Three Things We Saw in Notre Dame’s Win Over Stanford

On a weekend that mostly featured big-brother wins over little-brother rivals (RIP Texas A&M’s perfect season, you came so close; congratulations Vanderbilt on breaking the mold), Notre Dame did its part and pounded Stanford, 49-20 out on the farm. It was the fourth game of five after Notre Dame’s bye in which the Irish beat an overmatched little-r rival, and a fitting close to a season-capping 10-game win streak.

Before we move on to three things that powered the victory in Palo Alto, I want to pause for a second and acknowledge the accomplishment inherent in what I just stated. After Notre Dame dropped to 0-2 on the season, I wrote in this space that talk of the Irish going 10-2 and getting to the playoff was unrealistic given the flaws we saw in their first two games. Even with a significantly easier remaining schedule than they had already played, perfection was the bar and the Irish were far from getting there. Well, folks – they did it. This 10-game stretch of play has been utterly dominant with only sparse steps back, and has seen the Irish improve vastly all over the field. Forget about the schedule – ask Texas or Miami how easy it is to rip off that many wins without a blemish even against “easy” FBS opponents – this season has seen a remarkable ascendancy by this Irish team, and barring a black swan scenario involving two of next week’s conference championship games going the wrong way that ascendancy should land them in the College Football Playoff. Every Notre Dame fan, particularly those who remember seasons past where early setbacks were definitively not followed by the team rounding into form, should be proud of the way this team came together and salvaged its season. With that, let’s get into what got the Irish over the final hurdle out on the West Coast.

The Stable

Jeremiyah Love’s injury on Notre Dame’s second drive was the only truly scary moment of this game, as losing their best player in effectively meaningless minutes would have been a huge blow to Notre Dame’s postseason aspirations. One thing it wouldn’t have done, however, was set back the Irish offense in this game. Stanford evidently thought it would, as Wilfredo Aybar’s knee to Love’s chest looked rather intentional; what unfolded instead was a physical beatdown just as thorough as it would have been with Love still getting his planned carries.

Jadarian Price is of course a known quantity, and his power in the red zone mixed with quick feet to make Cardinal defenders look silly on a touchdown reception just before halftime. But the guy who made the most of his minutes was Aneyas Williams, who got his first extended non-garbage time action of the season and barreled through the Cardinal secondary for one scoring drive, then pulled away for a 51-yard touchdown on a second. The stats weren’t overwhelming because the Irish offense was so efficient in creating scores in the first half, but make no mistake – this running game was dominant in the minutes that mattered.

Love ultimately came back in the game, but his later carries were largely attempts at stat-padding as his backups had already put the Cardinal away. But the event of another, worse injury we got a look at what a Love-less backfield for the Irish would look like, and while it wasn’t the same it still packed plenty of punch.

The Biagi Factor

If Stanford was going to pull off an upset or at least hang around in this game, the moment where they seemingly got a stop down 14-0 was a crucial one; had they been able to mount a lengthy scoring drive that chewed up a lot of clock, all of a sudden the game wouldn’t seem out of reach. This made what actually unfolded on that fourth-down play so awesome/devastating to watch, as Joshua Burnham’s fake-punt completion to Luke Talich followed by a streak down the sideline for an 84-yard touchdown delivered the killing axe-blow to a rather hollow tree.

Talich was, hilariously, Notre Dame’s leading receiver in this game as a result of these heroics, but what was far more important was what this showed to any future opponents about this facet of Notre Dame’s game. Special teams aren’t just a functional unit that help position the offense and defense well or tack on field goals (in fact, they explicitly do not do the latter). They are a weapon in their own right that the Irish can use to move the chains or score from just about anywhere on the field, whether through Jadarian Price’s raw skills or Marty Biagi’s creativity. These elements played a crucial role in last year’s run to the title game, and Irish fans can surely expect to see more of the same from their team should their team make it to the big dance again.

Moore Targets, Please

Elijah Brown’s determination to repeatedly challenge the best cover corner in college football may have been the most bizarre aspect of this game. Time and again the young Cardinal quarterback threw at Leonard Moore, and time and again he was turned away as Moore finished with three official pass breakups, an interception and holding his man, former Notre Dame commit CJ Williams, to one reception for fourteen yards.

In a displeasing development for Irish fans looking to see their team maximize style points, Stanford did find some success throwing the ball deep into garbage time (with the son of Rick Mirer at quarterback, no less), but when Moore was in the game, there was very little to be gained through the air for the Cardinal. Irish fans should rest assured that relevant eyes know that was the case.

That’s it for your regular season – hopefully there will be more than one of these still to come!