute advantage in time of possession.