It's been ten years since the last time Notre Dame beat the Cardinal in Stanford Stadium. Since that 24-17 win in 2007, the Irish have taken four fruitless trips to Palo Alto, and though the games have all been memorable for one reason or another, they've all ended in victory for the Cardinal.
Andrew Luck was only a freshman in 2009, so Toby Gerhart was the focus of the offense. Gerhart ran over the Irish defense for three touchdowns, passed for another, and his 205 yards rushing seemed to give him a good shot at winning the Heisman Trophy. (This was before we knew that Stanford players were not allowed to finish higher than second in that voting. It should also be noted that Notre Dame's Manti Te'o met Stanford student Lennay Kekua on the field after this game.)
In 2011 Andrew Luck filled in the last line of his Heisman résumé (we were still hopeful back then) with a four-touchdown performance as he led the Cardinal to a comfortable 28-14 win. After the game David Shaw summed up Luck's career like this: "There's no player in America like Andrew Luck. Forget about the stats. Forget about the comparisons of other guys. It doesn't matter." For Heisman voters east of the Rockies, it didn't.
There were no Heisman candidates playing in 2013, but the Cardinal rolled again, this time earning a 27-20 win on the strength of two fourth-quarter interceptions by Wayne Lyons. That team would dismantle Arizona State the following week to earn its second consecutive Pac-12 Championship.
Stanford had another Heisman candidate in 2015, but Christian McCaffrey wasn't able to rush for a hundred yards against the Irish defense. The story on this night was Kevin Hogan and his four touchdown passes and Conrad Ukropina's game-winning, 45-yard field goal at the final gun. The 38-36 win propelled the Cardinal into the Pac-12 Championship game and eventually the Rose Bowl.
So what will today's game hold? Stanford enters the game hoping for another trip to the conference championship, but they'll need Washington to beat Washington State. Both games kick off at 5:00, which will add an interesting level of intrigue as the scoreboard in Seattle will be at least as important as the one in Palo Alto.
In another similarity, Stanford will have another Heisman Runner-Up hopeful in the game. It was announced this morning that Bryce Love will play, giving him another shot at impressing myopic Heisman voters with a big performance in a marquee game. With Love in the lineup -- and we have to assume that he's healthy enough to make an impact -- things will free up considerably for quarterback K.J. Costello.
One of my favorite non-Bryce-Love things about this season has been watching Costello's steady development. As he has become more confident within the offense, the coaches have become more confident in him, and the play calling has been a bit more interesting each week. In Big Game we saw the Stumble-rooski; what might this week bring?
While the Cardinal seems to be trending up during this second half of the season, the Irish cannot be ignored. This is definitely the best Notre Dame team to play in Palo Alto in several years, and only two weeks ago they had their eyes on the College Football Playoffs. A face plant in Miami changed all that, but this still isn't a team to be taken lightly.
Most Stanford fans know that Bryce Love leads the nation with eleven runs of fifty yards or more, but they might not realize that Notre Dame running back Josh Adams is right behind him with eight. Adams has more than 1,300 yards rushing this season, but he isn't even the most explosive player on his own team. That title would go to quarterback Brandon Wimbush (I take it as a positive sign that his last name autocorrects to Wimpish), who has passed for 1,569 yards and run for 704 while accounting for an eye-popping 28 touchdowns, fourteen rushing and fourteen passing.
As intimidating as all that might sound, I still expect Stanford to grind out a tough win. Bryce Love might not be at his best, but he'll be good enough to keep the defense honest and allow K.J. Costello enough freedom to operate. Stanford 20, Notre Dame 17.
For another look at the game, however, I reached out to Randall Mast from Irish Sports Talk. Here are his thoughts...
Go Mighty Card:
A year ago at this time the Irish were finishing one of their worst seasons in recent memory and Brian Kelly was riding the hot seat. What’s been different between last year and this?
The biggest difference is the strength and conditioning program. Kelly replaced his long time friend, Paul Longo, with Matt Balis. Balis made an instant impact, and within a couple months you could physically see the difference in the players.
Saturday’s game was supposed to be the final line on Notre Dame’s playoff résumé, but things went bad in Miami. What happened there?
The players were not prepared for the big stage atmosphere at Miami. They were rattled from the start, and by the time Wimbush and the rest of the team recovered from the initial shock, it was too late.
Brandon Wimpish has been a big part of Notre Dame’s success this season, and appears to have singlehandedly won at least a few games for the Irish. What are his strengths and weaknesses as a quarterback?
Wimbush's strength is his ability to run the ball. His weakness is his passing game. When he is successful running the ball it helps his passing game, and he looks like a well rounded quarterback; take away Notre Dame's ability to run the ball and Wimbush will struggle to beat teams through the air.
What about Josh Adams? He had a huge game against Stanford in 2015 and was a non-factor last year, but he’s already over 1,300 yards this season. Aside from piling up ridiculous numbers, what’s he been doing well this year?
Josh Adams is not only a good runner but an excellent blocker as well and has helped Wimbush break off some long quarterback runs. He also has ‘grit,’ playing through multiple minor injuries that would keep a lot of players on the sideline.
What about the rest of the offense? What type of balance do you expect to see from the Irish this weekend, and who else should we watch for?
The offense has become more balanced in the second half of the season as Wimbush improves in the passing game. The player to watch for is wide receiver Kevin Stephenson. He had a breakout game against Navy, and Notre Dame not only uses him in the passing game but also gives him some carries with jet sweeps in an attempt to utilize his speed.
What about the defense? Who are the stars on that side of the ball, and what’s the general defensive philosophy? Do they like to blitz? Sit back in coverage? What do you think we’ll see from that unit?
Defensive Coordinator Mike Elko loves to bring pressure, especially on third down. The defense is more of a ‘bend but don’t break’ and gives up yards but buckles down in the red zone and forces a lot of turnovers. Some guys to watch for are cornerbacks Julian Love and Shaun Crawford, and the biggest star in the second half of the season has been linebacker Tevon Coney who continues to be the game leading tackler week after week making plays all over the field.
Finally, what’s your prediction? Give me a final score and your best guess at how we get there.
I’m predicting a close game with a final score of 27-24 and Notre Dame finally winning at Stanford. This game is always physical, and this year is a matchup of two of the best running backs in the country (hopefully they are both healthy and able to play). The game will be won in the trenches by the team with the offensive line that can create the most space for its running back!
