Previewing Stanford's Week 7 game at Notre Dame

Stanford is coming off a big loss in the final minute to Oregon State, while Notre Dame is coming off an upset win against BYU. Looking at both teams, they are in different situations at this point in the season. Stanford is catching Notre Dame at the wrong time. Notre Dame started the season with back-to-back losses. One against No. 2 ranked Ohio State while Notre Dame was ranked 5th in the nation, and the second was a major upset loss to Marshall while Notre Dame was ranked number 8. After that huge upset where Notre Dame was favored by 20.5 points, they have won 3 in a row. Whereas Stanford started with a dominating performance against Colgate and has lost four in a row, three of which came at the hands of ranked opponents, and the other was already won until the final minute of the game. 

Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish are fighting to get back into the top 25 after an upset win over BYU. With new head coach Marcus Freeman they had a rocky start dropping two straight. After the Marshall loss, Freeman got them back on track and has Notre Dame playing really good football. Notre Dame is a strong team that has underperformed so far this season. With the new coach, they took a few games to adjust, now that they are rolling, watch out Stanford. The Fighting Irish are looking forward to this matchup a team they know they should be able to beat and are favored by 17 points. 

Notre Dame is led by Drew Pyne at quarterback, after their starter Tyler Buchner went down to injury during Week 2 of the season. Notre Dame isn't known for a high-powered passing attack, but they are known for playing great defense and running the ball. They definitely run the ball well with running back Audric Estime who averages 5.3 yards per carry and has 361 yards on the season with 4 touchdowns. They will be looking to run the ball against a Stanford defense that allows over two hundred yards per game. The key for the Fighting Irish is to run the ball as many times as they can against the Cardinal defense. If they can establish the run, they will cruise to a victory. 

Stanford 

Stanford is the opposite of Notre Dame right now. They have a head coach that is in year 12, but many be on the hot seat after multiple down years. They faced a rough schedule with three straight-ranked opponents and had a game won last Saturday, but just couldn't finish the game with one minute left. The sour taste in their mouths may help the team heading to South Bend. The team needs to rally around each other and go in and do everything they possibly can to win, including trick plays if necessary. 

Stanford's best form of offense is through the air, since E.J. Smith has gone down their rushing attack has taken a step back. Good thing they have a quarterback that will be an NFL player one day and plenty of receiving options on offense. The problem isn't scoring the offense can do that, it's the defense's inability to stop the run or opposing offenses from scoring. The defense is giving up a whopping 207 rush yards per game. Teams will look to continue to run the ball, especially Notre Dame. If Stanford can stop the run and force Pyne to beat them they might be able to win, odds are against the Cardinal though. Stanford truly needs to figure out something defensively, if not there will be coaches fired by the end of the season possibly starting with the head coach.  

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