On Saturday at 12:30 PM PT on NBC, Stanford football will face No. 11 Notre Dame on the road in South Bend. Stanford comes in at 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC while Notre Dame comes in at 4-1.
READ: 10 greatest Legends Trophy performances at Notre Dame in the 21st century
VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference: Notre Dame
Last time out: Stanford got dominated at home against Virginia Tech last week by final score of 31-7.
RECAP: Stanford gets vanquished by Virginia Tech
On Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish are 4-1, dropping their second game of the season at home to Northern Illinois by a final score of 16-14. Since that loss, they have won three straight games with wins over Purdue, Miami (OH), and No. 15 Louisville. They are now looking to win their fourth straight game as Stanford comes to town.
The Irish are led by senior quarterback Riley Leonard, who has gone 82-126 for 750 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Leonard is even better with his legs as he has 374 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. He’s a legit dual threat quarterback and one who is very difficult to contain.
The top wide receiver for the Irish is senior Beaux Collins, who has 17 receptions for 181 yards and one touchdown. As for running backs, sophomore Jeremiyah Love has 373 rushing yards and five touchdowns for an average of 6.5 yards per carry. Love also has 11 receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown.
The Irish have other weapons on offense, too. Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse has 13 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown. There is a ton of depth on this team and guys who Stanford’s defense needs to be aware of.
As for the Irish defense, graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser has 25 total tackles (16 solo) to lead the team while redshirt freshman defensive lineman Boubacar Traore has a team-high five tackles for loss. The top ball hawk for the Irish is graduate student safety Xavier Watts who has two interceptions on the season to lead the team.
As for special teams, kicker Mitch Jeter has gone 5-7 on his field goal kicks missing one kick from 40-49 yards and one kick from 50+ yards. He’s 4-5 on kicks from 40-49 yards, so he’s overall been quite good for them.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, this game begins and ends with stopping the run. If Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love have big days running the ball, the Irish will win easily. If Stanford can stop the run, they could make this interesting.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is get points when they can and take care of the ball. If Stanford has to settle for some field goals early, that’s much better than turning the ball over in the red zone. While at some point Stanford will need to score touchdowns, we saw firsthand at Clemson what happens when they turn the ball over in the red zone. With Ashton Daniels expected to be the starting quarterback, he’s going to have to have a bounce back performance.
Finally, Stanford needs to get a big performance from wide receiver Elic Ayomanor. He’s the best player on the team and a guy who can hit home runs for them. If Stanford gets the most they can out of Ayomanor, this game could at least be fun. If not, they’re going to be hard pressed to make this interesting.
Prediction: I don’t see Stanford winning, but I see them putting up a spirted effort. Notre Dame 28-17 is how I see this one going. Stanford will play hard and make it a game for a bit before Notre Dame pulls away.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
