Notre Dame Football: 3 Bold Predictions vs. Stanford
By Chase Eyrich
Notre Dame will produce over 450 all-purpose yards
Last week we finally saw what we were looking for from Notre Dame’s offense. A dominant 56-point performance made the Irish finally look like a true top ten team in the country.
Now, even with Stanford ranked higher than Notre Dame, the Irish are the favorites.
How did Notre Dame get everything on track? Of course, Kelly’s decision to go with Ian Book had a great deal to do with it. Completing 25-of-34 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns with three rushing touchdowns made for a compelling performance.
In only his second career start, Book looked poised and confident. While he had a great performance, it was the balanced attack from the Irish that made the difference on Saturday.
Book was able to spread the love to many receivers. Michael Young, Alize Mack and Chase Claypool all had over 50-yards of receiving.
The rushing attack also played a huge role in the win. Notre Dame completed the game with 241 total rushing yards. It wasn’t just one rusher, the Irish got it done with a committee.
Three Irish rushers finished with over 40 rushing yards with Tony Jones Jr. right behind at 39 yards. So far this season, no one has been able to predict who would be the leading running back for Notre Dame. The week prior, it looked like Jones would take over. This past week, it was Armstrong once again dominating with 98 yards and 12.3 yard per carry average.
Notre Dame is clicking at just the right time. It will be a balanced attack against Stanford that could make the difference as the Irish go for over 450 all-purpose yards.