Irish defense locked in ahead of Central Michigan game

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - The Notre Dame defense finally allowed its first touchdowns of the year this past weekend, but it also wreaked havoc on the back end, coming away with three interceptions.

Ben Morrison, Xavier Watts, and DJ Brown each got in on the action, forcing mistakes out of dual threat gunslinger Brennan Armstrong.

With five picks through three games, the Irish are now tied for the third-most interceptions in the country. The team talked about the takeaways this week as they prepare for Central Michigan.

“It’s been great,” Brown said. “Just going into that game, we heard that NC State’s stress on their QB was for him to throw it deep more and challenge DBs, so just going into the game we knew what type of game it was going to be. So, just capitalizing on that for our DBs just gives us confidence going into the rest of the season.”

“I think we’re playing faster, and we’ve got to keep using our techniques and make them habits,” said defensive coordinator Al Golden. “That’s going to translate to game day, but in terms of getting the interceptions right now, that’s because the guys are playing fast and they have good vision. And I think they’re really good players, too.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. EDT. A reminder, the game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

Meanwhile, we want to hear from you ahead of this weekend’s matchup. In this week’s Lochmandy Auto Group Irish Fan Poll, we’re asking you who you think has been the MVP of Notre Dame’s defense so far this season? Click here to vote!

We’ll share the results on Countdown to Kickoff, which airs right here on WNDU Friday night at 7 p.m.