For the second straight game, the University of Cincinnati football team will look to snatch a victory from a Power Five opponent in front of a hostile, sold-out crowd.
The Bearcats, who had a bye last week, came from behind to defeat Indiana in Bloomington on Sept. 18.
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No. 7/8-ranked (Associated Press/Coaches) Cincinnati (3-0) will head back to The Hoosier State on Saturday where a top 10 clash with No. 9/7-ranked Notre Dame (4-0) awaits.
The Fighting Irish are expecting a capacity crowd of 80,795, their first sellout of the season.
"This is what you've always kind of dreamed of," UC coach Luke Fickell said. "This is what you want. This is what these guys have worked for. Not just to play Notre Dame, because that's always a big deal, but to have the matchup where there's legitimately two top 10 teams that a lot of people are excited about watching."
3 keys to victory for the Bearcats
1. Start fast: Cincinnati had slow starts in each of its last two games. With all due respect to Murray State and Indiana, those opponents were nowhere near the caliber of Notre Dame.
"Two weeks ago, we went to Indiana. I don't think we quite handled it as well as we should have, being an older team," Fickell said. "But we had the poise enough to come back and not let that overwhelm us. So hopefully we learned a lot from that situation. But I've got the utmost confidence in these guys. They've been through a lot of battles together."
The Irish have four- and five-star athletes everywhere. Another slow start could doom the Bearcats. Quarterback Desmond Ridder and the UC offense need to get on the board early and often, and score touchdowns, not just settle for field goals.
"It's always something to start fast and big," Fickell said. "But I think, more than anything, we can't let the moment kind of overcome us in the beginning. That might have been one of those things at Indiana, where the emotions of things when you run out there on that field, you're in a situation where it's obviously electric and things like that, and your emotions kind of go a little too high before you kick the ball off. And then there's that lull. I don't know. I mean, that might have been a little bit a part of it.
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"But we've got to be able to handle those things, we've got to be able to get ourselves into a rhythm, and we've got to know that there's going to be ups and downs. Whether it starts fast or it starts slow, the reality is the best teams in college football aren't the ones that are wining games. You can look around college football, it's the teams that play the best."
2. Play mistake-free football: The Bearcats had an opportunistic defense under Marcus Freeman. Now, Freeman has the Irish seizing those same opportunities.
The nine interceptions by Notre Dame's defense this season are tied for the most in the FBS. They are also the most interceptions through the first four games by an Irish defense over the past 25 seasons.
More:UC Bearcats football coach Fickell not letting emotions of reunion with Freeman distract
Freeman's group had four interceptions last week against Wisconsin and returned two of them for touchdowns. That can't happen Saturday.
3. Sack the QB, a lot: The Notre Dame offensive line has been shaky thus far. The unit allowed six sacks last week. Starting quarterback Jack Coan suffered a left ankle injury on sack No. 5.
It remains to be seen who will start under center for the Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said all three quarterbacks – Coan, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner – are prepared to play this weekend. Coan and Pyne split first-team reps during the week.
Regardless of who starts, this weekend presents a prime opportunity for Cincinnati senior defensive end Myjai Sanders to find his groove.
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The 2020 first-team All-American Athletic Conference performer had a team-high seven sacks last season. Sanders has zero sacks through the first three games.
How to watch
Time: 2:30 p.m. on Saturday
Where: Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
TV: Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Drew Brees (analyst) and Kathryn Tappen (sideline) will have the call on NBC.
Radio: Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst) and Mo Egger (host/engineer) will have the UC radio network call on WLW-AM (700), Sirius 211, XM 202 and Internet 970.
Live stream: Peacock
Betting line: UC was a 1.5-point favorite 24 hours before kickoff.
Series history: Notre Dame leads 1-0. The Irish defeated Cincinnati 58-0 on Oct. 20, 1900.
Prediction
Saturday will be just the third top 10 matchup at Notre Dame Stadium in the Brian Kelly era (since 2010). The Irish are 2-0 in top 10 matchups at home under Kelly. They defeated No. 7 Stanford 38-17 in 2018 and then dropped top-ranked Clemson 47-40 in double overtime last season. Notre Dame is 26-7-1 all-time in top 10 matchups at home. The bottom line is the Irish don't lose big-time games at their place. But they will on Saturday. Desmond Ridder has a big game, and the "Blackcats" defense backs him up. UC wins, 31-20.
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