Notre Dame came out on the losing end of its season opener, but the Fighting Irish defense performed quite well for most of the game. It was quite a showing for Al Golden in his first game, and now he, his staff and the defensive players will look to build on that success.

Marshall comes to town with an offense that was a quality group in 2021 and is coming off a 55-point outburst in the season opener against Norfolk State. Let's take a look at how the two teams stack up on paper.

Marshall's quality ground game suffered a huge blow right before the season when sophomore running back Rasheen Ali stepped away from the team for personal reasons. Ali racked up 1,401 yards (5.6 YPC) and 23 touchdowns last season as a redshirt freshman.

Ali was a very steady back, going for at least 90 yards in eight games last season, topping out at 203 in a 49-28 win over Charlotte. He was a bright spot in the bowl loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, racking up 160 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. 

Marshall also lost several starters up front, which is a big reason why Notre Dame has the edge in the on paper matchup. The Herd racked up 380 rushing yards and four scores in the win over Norfolk State last week, but the Spartans simply aren't very good. The emergence of sixth-year senior Khalan Laborn was a welcome sign, after the former five-star recruit and Florida State transfer rushed for 102 yard (on 12 carries) and two scores after not playing since 2019.

Notre Dame started well against Ohio State but faded late, allowing the Buckeyes to finish with 175 yards on the ground. It was a valiant effort for much of the game, but the struggles down the stretch leave the rush defense remaining as a question mark after being an inconsistent unit a season ago.

Notre Dame needs its linebacker corps to continue getting better, and defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola needs to bounce back after an inconsistent performance against Ohio State.

Marshall threw for a lot of yards last season (3,535) last season and the line was good at protecting the quarterback. That's where the pass game strengths end, and the other parts of the pass game don't hold up from a statistical standpoint. Marshall had a lot of success from a volume standpoint, but its yards per attempt and yards per completion numbers were mediocre to below average.

Marshall's 18-15 touchdown to turnover ratio from a season ago is also problematic, and that continued in the opener. Texas Tech transfer Henry Colombi earned the starting job and he was incredibly efficient in the opener, completing 92.3% of his passes, but he averaged just 8.5 yards per completion. That's a solid yards per attempt number, but it's a really bad yards per completion number.

Marshall kept everything close, attempting just four passes that traveled beyond 10 yards past the line with Colombi in the game. Despite being so quick game oriented, Marshall still allowed two sacks and Colombi threw an interception, something he has a habit of doing. The veteran signal caller has thrown six interceptions on just 175 attempts in the last two seasons, including the opener against Norfolk State.

Marshall does have good weapons, and Corey Gammage brings impressive size (6-4, 220) and ball skills to the game.

Notre Dame covered the Ohio State receivers at a very high rate, but its pass rush wasn't nearly as effective as it was expected to be against the Buckeyes. Star defensive end Isaiah Foskey needs to play like the preseason All-American he was expected to be.

Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison had a breakout game against the Buckeyes and junior Clarence Lewis had one of the best games of his career. They'll be tested again against the Herd.

Marshall has potential as an offense and when they were hot last season they could rack up a lot of points and yards. Consistency has been an issue for them, and they don't stack up against Notre Dame from a situational standpoint. 

Notre Dame should be able to keep the points and yards down if it can win up front and limit the big plays and big mistakes that plagued the defense at times a season ago.

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