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On Saturday night, the No. 19 Army Black Knights will face off against the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a primetime clash of ranked opponents at Yankee Stadium.
This matchup holds serious College Football Playoff implications. Army is looking to keep its undefeated season alive, and Notre Dame is hoping to notch its ninth consecutive win since its lone loss of the year in Week 2. Though head coach Jeff Monken and the Black Knights are 9-0 this season, they still enter this weekend's matchup as a heavy underdog against Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish are favored by 14.5 points before Saturday's kickoff. ESPN's Matchup Predictor computer model gives Notre Dame an 87.
6% chance to hand Army its first loss of the 2024 college football season. Army leads the NCAA with 334.9 rushing yards per game.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff are focused on stopping the Black Knight's power run game on Saturday. Danny Wild-Imagn Images "They are a vertical, physical power running team," Freeman said. "They’re good with getting three yards, four yards, three yards, four yards.
And if you don’t get them behind the chains, they’re going to continue to do it for 11, 12, 15, play drives. “It’s so important to get some negative yardage plays, one-yard gains. We cannot allow them to stay in rhythm as they go down the field.
So it’s so important. We know it’s important, but now we have to find ways to do that on Saturday.” Notre Dame's only loss of the season came at the hands of visiting Northern Illinois Huskies on Sep.
7. Since then, the Fighting Irish have notched ranked wins over No. 15 Louisville and No.
24 Navy. Saturday night's game will kickoff under the lights at 7 p.m.
EST. Related: ESPN Computer Model Predicts Winner of Indiana-Ohio State Matchup.
