No. 9 Notre Dame (9-2) at Stanford (4-7)
Stanford Stadium | 10:30 PM ET | ESPN | Line: Notre Dame -31.5 | Total: 49.5
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Five Players To Watch
Notre Dame LB Jaylen Sneed
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is out for the season and no single player will be able to replace his production. Sneed is the player most likely to replace what KVA brought in sub-packages. We should get to see Sneed rush off the edge more and he has the highest pass rush win rate on the team.
Stanford WR CJ Williams
The former Notre Dame commit didn't contribute that much at USC and Wisconsin, but he's emerged as the WR1 for Stanford. He leads the team in targets, catches, and receiving touchdowns. He's caught 16 of 26 contested targets this season and has four 100-yard games for the Cardinal.
Notre Dame DE Boubacar Traore
Traore had three tackles for loss last week against Syracuse and he could go off again against Stanford. He'll be going up against RT Kalil House, who has the third-lowest PFF pass block grade, and second-most pressures allowed out of all Power 4 offensive tackles.
Stanford LB Matt Rose
Stanford has a respectable defense for the first time since 2018 and Rose has been one of their top players. He is about to hit triple digits in total tackles and has 12 havoc plays.
Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love
Stanford won't want Love to have a Heisman moment against them, but just about every team has taken that approach and it hasn't mattered. Stanford has played very good run defense, but expect Notre Dame to use play-action and also throw the ball to Love to take away from what Stanford will be focusing on.
Quotes of the Week
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
“I see there's a lot of guys that are playing this year that played last year. So it tells me that they didn't have a mass exodus. A lot of those guys have been there. They believe in their culture. They believe in Stanford. They believe in what they're building there. They're a well-coached team.”
Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock:
“There's nothing that you don't dig into to try to find a solution, whatever that happens to be. Is it getting bigger? Is it not being quite so big? Is it staying in 11 personnel? And, listen, you guys watch the tape as much as I do. We've tried a lot. And, listen, the frustration comes from some years. Like last year, you couldn't. We got inside the 5-yard line. So there's some years it just seems to fall that way. I don't know why that is. I wish I did.
“We just have not been as good. We obviously love to be down there, and we've got to figure it out. And as we move forward in particular, it's going to be more vital that we're 100% when we get the ball inside the 5-yard line.”
Notre Dame DC Chris Ash:
“I think the vision that I had for the defense is really coming to life right now. I think when we've talked a lot, it's not my defense, this is the Notre Dame defense. It starts with the play style, the effort, the attitude. That's what you see on film right now and that's some of the stuff we were missing early in the season. Not only just with a mistake here, a mistake there, we just weren't playing with the same attitude and play style that we needed to.”
Notre Dame LB Madden Faraimo:
“I'm going to have to get better a lot quicker. I've got to focus on each day and each opportunity. I have to win in that moment so that when the time comes on Saturday, I'm prepared to be the best I can be for my teammates.”
Notre Dame WR Will Pauling:
We're all competitors, we're all winners. We want to win every single game, so it doesn't matter if it's Stanford or if it's Syracuse lining up. We want to win every single time, and if we focus on winning the game, that's right in front of us, then we just have to trust beyond knowing what comes next.”
For Your Nerves
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour Shillelagh Clover Rival Fleece Sweatshirt
