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Pete Fiutak

Notre Dame vs Stanford Prediction, Game Preview

Notre Dame vs Stanford prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 7, Saturday, October 15


Notre Dame vs Stanford How To Watch

Date: Saturday, October 15
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
How To Watch: NBC/Peacock
Record: Notre Dame (3-2), Stanford (1-4)
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Notre Dame vs Stanford Game Preview

Why Stanford Will Win

The Cardinal were so close to looking like they were finally about to turn the season around.

They had Oregon State in big trouble, it was over, and then a late rally with a miraculous final play ended in disaster for a 1-4 start with four straight Pac-12 defeats and no wins yet over an FBS team.

But they didn’t play all that poorly.

Scoring has been a fight and the running game sputtered against the Beavers, but the turnover problem from the first three games slowed down.

There aren’t any penalties – Stanford leads the nation in fewest sins – and the passing game is just efficient enough to push the Notre Dame D. However …

NFL Expert Picks, Week 6

Why Notre Dame Will Win

Again, the scoring for Stanford – it’s not there. It’s been a chore for the offense to close out drives with anything meaningful thanks to a line that allows way too many sacks and big plays.

But that’s not the real problem.

The defensive front has been a nightmare against the run allowing 5.6 yards per carry and an average of 211 yards per game. This is the wrong time to be dealing with the Irish.

The 0-2 start is well in the rearview mirror with three straight fun wins – in completely different ways – and it starts with a ground game that found something that works.

The running back combination of Auric Estime and Chris Tyree has been great, and QB Drew Pyne is red hot hitting 75% of his throws over the last three games with eight touchdown passes.

– Schedules, Previews CollegeNFL

What’s Going To Happen

Stanford continues to be just good enough to lose tastefully.

It’ll hang around and score enough here and there to make the Irish keep fighting, but it won’t be able to come through in the second half after the run defense starts to struggle.

The Notre Dame win over BYU was the real corner-turner. Hanging on against Cal and beating North Carolina was nice, but BYU is a strong team that couldn’t handle what the Irish were able to do offensively as the game went on.

Stanford won’t be able to, either.

College Football Expert Picks, Week 7

Notre Dame vs Stanford Prediction, Line

Notre Dame 41, Stanford 20
Line: Notre Dame -17, o/u: 53
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Notre Dame vs Stanford Must See Rating (out of 5): 3
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