Notre Dame suddenly found a defense that can sack a quarterback and cause turnovers last week in its win over No. 18 Virginia. That type of production is something that could carry the Irish to many more victories and the possibility of a 10 or 11 win season.

The Irish dominated the Cavaliers after making adjustments in the first quarter. ND forced five turnovers in the game — three fumbles and two interceptions — with all but one leading to scores. The defense held Virginia to just four rushing yards forcing the Cavaliers to throw the ball 43 times. The Irish defense also accounted for eight sacks

Senior defensive end Khalid Kareem finished with 2.5 sacks and the Irish defense scored one touchdown and set up another.

Notre Dame needed the defensive effort because the offense struggled at times and quarterback Ian Book had another sub par game.

ND worked on its running game and it certainly showed some improvement from the prior three games of the season. ND had only 45 yards rushing in the first half, but apparently head coach Brian Kelly decided to run the ball in the second half and it was a success. Tony Jones Jr. carried the ball 18 times for 131 yards and three TDs in the game.

On the other hand, the passing game was not impressive. Book was 17 of 25 for 165 yards. Chase Claypool, who had an ankle injury early but was able to continue to play, finished with six catches for 30 yards. Tight end Cole Kmet caught a 37 yard reception and finished with four catches for 65 total yards.

Kelly admitted the offense was not great.

“I’m not standing up here and telling you we have found ourselves offensively,” he said. “We have not. We’re far form where we want to be. We have a lot of things to sort out and figure out offensively.

“But what we did is we gave Tony Jones a break. So he ran hard in the second half and in particular the third and fourth quarters.”

ND had five three-and-outs in the game until coming alive in the final few drives of the game.

Jones got help from sophomore running back C’Bo Flemister. He carried the ball six times for 27 yards and a TD and also caught one pass for 13 yards.

More on the game later.

Today the Irish host Bowling Green in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Falcons enter the game at 1-3 with a win over Morgan State, 43-3; and losses to Kansas State, 52-0; LA Tech, 35-7; and Kent State, 62-20. The Falcons are led by QB Darius Wade, who has completed 66 of 116 passes for 663 yards and three touchdowns. The top running backs are Davon Jones, who has 205 yards on 43 carries and a score; and Andrew Clair, who has 158 yards on 39 carries and two scores. The top receivers are Quinton Morris with 218 yards on 16 receptions and two scores and Julian Ortega-Jones with 118 yards on eight catches.

Defensively, linebacker Brandon Perce leads the team with 19 solo tackles and 19 assists for a total of 38.

The Falcons are averaging 185.5 yards per game passing and 167.3 yards per game rushing. Bowling Green plays in the MAC East Division.

The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 3:40 p.m. EDT kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... ND finished with a total of 343 yards of offense for the game. Other game stats — Book ran seven times for 10 yards and Jahmir Smith, three times for eight yards. Michael Young played in his first game of the season and caught three passes for 19yards. Jonathan Doerer missed his first field goal of the year, a 47 yarder. Defensively, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Tariq Bracy each had seven tackles with Drew White and Troy Pride making six each ... The Irish now have 13 straight home victories which is the third-longest streak in ND history ... The eight sacks in the game was the first time since ND had eight against Hawaii in 2008. ND entered the Virginia game with just four sacks in the first three games ... The Irish lost defensive end Daelin Hayes for the season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. But Hayes announced on Tuesday that he will return for a fifth season in 2020. The 6-4, 266-pound Hayes played in only four games this season meaning, under NCAA rules, he is eligible for a fifth year since his playing time was limited to just four games. ND also will not have sophomore wide receiver Lawrence Keys III today. He was injured in the Virginia game. He started the New Mexico and Virginia games as a replacement for Michael Young ... Kelly only fired one assistant coach in his 10 years at ND, that was defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder after four games of the 2016 season. Well the defensive coordinator for the Falcons is VanGorder and his stats so far this year with Bowling Green and his stats as defensive coordinator for Louisville last year, are the type that get coaches fired. The Falcons are 46-point underdogs and coming off a bye this past Saturday. They are 117th nationally out of 130 FBS teams in rushing defense, 129th in pass-efficiency defense, 111th in total defense and 120th in scoring defense. And that’s despite giving up just three points and 70 total yards in a season-opener against FCS program Morgan State ... Book was No. 5 nationally in passing efficiency two weeks after the season started and now sits at No. 41. The Irish are 31st in team pass efficiency. Obviously, Book needs to reverse his current downward spiral and get back to where he was last year if ND wants to remain in the conversation for the College Football Playoff or play in a New Year’s Day bowl. Book has a chance today to pad his numbers against a admittedly undermanned Bowling Green team. In the Georgia game, he had the poise and performance of a quarterback that looked ready to regain his stature that got him the starting job in 2018. Then last week against Virginia he took a step or two backward, particularly after an 8-for-8 start for 68 yards in the first quarter. After that Book was 9 of 17 and converted just two of 11 third-down opportunities. ND is 114th in the nation in third down conversation statistics — that’s not good ... Starting running back Jafar Armstrong, out since the first quarter of the Louisville game with an abdominal tear, is projected to return for the USC game next week ... Today the Irish are in a win-win situation against a Bowling Green team that just isn’t very good. ND has to be careful, of course, as good teams never take any opponent lightly. This will be a tune up game for next week’s showdown with the Irish’s number one rival, Southern Cal, in South Bend, and in prime time. I don’t know if ND will cover the spread because that is a lot of points. ND should be able to work on its offense and we’ll see if last week’s defensive effort was a fluke or the real thing.