Notre Dame-Stanford Preview

 It seems like every game on the Irish schedule is bigger than the next. This week is no different.  #7 Notre Dame hosts the #17 Stanford Cardinal in a game that is receiving even more hype since College Gameday will broadcast their show from the campus Saturday morning. This game is important on several levels. For starters, if Notre Dame wins it will be 6-0 and looking at a second half of the schedule that features just two ranked teams. Second, the Irish can notch a win against a great defense for the second time this season. Third, if the Irish win, there’s a good chance they will be in the Top 5 of the BCS Rankings that come out on Sunday.

Nobody really expected Stanford to play at such a high level like they have this season, especially after the departure of Andrew Luck and several key players on the offense. Yet they have found a way to win games and even upset the USC Trojans. They play very physically for 60 minutes and do not quit. Their first-time starting quarterback, Josh Nunes, has struggled at times but he has also produced some decent stats. This season he has thrown for eight touchdowns, 1,145 yards and has completed 54% of his passes. The entire Cardinal offense ranks 49^th in points scored, 62^nd in passing yards, and 74^th in rushing yards. While Notre Dame’s front seven should handle the Stanford offense, Notre Dame’s offense could have trouble scoring too. The Cardinal held their first four opponents to under 17 points. They have a solid defensive line and linebacker corps that is going to force Irish quarterback, Everett Golson, to throw the ball.

Keys to an Irish Victory

Challenge Stanford’s Secondary- This is the chink the Cardinal armor. Last week they gave up 48 points and 491 passing yards to the 3-3 Arizona Wildcats. Notre Dame has marginally better weapons at receivers and they should be able to beat Stanford’s cornerbacks and safeties. Last week was Golson’s coming out party, this week it’s the receivers’.

Pressure Josh Nunes- The daunted Irish front seven weren’t able to record any sacks against Miami last week. Even though they didn’t get sacks they were still able to force Stephen Morris out of the pocket and rush throws. Nunes has thrown four interceptions and has been sacked five times. The junior will also be without his best wide receiver. That will make his job even harder and the Irish secondary’s that much easier.

Be LOUD- Before the season started there was a huge movement for fans at Notre Dame Stadium to be louder and more, well more like real fans. I don’t know if there has been a noticeable improvement or not. I do know that the Irish faithful have an incredible opportunity to prove we are one of the best fanbases in college football if we are being loud and proud during the broadcast of College Gameday. Last week the show was at South Carolina and there was not any kind of fan interaction or noise being made. It has to be different at Notre Dame. We need chants the entire time!

Prediction: Notre Dame-20. Stanford-6

National Preview

Last week was a bit of disappointment as some of the heralded Top 25 matchups turned out to be duds. Florida handled LSU, South Carolina destroyed Georgia and Oregon blew out Washington. Florida State was upset at North Carolina State and the Texas/West Virginia games were exciting to watch and that made the weekend a little better.

This week we have four more Top 25 matchups but these are much less spectacular than the four there was last Saturday. A few Top 25 teams hit the road and have to be on upset alert. Besides those there are not a lot of enticing matchups.

Games are in order of scheduled kick off time. Predicted winners in bold.

#18 Louisville Cardinals (5-0) at Pittsburgh Panthers (2-3)

Wisconsin Badgers (4-2) at Purdue Boilermakers (3-2)

#15 Texas Longhorns (4-1) at #13 Oklahoma Sooners (3-1)

Iowa Hawkeyes (3-2) at Michigan State Spartans (4-2)

Duke Blue Devils (5-1) at Virginia Tech Hokies (3-3)

North Carolina Tarheels (4-2) at Miami Hurricanes (4-2)

#17 Stanford Cardinal (4-1) at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0)

#11 USC Trojans (4-1) at Washington Huskies (3-2)

#3 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-0) at #9 LSU Tigers (5-1)

#22 Texas A&M (4-1) at #23 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-0)

Last week I went a measly 5-5. I whiffed on the Purdue/Michigan and South Carolina/Georgia games. Who saw those being blowouts? My season record is now 47-15.