Notre Dame and LSU square off in Music City Bowl

Dec 26, 2014 - 4:59 PM Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - After suffering four straight losses to end the regular season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will meet the 22nd- ranked LSU Tigers in the 17th annual Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl at LP Field.

Notre Dame finished up the regular season with a 7-5 overall record, but that did include a 3-0 mark when playing on a neutral field. The Irish were highly ranked early in the season thanks to a 6-0 start, but the team fell toward the end of the campaign with five losses in its last six games. It's Notre Dame's first trip to the Music City Bowl, though the team has appeared in bowl games in nine of its last 11 seasons.

LSU, which ended the regular season at 8-4 with the No. 22 ranking in the nation, dropped two of its last three games played. But the Tigers are at least coming into this matchup on a high note after defeating Texas A&M, 23-17, to end the regular season. LSU is making its first trip to the Music City Bowl as well, but the Tigers are 23-21-1 all-time in bowl games, with 15 consecutive trips to the postseason under their belt.

This clash between Notre Dame and LSU will be the 11th all-time in their program histories. The series is all knotted up at five games apiece, with the most recent meeting between them coming in the 2007 Sugar Bowl - a 41-14 LSU runaway victory.

Notre Dame's offense was highlighted in the regular season by quarterback Everett Golson, who took the reins as the starter from the get-go and performed exceptionally well, leading his team to a 33.0 ppg mark this season. Golson passed for 3,3355 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2014 against 14 interceptions, connecting for an average of 279.6 passing ypg. He added eight rushing touchdowns as well to his resume.

Golson was the team's leader during the regular season in rushing scores, but tailback Tarean Folston handled the majority of the workload out of the backfield. The running back gained 816 yards on 154 carries, rushing to the end zone five times over the course of the year. Greg Bryant added 287 yards and three touchdowns rushing on the season.

Will Fuller was unquestionably Golson's favorite target during the regular season, as the two hooked up through the air 71 times for 1,037 yards and 14 touchdowns. His 86.4 receiving ypg was the best on Notre Dame this season, which as a unit gained 444.6 total offensive ypg. Corey Robinson added five touchdown receptions this season for the Irish.

Defensively, Notre Dame really fell apart toward the end of the campaign, especially in the team's final four losses. The Irish surrendered 29.2 ppg to opponents this season, including 401.5 offensive ypg. In the team's last four losses, Notre Dame gave up at least 43 points to three opponents, and at least 31 points to all four, including 55 in a defeat against Arizona State.

Jaylon Smith led Notre Dame with 103 tackles on the year, adding in 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and six quarterback hurries. Both Matthias Farley and Cole Luke registered four interceptions during the regular season, which means they'll be in charge of shutting down an LSU passing game that threw nine combined interceptions. Up front, a Notre Dame defense that registered 70 tackles for loss and 24 sacks will need to be ready for a strong Tigers run game.

"We're thrilled with the opportunity to face LSU -- one of the preeminent programs in all of college football," said UND head coach Brian Kelly. "When we worked with the ACC to fashion our agreement, part of the attraction for Notre Dame was the ability to provide our program with this type of matchup. In that vein we're excited to come to Nashville, to play in a bowl in which the university never before has participated and to play in a top-notch NFL venue."

Even after the loss of Jeremy Hill to the NFL in the offseason, LSU has continued to pride itself offensively in the run game. Averaging 219.5 rushing ypg with 23 rushing scores this season, the Tigers are led on the ground by Leonard Fournette and his 891 yards and eight touchdowns. Fournette was an all-purpose monster for the Tigers, as was Terrence Magee, who rushed for 545 yards and three touchdowns this season.

Anthony Jennings saw the majority of reps under center at the head of the LSU offense, Jennings passed for 1,460 yards and 10 touchdowns to lead the team, but also tossed seven interceptions. He was the main signal caller to lead the LSU offense to 27.6 ppg.

Whether it was Jennings or Brandon Harris (452 passing yards, six touchdowns) under center, Travin Dural was still the main target through the air for the Tigers. Dural caught 37 passes this season for 758 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the team in each category. Malachi Dupre hauled in five receiving scores to finish second on the squad.

But it was LSU's defense that did the majority of the damage this season, limiting opponents to just 16.4 ppg and 305.8 total offensive ypg. The Tigers were especially strong in defending the pass, holding opponent aerial attacks to 162.3 passing ypg and just nine touchdowns all season long. That doesn't appear to be a good thing for Golson and the Irish, who rely heavily on taking down opponents through the air.

Only two players recorded more than one interceptions this season for the Tigers, who as a unit notched 10 interceptions during the campaign. But turnovers were secondary compared to LSU's 56 pass breakups. Kwon Alexander finished the regular season atop the team's tackles chart, tallying 79 stops to pace the team. Danielle Hunter led the team with 12 tackles for loss, and Jermauria Rasco registered four sacks during the season to top the Tigers, who will have to be careful against a potentially potent Notre Dame offense.

"We are very excited to bring our football program and the great LSU fan base to Nashville to play Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl," LSU coach Les Miles said. "Notre Dame is a traditional football power and we are looking forward to renewing what has been a tremendous rivalry between the two programs through the years."