Written by Cade Harper｜Writer｜Twitter/X: @CadeHarperIT
Photo by The Irish Tribune
Well, here we are. The final week of the regular season. This one's been an interesting year to say the least. As fans, I think we're all just savoring these last moments with Hartman, Joe Alt, potentially Audric Estime, but we still have one more left. As much as I hate bringing it up, this one is most definitely a revenge game for the men in blue and gold. This time, Notre Dame is on the road, and will look to control a game against a subpar rival. So what does Stanford look like this far into the season, and what can Notre Dame do to avoid another horrifying upset like last season? Let's dive into the numbers as we get an in depth look at our beloved rival. All stats/info are found from our Stats tab above, feel free to go check it out and see these numbers for yourself provided from our partners at Cover2 Data!
Rivalry History - The Legend's Trophy
As of now, the Irish currently lead the series vs the Cardinal 22-14. Notre Dame is 8-9 all time when traveling on the road to take on Stanford, however, they have not lost in Stanford Stadium since 2015 off the last second field goal that may still haunt some. A win on Saturday will tie the school's longest road winning streak in Stanford Stadium at just 3 games. The Notre Dame - Stanford series became an annual occurrence in 1988 with a two-year hiatus in from 1995 to 1996 (when the Irish played a home-and-home with Washington). The series shifted to Thanskgiving weekend every-other-year in 2001. Stanford’s annual trip to South Bend has continued to be a mid-October visit. Since 1988, Notre Dame leads the series with Stanford 19-13. The winner of the Notre Dame - Stanford game receives the Legends Trophy, a Dublin crystal bowl resting on a California redwood base. The trophy was first presented in 1989 by the Notre Dame Club of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Game Preview - Look Inside The Numbers
If there's one thing that's impressed us all, it's this Irish defense. What an incredible run by Al Golden and his guys, as they have players making history, several leading the FBS in certain statistics such as Xavier Watts with 7 total interceptions, and Howard Cross III leading all power 5 defensive linemen with a whopping 63 tackles. There are currently only 5 teams in the country who rank within the top 14 for scoring offense and scoring defense. Notre Dame joins elite company in school's like Michigan, Georgia, Oregon, and Florida State. A couple of incredible accolades worth noting, Audric Estime, the beast himself, finds himself at 15th on the school's all time leading rusher in a single season. He is currently only 165 yards away from fifth place, and 334 yards away from the leader, Vagas Ferguson. The Doak Walker snub has a chance to make history this Saturday, and I can't wait to watch how #7 responds to the insult of keeping him out of that race. The main guy the Irish will need to contain on this Cardinal offense is Sophomore QB, Ashton Daniels. Daniels is obviously the team's leading passer, but he also happens to be the team's leading rusher. Now if we use context clues here, if a quarterback is the team's leading rusher, surely they are a pass heavy team. Well that would be correct, and Notre Dame has been statistically one of the best teams in the country in defending the pass. This Irish defense is now ranked 2nd in pass efficiency and red zone defense, 3rd in passing yards allowed per game, 4th in defensive touchdowns, and 6th in total defense. Some incredible major improvement from last season, as Notre Dame did not have a single ranking inside the top 20 defensively. Under the radar has been Cam Hart, the senior captain has allowed just 127 yards receiving this season, 5.3 per attempt, zero touchdowns, and a passer rating of just 65.8. The Captain has been on straight lockdown this season, and has really proved that he belongs in the spotlight just as much as Benjamin Morrison. As for the offense, three Irish freshman receivers had a day last week vs Wake Forest and look to keep up the momentum this week. Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores, Eli Raridon, and Jordan Faison combined for 15 catches, 215 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Just a little in-depth reminder that these guys can flat out ball. Excited for the future is an understatement. Speaking of the future, QB Steve Angeli had an impressive season despite being a backup. Angeli heaved some footballs 272 yards for 4 touchdowns without turning the ball over a single time on just 24 attempts, going 79.2% on his completions.
Predictions, Hot Takes, Cold Takes, and Betting Lines
Post via Audric Estime/X
Whatever line the over/under for Audric Estime is on his total yards, put your whole mortgage on it and watch it cash out. The end. Just kidding, but seriously, this dude may go for 200 yards with 3 touchdowns this Saturday. After being snubbed out of a shot at the Doak Walker Award, Estime is taking this to heart and I love it. Especially after last season's loss, I expect for Audric to get a heavy workload this weekend. Notre Dame is currently favored by 26.0 points in this rivalry with an over/under total points of 50.0, apparently the books think Estime either has a phenomenal game or think it's going to be a shootout? Who knows. Considering no player props have been released yet, for the fun of it I will go ahead and say the Irish actually do not cover but miss it just barely and the game will go on the over. Last season Notre Dame was favored by 16.5 and ended up losing by 2 with the game sinking under. I think this revenge tour is as sweet as it gets. Estime will at least record 150 total yards from scrimmage with a score, I believe Hartman has another good game in the pocket recording at least 225 passing yards with a pair of touchdowns to hopefully the younger guys again because I had fun watching that one personally. My final score prediction : 38 - 14. I'm ready for the Irish to dominate in this one and unfortunately soak in sadness once it's over. You can catch the Irish on Pac-12 network for the first time ever, at 7:00 PM EST. Enjoy the day Irish fans, season's not quite over yet so let's savor this one while we can!
Stats By Irish Tribune/Cover2 Data
Once again, please feel free to check out our Stats by Irish Tribune tab above to get information on the upcoming games and previous, all data noted in the article will be from the information in that section. Check it out for yourselves and find some interesting eye catching numbers!
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