Today the Notre Dame Fighting Irish keep the family money in-state and will take on the Ball State Cardinals. Much like our Buckeye neighbors to the east, we too will taste the forbidden fruit of our local MAC orchard. Three things you need to remember about Ball State: Jason Whitlock Bonzie Wells David Letterman And that’s basically it. The game should be a lot of fun if you like beatdowns, and I think Notre Dame is due to hand one out early this season. Let’s have a blast on this second Saturday of the season — which will likely be a wet one. The game thread is open below. I know many of us are on Twitter for most of the game, but I encourage you to vent and do other things that require more than 280 characters here.<doc-sep>Notre Dame won against Michigan last week with 24 points and Notre Dame decided to stick to that point total again on Saturday. Notre Dame took their contest against Ball St. 24-16. The success made it back-to-back wins for Notre Dame. The win bumped Notre Dame's record up to 2-0. The loss dropped Ball St. back to even at 1-1. Notre Dame will look to defend their home turf against Vanderbilt at 2:30 PM. Ball St. will be staying on the road, facing off against Indiana.<doc-sep>We are all geniuses. Well... most of us. What looked like a large mass of homers getting together to talk about how awesome we are, and taking awesome shots, and having an awesome time — turned out to be a clinic in how to pick a BIG win. Alright, alright... enough of the bullshit. Let’s get to WEEK 2! This season, instead of everyone picking five or six games with little to no explanation, the staff will pick the Notre Dame game AND one other team they have each chosen to follow this season, and will give predictions for that game as well. I highly encourage you (our loyal readers) to do the same. In the comments below, give your prediction for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish AND take another team to follow and predict. Maybe you watch the Wisconsin Badgers on the side, or the Washington State Cougars or the Army Black Knights — whoever. Join in and expand your love of Notre Dame Football into college football as a whole. Here we go... Wes Sweigert Notre Dame 49 Ball State Cardinals 14 I don’t think there is much to say here, other than Ball State is outclassed in virtually every area of this game from roster down to the type of pre-wrap they use when taping their ankles. I expect Wimbush to have a pair of rushing touchdowns to compliment his two passing TDs, as well as three more TDs under the direction of Ian Book. While BSU put up 42 points against the mighty Central Connecticut Blue Devils, I suspect they find the Fighting Irish defense slightly more formidable, and at least one of their two touchdowns comes in mop-up time. Memphis Tigers 42 Navy Midshipmen 27 It hurts my heart to predict a loss for the Naval Academy this week in their home-opener. While their offense did Navy things against Hawaii last week, racking up 326 yards on the ground, their defense was absolutely torched by Heisman dark-horse Cole McDonald. It’s almost as if they could use Alohi Gilman! With Memphis going for 5 TDs in the air last week, my gut says the air to surface (or water, in this instance) missiles will be fired often and with precision from the Tigers. Jeff Czerniakowski Notre Dame 45 Ball State Cardinals 17 I think the Irish dominate this game and are up 4 touchdowns going into the final quarter. It should be a good week for Brandon Wimbush to get some confidence in the passing game. Toledo Rockets: Bye week Austin Gallagher Notre Dame 45 Ball State Cardinals 9 The Irish shouldn’t have much of a struggle here. Notre Dame should run up the score pretty quickly in this one, while not giving up much to a very clearly inferior opponent. Washington Huskies 56 North Dakota 7 This should be a breeze for the Huskies. North Dakota is a middle of the road FCS program - unlike their rivals at North Dakota State - and will be extremely outmatched against Chris Petersen’s squad. Expect this one to be over quickly. Lisa Kelly Notre Dame 35 - Ball State 14 After last week’s prime time home opener against Michigan, Notre Dame should have a good opportunity in this week’s game against Ball State to fine tune some issues that presented themselves last weekend. This is the perfect game to work on the run game, special teams, and to shore up Brandon Wimbush’s passing game. I don’t foresee the Irish having any problems securing a win this week. Grab your hoodie as you head to the game, the high will only be 72F. GO IRISH! Arkansas Razor backs 42 - Colorado State Rams 10 Arkansas came out full speed ahead last week in their game against Eastern Illinois. The debut game of the new Arkansas head coach, Chad Morris, proved to be a successful one lead by his junior quarterback, Ty Storey. Storey and his offense had a prolific passing game last Saturday, and I expect to see that again this weekend. With Colorado State’s lackluster run defense (ranked 106 in the nation), this week’s game will be the perfect time for Arkansas to work on their run game. The Razorbacks need to use every snap between now and week four to get all of their ducks in a row before they head to Auburn. WOO PIG SOOIE! Joe Londergan Notre Dame 34 Ball State Cardinals 10 I really loved what I saw out of Notre Dame’s offense against Michigan in both the passing and run game. On all fronts, Notre Dame is just vastly more talented than this Ball State group. I like their quarterback Riley Neal enough that I think he will get them within shouting distance of the end zone a few times, but that beatdown they put on Central Connecticut State last week didn’t exactly strike fear into my heart. I think the Irish start really strong, but take their foot off the gas enough late for BSU to get a few points on the board. Oregon State Beavers 28, Southern Utah 14 The obvious hope is that the Beavers win this game by more, but there are some concerns with the quarterback and lingering injuries to the defense. But running back Artavis Pierce and the rushing offense actually looked pretty solid last week in a 77-31 loss to Ohio State, despite the score, and Southern Utah are not exactly the Buckeyes. As Oregon State still finds their footing with the new coaching staff and a young roster, I think that program gets their first win in over a calendar year. Billy Gorman Notre Dame 49 Ball State Cardinals 21 If Notre Dame can avoid a let down following their win over Michigan this one should be over early. Even if they can’t avoid a let down this one should still be over with enough time to give the subs some game time. Ball State probably makes this seem closer than it actually is by taking advantage of garbage time against the reserves.<doc-sep>SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 08: Caleb Huntley #36 of the Ball State Cardinalsis dropped by (L-R) Daelin Hayes #9, Alohi Gilman #11 and Julian Love #27 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) Notre Dame scored on their opening possession of both halves, but that’s about the only part of the game Notre Dame football fans can cheer about. Well, the Notre Dame football team is 2-0. The Irish started off hot scoring on their first drive after just five plays, but the rest of the first half left a lot to be desired. The defense was the exact opposite. After a first series that saw Ball State drive all the way down the field and kick a field goal, the defense stiffened and produced a ton of three and outs and a third down interception. The second half was much of the same. Notre Dame went right down the field and scored on their first possession, but the rest of the half was ugly. Let’s see how it all played out. First Half Highlights On the first play from scrimmage, Brandon Wimbush found a wide open Chris Finke. On the next play, Jafar Armstrong broke loose for a near touchdown run. After two stymied runs on the goal line the Irish turned to Mr. Red Zone Handoff Guy, Ian Book, and Armstrong scored on the first touch. 7-0 Irish. The Ball State offense apparently wasn’t shaken by the crowd. Red-shirt Junior Riley Neal drove right down the field and the Cardinals got on the board with a field goal. 7-3 Notre Dame. After four straight three and outs by both teams, Notre Dame’s offense started to find their rhythm once again. However, after getting into the red zone Wimbush took a big sack on third down, and they reluctantly settled for a field goal attempt. Yoon’s kick never made it to the left upright. Still 7-3 Notre Dame. The Notre Dame defense continued to dominate and force three and outs, but offense continued to stall. After a few first downs, they failed to convert on a fourth down. Wimbush had yet to take off and run. The next Ball State possession turned into something even better than a three and out for the Irish defense. Great coverage by Nick Coleman lead to a tipped interception by Jalen Elliott – the first of his career. Tony Jones Jr. got the call and scores from 31 yards out on the very next play. 14-3 Irish. More good play by the Notre Dame defense and a Brandon Wimbush pick later, and Ball State is down only one possession going into the half. They would start with the ball. Second Half Highlights Ball State picked up two first downs to start the second half, but that was all they could muster. Drue Tranquill came off the edge on a designed linebacker blitz, forced a bad throw by Riley Neal, and Jalen Elliott came up with second pick of the game. On the first play of the Notre Dame drive, Wimbush saw his first designed run of the game, and finally the offense looked right. On the next play, Wimbush bootlegged out and found Miles Boykin for a big gain. He then went to Boykin again and found Chris Finke. Jones Jr. would finish off the drive and provide the Notre Dame team with 6 from 6. 21-6 Notre Dame. After another good stand by the Irish defense, the offense would come back out and try to put the Cardinals away. On the first play, Wimbush found Boykin for a big gain, but an unfortunate tipped pass (great play by the Ball State linebacker) landed right in the hands of another Ball State defender. We can continue with this banter, but it does us no good. The Notre Dame defense kept this a multi score game, but the Irish offense couldn’t seem to put two drives together. The offensive line was bullied all game. That’s not something we are used to hearing, especially against an inferior opponent. The offense was able to get into field goal range once again for Justin Yoon. This time he doesn’t miss and connects from 46 yards. 24-6 Irish. On the following possession by Ball State, the Notre Dame defense finally conceded to the Cardinals offense. Riley Neal connected with his wide receiver Nolan Givan in the end zone. 24-13 Notre Dame. The Notre Dame offense provides much of the same. It showed occasionally flashes of brilliance, but another throw from Wimbush was picked off. That’s his third of the game, and this one clearly his fault. Ball State is able to connect on another field goal late in the game, but Notre Dame recovered the onside kick. Brandon Wimbush collected a first down and the Irish would hang on to win it 24-16. Post Game Analysis Let me make one thing clear: This was an ugly game in almost all aspects. The offensive line was dreadful. The offensive concept was equally as bad. Brandon Wimbush continues to show why he is not a pocket passer. There’s no excuse that makes any sense for a one score win against Ball State. I mentioned prior to the game that I thought Brandon Wimbush would throw more and run less, but not to the extent in which it played out. Brian Kelly mentioned that as a weakness of the coaching staff last year, and it showed up again today. The play calling in this game was tailored to an Ian Book led offense. That was easy to see. If the staff is going to play Wimbush, play to his strengths. It’s back to the drawing board for Notre Dame. The defense continues to impress, and they were on the field for way too long today. I predicted Ball State would score 13 points, but had no idea Notre Dame would only have 24 points at the time. However, the Irish start out 2-0 for the first time since 2015. That’s all that matters.<doc-sep>
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 01: Chris Finke #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates his first quarter touchdown against the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium on September 1, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) The Slap the Sign writers give their takes on how they thing tomorrow’s Ball State vs. Notre Dame game will go. Welcome to another version of “staff predictions”, where the Slap the Sign writers predict the score of the upcoming Notre Dame football game and give an explanation as to how they arrived at their respective conclusions. The staff did fairly well last week. Everyone predicted an Irish win and three of the writers nailed the exact number of points that Notre Dame ended up scoring. Here’s what everyone had to say about this week’s game against Ball State. Ben Belden Notre Dame scores early and often throughout the first half and then tails off a little bit. Ball State hits on a couple big plays in the passing game, perhaps even on a broken play or two. Notre Dame ultimately wins this game 56-24, but the game doesn’t even feel that close. Carlee North After a huge win in one of college football’s biggest rivalries, you might expect a “hangover” game — but I don’t see that at all. Actually I think it’ll be a thrashing by the Irish. Brandon Wimbush has another solid performance, this time mainly through the air — seeing as they won’t want him to take off and run as much. I think we will see Ian Book in the third quarter and I’m hoping that true freshman Phil Jurkovec gets a shot to play in front of his home crowd. As for the defense, they have another dominant performance along the defensive line, coming up with a few sacks and are consistently in the backfield — forcing two turnovers in the process. Ball State will score late to pad the score a tad when the backups are in, but the Irish win handily 52-20. Chase Eyrich I think we will end up having the classic, “why didn’t Notre Dame win by more?” argument at the end of this game. The defense will easily get the job done and I don’t see the first unit on offense struggling at all. Where I see production slowing down is Brian Kelly obviously spreading the playing time around with other players and just experimenting overall. Notre Dame, 37-10. Connor McJunkin Ball State, while improved from a year ago, is only leaving South Bend with a nice paycheck. Notre Dame is bigger, faster, and stronger. This should be a great opportunity for the Irish to grow offensively and see some young guys make their collegiate debuts. Irish win 52-13. Jack Leniart The Irish will win this one comfortably. The offense should have no issue moving the ball, and I think Notre Dame will end up with at least one defensive or special teams touchdown in this contest. Ideally, the starters will be able to rest midway through the third quarter — giving the younger guys a chance to earn some valuable playing time. Notre Dame, 52-14. Nathan Erbach Notre Dame gets off to a quick start this weekend. The Irish limit Wimbush’s runs, but he throws for his best game in an Irish uniform (in only a little over a half of football). Book takes over mid-way through the third, and we even see a drive with Jurkovec at the helm. This one is never in question. Notre Dame, 52-13. Paul Walsh Ball State has a solid group of running backs, and a passer whose accuracy seems to be his bread and butter. However, I expect the same Irish defense to show up that did against Michigan — one that stifled the Wolverine rushing attack and provided great coverage down field. Wimbush will get a chance to showcase his arm against the Cardinals defense and sprinkle in some of his signature gains on the ground. The starters will be out by half-time as the Irish roll. Notre Dame 49-10. Sonny Martinez I don’t really see how this is a close game. It may be through one quarter because of the excitement Ball State will have playing at Notre Dame Stadium. I just think Notre Dame has way too much size, speed, strength and experience and that’ll be too much for the Cardinals to overcome.