No. 3 Notre Dame hosts Stanford on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium with the Fighting Irish looking to stay unbeaten at 5-0 against a Cardinal team trying to snap a school-record 13-game road losing streak. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The biggest question entering the Stanford vs Notre Dame matchup is whether the Irish defense can clean up the issues that surfaced last week against North Carolina, or whether a struggling Stanford offense can find enough consistency to make it a longer afternoon than the scoreboard suggests it should be.
Notre Dame Vs Stanford Game Information
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 10
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Venue: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Indiana
- TV: NBC
- Weather: 79 degrees, 3% chance of precipitation
Can Notre Dame Fix What Went Wrong Against North Carolina?
Notre Dame beat North Carolina 37-26 last week, but the 26 points allowed marked a season high for a defense that had held four of its first five opponents to 13 points or fewer. The Irish defense gave up easy yardage through the middle of the field against the Tar Heels and allowed a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, according to Sports Illustrated. Notre Dame still leaned on its ground game to pull away, rushing for 241 yards against North Carolina with Jonaz Walto gaining 120 of those yards, per Sports Illustrated.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman acknowledged the mixed performance. “There was a lot of good, a lot of things to improve on as we get ready for this next opportunity against Stanford,” Freeman said, according to CBS Sports.
Who Starts At Quarterback And How Do The Passing Games Compare?
CJ Carr is expected to start at quarterback for Notre Dame and has thrown for 1,197 yards with 13 touchdowns against a single interception this season. His top target, Jordan Faison, has caught 25 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns. Stanford is projected to start Davis Warren, who has thrown for 1,207 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, while Caden High leads the Cardinal with 17 catches for 266 yards and three scores.
The raw passing totals look similar, but Notre Dame has reached the end zone nearly three times as often through the air. The Irish are averaging 266.8 passing yards per game to Stanford’s 247.8, yet Carr’s 13 touchdown passes dwarf Warren’s five, a gap that reflects Notre Dame’s far stronger red zone execution this season.
What Happened To Stanford Last Week, And Who Is Available?
Stanford was blown out 57-3 at Wake Forest on Oct. 3, managing just 197 yards of total offense and extending its road losing streak to 13 games, a school record according to ESPN‘s game recap. Linebacker Matt Rose did not play in that game because of an undisclosed injury, a late scratch that Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard described as unexpected.
“He practiced all week, and then this morning we unfortunately deemed that he couldn’t go,” Pritchard said, according to ESPN. “Of course, that’s a shock to the system. … Him not playing makes a big impact.” Rose’s current status for Saturday was not addressed in the available reporting.
Pritchard, a first-year head coach who played at Stanford, called for his team to tighten its focus after the Wake Forest loss. “Asking for focus this week,” Pritchard said. “One thing I felt we lost in that game (against Wake Forest) was our ability to focus on what was right in front of us,” he said, according to CBS Sports.
By The Numbers
- Points per game: Notre Dame 41.2, Stanford 17.4
- Total yards per game: Notre Dame 428.4, Stanford 336.6
- Passing yards per game: Notre Dame 266.8, Stanford 247.8
- Rushing yards per game: Notre Dame 161.6, Stanford 88.8
- Yards per rush attempt: Notre Dame 4.4, Stanford 2.9
- Third-down conversion rate: Notre Dame 40.38%, Stanford 34.25%
- Turnover differential: Notre Dame plus-7, Stanford plus-2
- Sacks allowed: Notre Dame 2, Stanford 11
Notre Dame Outlook
Notre Dame is 5-0 and ranked No. 3, returning home for the first time since its Sept. 19 win over Michigan State. The Irish have beaten three Big Ten opponents this season in Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State, and they carry a 15-game streak of double-digit victories into Saturday, according to Sports Illustrated. Notre Dame’s plus-7 turnover differential and 2.8 sacks allowed per game through five games point to an offense that has protected the football while Carr has thrown for 13 touchdowns against one interception.
Freeman said he has heard good things about his Stanford counterpart despite never meeting him. “I don’t know him but I’ve heard really good things about him,” Freeman said of Pritchard, according to CBS Sports. Freeman also noted that Pritchard’s history at Stanford adds an edge for the visitors.
“He obviously played at Stanford, so he understands the rivalry,” Freeman said. “I think that’s important that our guys understand that their head coach has been a part of this rivalry. They’ll be fired up, ready to come into Notre Dame Stadium.”
Stanford Outlook
Stanford enters at 2-3, having split its five games with wins over Hawaii and Georgia Tech against losses to Miami, Duke and Wake Forest. The Cardinal’s 2.9 yards per rush attempt and 88.8 rushing yards per game rank well below Notre Dame’s marks, and Stanford has given up 11 sacks this season compared to Notre Dame’s two. Those numbers help explain the 57-3 final at Wake Forest, where Stanford totaled only 197 yards of offense.
Pritchard pointed to his defense as a group eager to respond. “The defense will get back to work,” Pritchard said. “The coaches and the players are hungry to get back out there,” he said, according to CBS Sports.
Key Matchup
Stanford’s run defense faces a Notre Dame ground game that is averaging 161.6 yards per game and coming off a 241-yard rushing performance against North Carolina. The Cardinal allowed just under 200 rushing yards to Wake Forest last week, according to Sports Illustrated, a warning sign against an Irish offense built around balance between Carr’s passing and a rotation led by Aneyas Williams, who has 266 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this season. How Stanford’s front seven holds up, with or without linebacker Matt Rose, could determine whether Notre Dame controls the clock early.
Players To Watch
CJ Carr, Quarterback, Notre Dame
Carr has completed 70.2% of his passes for 1,197 yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception, numbers that have powered an offense averaging 41.2 points per game.
Davis Warren, Quarterback, Stanford
Warren has thrown for 1,207 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, but he has been sacked 11 times behind an offensive line that struggled against Wake Forest.
Jordan Faison, Wide Receiver, Notre Dame
Faison leads the Irish with 25 catches for 371 yards and four touchdowns, giving Carr a reliable target in the passing game.
What To Watch
Notre Dame’s next major test comes after Stanford, when the Irish travel to face BYU in Provo, according to Sports Illustrated. For now, Saturday offers Notre Dame a chance to extend its double-digit win streak to 16 games while continuing a stretch of ACC opponents that began with North Carolina. For Stanford, the focus is on avoiding a 14th straight road loss and showing improvement after being outgained badly in back-to-back defeats to Duke and Wake Forest.
Don't stop here
Every Score. Every Story. One Home.
Breaking sports, entertainment and news from across the Total Apex network, updated all day.
Get the Full Story →
