And in This Corner…

Notre Dame Football is currently preparing for the Cincinnati Bearcats to come to South Bend on Saturday. The Bearcats stand at 3-0, with victories over Miami-Ohio, Murray State, and Indiana. They are currently ranked #7 in the AP Top 25 poll, just two spots above your #9 Fightin’ Irish (4-0) PLUS they had a bye week last Saturday to prepare for what many call an overrated Notre Dame team!

There are some interesting backstories to this game. As you know, after the Charlie Weis firing, Jack Swarbrick hired Brian Kelly who was then the head coach of a very successful Cincinnati program. At the end of last season, Marcus Freeman joined the Notre Dame staff as the new defensive coordinator. Freeman, a former linebacker, played for Ohio State, followed by a few years in the NFL. He was hired by Luke Fickell as a defensive coach at Cincinnati where he quickly transformed their defense into one of the best in the AAC.

Then, we have the current offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Mike Denbrock, who was once the O-Line coach at Notre Dame. In fact, there was a tweet posted earlier this week where Cincinnati quarterback, Desmond Ridder said that Coach Denbrock warned him that Notre Dame Stadium would be very loud on Saturday. Ridder said he responded that it “wouldn’t be loud for long.” Those are fightin’ words and you know that Marcus Freeman has them posted somewhere in “The Gug,” where his defense can get fired up so Ridder will regret saying them after he throws a couple INTs to the Irish.

It is bound to be a battle this Saturday between the two teams. You’ve got Bearcat QB Desmond Ridder determined to quiet the crowd, while Irish defensive lineman, Jayson Ademilola said on Tuesday night, “Everyone on this defense is hungry. We are never satisfied.” Rest assured, Irish fans. Coach Freeman will have our defense ready to eat!

When asked about facing the Bearcat defense, Captain and wide-receiver, Braden Lenzy stated, “They force a lot of turnovers. We have to be very aware of the ball. They have a high-powered offense, we have to be aware, and we have to put a lot of points on the board.” Lenzy was adamant that he is “pretty confident in our game plan so far.”

Notre Dame and Cincinnati kick off at 2:30 pm EST this Saturday, October 2, 2021. The game will be nationally broadcast on NBC and will be streamed online at PeacockTV. Let’s keep that home game winning streak alive and well by screaming as LOUD as possible, and make Bearcat QB, Ridder EAT HIS WORDS!