College Football Game of the Week: No. 19 Army vs. No. 6 Notre Dame

Two teams with College Football Playoff hopes will be pitted against each other in a historic rivalry in Week 13 of the season.

The 19th-ranked Army Black Knights and the sixth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish will meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York.

Notre Dame leads the series 39-8-4, and it’s the two teams’ first meeting since 2016, a game that Notre Dame won 44-6 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer’s 281 total yards and three passing touchdowns and Notre Dame’s 261 team rushing yards led them to victory then.

Army head coach Jeff Monken has the Black Knights on pace for their best full season since 2018, and they have already clinched a spot in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game against the Tulane Green Wave.

The Black Knights played their closest game of the season on Nov. 16th, taking down North Texas in Denton 14-3, but they’ll be facing their toughest test yet.

Senior quarterback Bryson Daily is the centerpiece of the Black Knights’ triple option offense with an 82.8 QBR, eighth in the nation, to go with 1,062 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns, second among quarterbacks and second in the nation, respectively.

Army runs for an FBS-high 334.9 yards per game and sophomore running back Kanye Udoh is another main contributor to the offense with 856 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

On defense, the Black Knights are tied for the fewest points allowed per game at 10.3, and they excel against the run, as their 82.6 rush yards allowed per game are the third-fewest in the nation.

Linebackers Andon Thomas and Kalib Fortner are key Army defenders, and the Black Knights will be searching for their first win against Notre Dame since 1958, the year Pete Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, has won eight straight since being upset by the Northern Illinois Huskies on Sept. 7, winning these games by an average of about 32 points.

Senior quarterback Riley Leonard has turned up his play a notch leading Notre Dame’s 11th-ranked scoring offense, scoring at least three total touchdowns in all but one game since the loss to Northern Illinois.

On the ground, sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love has scored in every game this season, and he’s a big part of Notre Dame’s rushing attack, which ranks 12th in the country.

Notre Dame doesn’t do much work throwing the ball, but when they do, Clemson transfer Beaux Collins is Leonard’s top target with 30 catches for 390 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, linebacker Jack Kiser set a school record by playing in his 63rd career game on November 16 against the Virginia Cavaliers, and he leads the Fighting Irish with 52 tackles.

Superstar cornerback Benjamin Morrison is still recovering from surgery on the hip he injured in the Fighting Irish’s Oct. 12 game against Stanford, but he won’t be needed much against Army’s run-heavy attack.

Unfortunately for Notre Dame, they’ll likely be without star defensive tackle Howard Cross III due to an ankle injury, an absence that can loom large if this game is close.

Graduate student safety Xavier Watts is another important run defender who will be tested in this game.

This is shaping up to be a game that’ll be won in the trenches, given that both teams run the ball very well.

The game will be televised on NBC and will stream on Peacock.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.