The No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to take on the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night, and most people think the key to an ND upset will be how well the front seven can limit Spartans running back Le'Veon Bell. In an interesting twist, Eric Murtaugh of Notre Dame blog One Foot Down ended his exhaustive preview of the matchup with predictions that the Irish can hold Bell under 100 yards rushing but that the Spartans will still prevail, 24-17. Here is a bit of what Murtaugh had to say:
I actually think the Irish will bottle Le'Veon Bell up and I'd be surprised if he gains over 100 yards (unless he's carrying the ball 30+ times) but their offense should do just enough to win teamed up with a nasty defense. Notre Dame should play well and compete, but there are too many indications pointing to a loss and I believed before the season that ND would split the Michigan games. An Irish win would be nothing short of momentous, especially given the recent history in these big games, but I don't see it happening this weekend.
There is much more to the preview than this short excerpt from the conclusion, so make sure to check out the complete article here.
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