Booger McFarland reveals how Notre Dame can defend against Penn State run game

The defense has been the strength of Notre Dame under the combination of head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden. That’s been no different this season, and even amid several injuries, the Irish held Georgia to just 10 points in the Sugar Bowl.

Now, the Irish are turning their attention to Penn State in the Sugar Bowl. The Nittany Lions offense presents an interesting challenge. In particular, as Notre Dame will attempt to slow down the rushing attack.

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For ESPN analyst Booger McFarland, as he explained on Always College Football, there is a path to stopping the Penn State running game, comparing it to his time in the NFL.

“It’s really easy,” Booger McFarland said. “It’s penetration, it’s movement. I go back to when we played in Tampa, I was the heaviest guy in Tampa on our defensive line one year. I was 295 [lbs]. [Warren] Sapp was 285 [lbs], Simeon Rice was 240-250 lbs. We had our left end who was 255 [lbs] maybe. And everything we did was about quickness and about get off. Any time we faced a zone-based team we licked our chops. Here’s why. At some point when you’re running zone, the offensive line has to go sideways a little bit. They can’t just come off. They have have to go sideways and when they’re going sideways, you go north and south. You go vertical.”

Penn State’s rushing attack is one of the best in the country. Part of that is because the Nittany Lions have multiple star backs who can carry the ball, notably including Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Both juniors, Singleton has 1,015 rushing yards and nine touchdowns for the season while Allen has 1,026 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

This also comes at a time when Notre Dame has lost a key defensive lineman, Rylie Mills, for the remainder of the season. On top of that, Howard Cross left the Georgia game with an injury too, leaving the Irish thin up front depending on his status.

“If you want to funnel the ball, you take the end…you take one step upfield, you come underneath that tackle, and you get in the backfield. Penetration kills all zone plays. Okay? Now, you don’t want to do it on third and long because you want those guys rushing the passer, but if I’m Notre Dame and I’m Marcus Freeman, it’s going to be about movement. It’s going to be about how can I put a knife in this zone scheme from the word go. Because if they can do that, if they can take away Allen and Singleton, and I get it Tyler Warren is great, will probably be the first tight end picked…but I would favor Notre Dame,” McFarland said.

“If you told me that Penn State doesn’t have a running game that goes over 100 yards, I’m putting a ton of money on Notre Dame because that means Drew Allar and Tyler Warren are going to have to have a historic day like they had against USC and I just don’t know if they can have that type of day against this defense.”

This season, Notre Dame is 34th in the country in rushing defense, giving up an average of 127.93 yards per game. However, they let Georgia rush for just 62 yards and Indiana rush for 63 yards. So, the Irish defense has stepped up in the College Football Playoff.

The Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame is set for 7:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, January 9th.