On Saturday at 4:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KNBR radio, Stanford football will welcome #17 Notre Dame to The Farm for Senior Day. Stanford comes in at 3-8 overall with a 2-7 record in the Pac-12 while Notre Dame comes in at 8-3 overall. Notre Dame, an affiliate member of the ACC, is independent in football.
Last time out: Stanford fell to Cal in Big Game by a final score of 27-15.
RECAP: Stanford falls to Cal in 126th Big Game
On Notre Dame: The Irish have had a solid season, hence their top-20 ranking. However, after starting 4-0, the Irish are 4-3 since then, so they’ve shown some vulnerabilities. Two of those losses were away at Louisville and Clemson. Louisville a top ten team in the nation right now and Clemson not ranked but still a solid 7-4 though down by their standards. Their loss at home was to Ohio State who is ranked #2, though that will change slightly after their loss to #3 Michigan today.
The Irish are led by graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman, who has thrown for 2549 yards, 22 touchdowns, and seven interceptions on a 63.8 completion percentage. Junior running back Audric Estimé has rushed for 1103 yards and 14 touchdowns on a 6.0 yards per carry average. As for receiving, senior wider receiver Chris Tyree leads the way with 24 receptions for 446 yards and three touchdowns for an 18.6 yards per reception average. Freshman wide receiver Rico Flores, Jr. is balling out with 26 receptions for 387 yards and one touchdown for a 14.9 yards per reception average.
On special teams, graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader is 14-20 from the field with a long of 54 yards. He is perfect inside the 30 yard line at 3-3, 5-6 from 30-39, 2-5 from 40-49, and 4-6 from 50+ yards out. He’s an ok kicker, but far from automatic from any decent distance.
On defense, their top two tacklers are graduate student linebacker JD Bertrand (69 total tackles, 38 solo tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, & 2.5 sacks) and graduate student defensive lineman Howard Cross II (63 total tackles, 27 solo, 6 tackles for loss, & 1 sack). Their top ball hawk is redshirt junior safety Xavier Watts, who has seven interceptions for 137 return yards. He doesn’t’ have a pick six this season, so he’ll be looking to get one today.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Estimé. They have to do a better job of stopping the run. Cal running back Jaydn Ott had a strong performance last week and really made things tough on them. If Stanford’s defense does better against the run, that will help a ton.
Secondly, Stanford needs to find ways to force some turnovers. They got an interception last week against Cal and nearly forced a couple fumbles, so they’re close to being a defense that forces those with regularity. If they do that, I think they’ll be in a good position to maybe steal this game.
Finally, Stanford needs to take good care of the ball on their end. Ideally, they’re not settling for too many field goals, but they have to make sure they aren’t committing fumbles or throwing interceptions on their end. If Ashton Daniels takes good care of the ball, Stanford will give themselves at least a chance to win. If not, it’ll be a long day.
Prediction: I’ll be kind to Stanford and say they cover the spread. Notre Dame wins 42-27. Stanford puts up a spirited fight but comes up short.
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