With Notre Dame now one of many prominent teams with one loss on the season, the prospect of reaching the postseason still exists for them. That goal is why the Irish need to deliver their third fourth straight victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday and avoid any further missteps that can derail or end that effort.
In its matchup against Stanford, Notre Dame has plenty of edges against the Cardinal that can be seen when looking at some of the 2024 season numbers for the two schools. Below are some of the areas that are worth focusing on during the clash.
Turnover Tales
One of Marcus Freeman’s litmus tests for success is winning the turnover battle, something that Notre Dame has the upper hand for this matchup. The Irish and Cardinal are mirror images in this category, with Notre Dame forcing nine turnovers and committing six, while Stanford has taken advantage of six opponent miscues and coughed up the ball on nine occasions.
The Cardinal are hoping to establish some sort of running attack because they face the prospect of serious peril if they have to go to the air. Stanford signal-callers have thrown seven picks in the team’s five contests, with the Irish matching that amount when it comes to pickoffs.
Notre Dame has to be able to hold onto the ball, given that two-thirds of its turnovers have come on fumbles. That entire total has come in the last two contests and while those two matchups ended up as victories, Freeman will likely point out during the week how that can lead to disaster.
In the Cardinal’s 2022 shocker, the Irish fumbled the ball away twice while Stanford remained spotless in that department for the night. The first error led to a field goal right before the half to give the Cardinal a 10-0 advantage. The latter blunder came midway through the fourth quarter and in prime scoring range with Notre Dame trailing by two. Stanford then ate up over four minutes of clock and pinned the Irish deep in their own territory, where a six-play drive quickly sputtered out.
Red Zone Alert
Converting trips into the red zone into points is a recipe for victory, with both Notre Dame and Stanford’s 2024 numbers offering evidence of that assessment. The Irish have managed to put points on the board in all but one of their 11 trips past the opponent’s 20-yard line. That solid number is enhanced when noting that nine of the 10 scores came off a touchdown, with the lone three-pointer coming in the season-opening win at Texas A&M.
The Cardinal opened their 2024 campaign with a tough 34-27 loss to TCU, largely due to allowing a pair of touchdowns in the final four minutes. Stanford’s offense converted on all four of its chances, including a trio of touchdowns, yet ended up with nothing to show for it. During their next two games against Cal Poly and Syracuse, the Cardinal won thanks to success on nine of 11 chances, including five touchdowns. Reality came roaring back in routs by Clemson and Virginia Tech, with Stanford achieving its goal only two of six times.
When it comes to each team’s defense, the type of scoring achieved by an opponent was notably different. Stanford defenders have allowed scores in 15 of 17 situations, with 11 of those tallies coming on touchdowns. That lack of success currently has them in a rut, with 10 straight six-pointers coming in the last three contests. For Notre Dame, opposing offenses have picked up points on eight of 11 attempts. However, those eight successes have been balanced equally between touchdowns and field goals.
Push Em Back
Notre Dame’s numbers don’t necessarily stand out when it involves stopping opponents behind the line of scrimmage. In their first five games, the Irish have 23 tackles-for-loss to their credit but have allowed 22. The first two games of the year mark the only times that Notre Dame has ended up in negative territory in this category. One positive note is that an uptick has taken place in the past two victories, with the Irish defenders collecting 12 TFL’s compared to just seven for their opponents. One area of concern is that Notre Dame’s individual leader with five, Boubacar Traore, watched his season end with a torn ACL.
Stanford’s chances of pulling the upset might be viewed from a look at how well they’re doing in making stops behind the line. In their two wins, the Cardinal collected 15 tackles-for-loss, one more than the opposing defense. The problem is that in its three defeats, Stanford has had a pronounced problem in keeping teams out of its backfield, with opponents making 31 stops, compared to just 14 for the Cardinal. That issue has become a major concern in the last two contests, with those foes holding a 22 to 1- edge in this department.
