Pat Haden

Although the Irish will be tested in early November by a tough Tennessee defense, I believe Notre Dame will win its remaining four games, and by doing so it could find itself invited to a BCS bowl game.

Hoping to play in January
The Irish have a bye this week, and then host the Volunteers on Nov. 5. Through its first seven games, Notre Dame has a 5-2 record, and a ranking of 15th in the latest BCS standings.

If the Irish finish the season with nine wins and a top-12 BCS ranking, they would be eligible for one of the Big Four bowls. And while with two losses they won't be playing for the national championship in the Rose Bowl, they would make for an attractive participant in the Sugar, Orange or Fiesta bowls. And you can bet first-year coach Charlie Weis will use that as motivation for his Irish team the rest of the way this season.

Besides hosting Tennessee, which is ranked No. 23 heading into its home game this weekend against unranked South Carolina, the Irish have home games remaining with Navy (Nov. 12), and Syracuse (Nov. 19), before their season finale at Stanford on Nov. 26th. They should be favored in all three of these games.

Tennessee, which lost to Notre Dame 17-13 last season at Knoxville, is the only team on Notre Dame's remaining schedule that I believe has a legitimate shot at beating the Irish, but the Volunteers' chances of doing so took a big hit when senior tailback Gerald Riggs Jr. -- the team's top offensive threat -- was lost for the season with leg and ankle injuries during a 6-3 loss to Alabama on Oct. 22.

Matching up with the Vols
Tennessee, which plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation, split its first six games of the season. In those first half dozen games, the Volunteers faced four top-10 teams, beating LSU while losing to Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

Tennessee is a very good defensive team, especially up front. And I think the Volunteers' defense will be the best Notre Dame will go up against this season. It will be extremely difficult for the Irish to methodically run the ball against Tennessee like they did against USC.

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And if Notre Dame goes to short passes and swing passes like it did so successfully in a win on Oct. 22 against BYU, it will have to get the best of Tennessee's cornerbacks, who are more talented and play closer to the line of scrimmage than do their BYU counterparts.

I think if the Irish are going to win their matchup with the Volunteers, they are going to have to win it through the air. But a concern for Tennessee is that Notre Dame is not one dimensional on offense. It has shown it can win games running the ball, and it win games passing the ball. This diversity in the Irish attack makes Notre Dame a very tough team to defend.

Tennessee is a team that struggles offensively, and the Volunteers have used three different quarterbacks this season while scoring only 11 touchdowns in their first six games.

Coach Phillip Fulmer's squad has faced some awfully stingy defenses, but the Volunteers low scoring output can also be attributed to penalties and turnovers that have stopped drives. The Volunteers turn the ball over way too much, particularly in areas of the field where they have a decent shot at scoring.

Against Notre Dame, the Volunteers are going to have to figure out a way to manufacture some points in the kicking game and on defense. They can't rely solely on their offense for points if they are going to have a chance to knock off the Irish. 

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