On Saturday at 5:00 PM PT on FOX and KNBR radio, Stanford will welcome #5 Notre Dame to Stanford Stadium for Senior Day. Stanford is expected to have 27 players be honored as part of the Senior Day ceremonies. Stanford comes in at 3-8 overall and 2-7 in the Pac-12 while Notre Dame comes in at 10-1 overall.
Last time out: Last week in the Big Game against rival Cal, Stanford got smoked 41-11. It was one-way traffic all day for the Golden Bears.
RECAP: Stanford gets blown out by Cal in 124th Big Game
Key Stanford notes: Relative to other weeks, there are less Stanford players injured for this week. Defensive end/tight end Tucker Fisk is questionable. Linebacker Stephen Herron, wide receiver Silas Starr, running back Casey Filkins, and wide receiver John Humphreys are all out. Guard Branson Bragg is also out as he was declared done for the year prior to the Cal game.
On Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish come in as the #5 ranked team in the country in the AP Poll and #6 in the College Football Playoff rankings, which is the more important ranking to pay attention to. Notre Dame obviously needs to beat Stanford to keep their playoff hopes alive as #5 Michigan, #4 Cincinnati, #3 Alabama, #2 Ohio State, and #1 Georgia all rank ahead of them. Luckily for Notre Dame, somebody has to lose the Ohio State-Michigan game, so assuming they beat Stanford, they’re bound to leapfrog one of those teams.
However, that may not be enough as that really only bumps them up one spot to #5. So, they’re going to need more help than that. The hope for Notre Dame is that in addition to beating Stanford, Alabama beats Georgia in the SEC championship game, but even that may not be enough. In truth, what Notre Dame needs to do on Saturday at Stanford is to win big. Especially since they don’t have a conference championship game to look forward to. This isn’t a game where Notre Dame can kick back and relax and be fine winning by 14 points. They have to dominate Stanford and send a message that they are deserving of a spot in the college football playoff even with their one loss to Cincinnati, who ranks ahead of them at the moment. A little ironic when you consider Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly stiffed Cincinnati years ago to come to Notre Dame. For his team to be kept out of the playoff by the very program that he bailed on might be considered poetic justice. At least for Cincinnati fans.
Anyways, enough on the playoff ramifications. You all should get the point. Notre Dame needs to do more than win. They have to dominate and rack up as much style points as possible. It is what it is.
The Irish are led by graduate student/senior quarterback Jack Coan, who has thrown for 2,296 yards, 18 touchdowns, and just 4 interceptions for a 153.1 passer rating. Coan is having a fantastic year and has been a major reason for why the Irish are in the position that they are in. Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer is having a great season as well, leading the team in receptions with 55 to go along with 663 yards and 5 touchdowns.
The most dynamic player on the Irish offense is junior running back Kyren Williams, a speedy little fellow listed at 5’9”, 195 pounds. Williams is incredibly versatile with 921 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns on 185 carries to go along with 40 receptions for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns. He even returns punts with 13 returns on the year for 163 yards. He’s very similar to former San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin, who ended up having a decent run in the NFL despite being only 5’10” and 177 pounds.
As a team, the Irish average 34.4 points per game, which ranks 25th in the nation while giving up 18.6 points per game, ranking 12th in the nation. As explosive as their offense is, their defense is arguably better, which is pretty scary. They’re a tough team to score on and when you combine that with a high octane offense, you got a team that’s bidding for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they have to do is find a way to contain Kyren Williams. If he goes wild and does his thing, it’s lights out. Stopping the run has been a major issue for Stanford all year long and it doesn’t get any easier with Williams coming to town.
Secondly, Stanford has to find ways to score touchdowns in the red zone. Stanford got close a couple times last week early on in the game, but wasn’t able to get in the end zone. Had they been able to do that, the game could have had a different outcome. In their win over Oregon earlier in the year, Stanford found a way to score in the red zone when they needed to. The same needs to happen against Notre Dame.
Lastly, Stanford has to take some chances. They can’t play conservative against Notre Dame. As cool as it would be for Stanford to win this game, they only have pride on the line and nothing else. Sometimes pride is the biggest motivator of all, but other times it can be a chance at a national championship. On paper, there should be zero pressure on Stanford and all the pressure in the world on Notre Dame to win and win big. If Stanford can get creative, take some chances, and have a little fun out there, maybe they can make this game more interesting than people expect. If Stanford is playing a more rigid, conservative style, Notre Dame will win with ease.
Prediction: It would be awesome if Stanford found a way to make this game competitive, but after the way they got taken to the cleaners by a Cal team that quite honestly isn’t very good, it’s hard to see the Cardinal putting up much of a fight against the Fighting Irish who have so much on the line. Notre Dame 55 Stanford 10 is how I see this game playing out.
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