It is not typically that an undefeated staff is listed as an underdog within the again half of November.
Nonetheless, that’s the scenario No. 19 Military finds itself in because it prepares to face No. 6 Notre Dame on Saturday night at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Military coach Jeff Monken mentioned he understood his staff’s underdog standing. The Black Knights (9-0) have extra gamers from Texas than from another state, he mentioned, and nil of these gamers acquired a scholarship provide to play at North Texas.
Now, evaluate North Texas with Notre Dame (9-1), a blue-blood program crammed with four- and five-star recruits. Monken mentioned it was straightforward to acknowledge a distinction by way of pure expertise.
“It is actually arduous to win a university soccer recreation, and it is arduous at Military to win a soccer recreation,” Monken mentioned. “So our guys need to embrace the truth that we’ve got to execute our assignments and fundamentals at a extremely excessive degree and check out to do this higher than anyone else does. …
“We now have to apply and play with absolute exactness as a result of if we do not, we will get embarrassed. That is who we’re. I embrace that. That doesn’t imply we’re void of expertise. We have got gifted gamers on our staff. However extra gifted than Notre Dame, collectively as a soccer staff? No.”
By way of fundamentals, Military has been stellar. The Black Knights are one in all three undefeated FBS groups remaining, together with No. 1 Oregon and No. 5 Indiana, they usually have the nation’s longest profitable streak at 13 video games courting to final season.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman believes Military’s success was hard-earned.
“I informed the teaching employees, I feel it is our hardest problem up to now,” Freeman mentioned.
The Combating Irish carry an eight-game profitable streak into the prime-time matchup, together with a 35-14 victory towards Virginia final week. They’ve outscored opponents 380-114 this season.
Riley Leonard leads Notre Dame with 1,789 passing yards and 12 touchdowns to associate with 641 speeding yards and 13 scores on the bottom. Jeremiyah Love has 720 speeding yards and 12 scores, and Beaux Collins has 30 catches for 390 yards and two TDs.
Freeman praised his staff for its tenacity, because the Combating Irish haven’t trailed within the second half in the course of the streak.
“It is like, is that this play a very powerful play of the sport?” Freeman mentioned. “And that is a mindset. Don’t fret concerning the rating — do not care what the rating is. You might be up, you would be down, it does not matter. This play is a very powerful play of the sport, and that takes effort and focus to do, proper?
“It is not pure. It is pure to let up. It is pure to say, ‘OK, this is a rating, it isn’t that severe. This play does not matter.’ However the guys on the sphere need to have a conviction that this play is so vital to get the result that we would like within the recreation.”
Military is led by Bryson Each day, who has thrown for 644 yards and 7 touchdowns and has rushed for 1,062 yards and 21 TDs. Kanye Udoh is the next-leading rusher with 856 yards and 9 scores.
Notre Dame holds a 39-8-4 benefit within the all-time sequence towards Military, having received the previous 15 conferences. The groups have met 23 occasions at Yankee Stadium, 22 of these on the authentic ballpark (1925-29, 1931-46, 1969) and one on the present stadium (2010).
–Subject Stage Media