Notre Dame football vs Stanford: Things to watch for on Defense
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team takes on Stanford in Week 7, and here are some things to keep an eye on the defensive side of the ball.
On Saturday night, the Notre Dame football team will welcome the Stanford Cardinal to town in a rivalry game between two programs headed in opposite directions. Since their 0-2 start, the Notre Dame football team seems to have figured it out, winning three straight, including victories against a very good UNC team, and the No. 16 ranked team in the country in BYU.
Stanford, on the other hand, is coming off a shocking loss to Oregon State, and they have been one of the worst teams in the country this season. The Cardinal will try to get their season back on track against a fired-up Notre Dame team on the road, which is recipe for disaster.
Here, we look at some things to keep an eye on when the Irish are on the defensive side of the ball.
Notre Dame football vs Stanford: Things to watch for on Defense
Young DBs vs Tanner McKee
The Stanford Cardinal have a first-round prospect at quarterback in Tanner McKee and he will be going up against a young secondary in this one. Sure, Brandon Joseph and DJ Brown are veterans, but players like Benjamin Morrison and Jaden Mickey are still getting their feet wet at the collegiate level.
This is something to keep an eye on, as there were some growing pains this past weekend against a very good quarterback in Jaren Hall. Notre Dame football has to be able to stop McKee to win this game, and they will be relying on inexperienced defensive backs to do so.
Can the Irish force more turnovers?
The Notre Dame football team was finally able to nab their first interception of the season this past weekend, as TaRiq Bracy intercepted Hall on the first play of the game. That set the tone for the rest of the night, which turnovers tend to do, and the Irish are hoping for more of that against the Cardinal.
Notre Dame has playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, and should get a good pass rush against Stanford, something that could move McKee off his mark. If they can do that, he could try and force things, especially if the game starts to get out of hand.
How good can this Irish defense be?
In the season opener against Ohio State, the Irish defense looked outstanding for most of the loss but really struggled against Marshall the following week. They had their lapses against Cal and UNC as well but really stood tall against Hall and a BYU offense that came into the game on fire.
The Irish defense continues to get better, and against an offense like Stanford, they could be in for their best game this season. Notre Dame football has a great opportunity to string some wins together heading into some ranked matchups against Syracuse and Clemson, and it all starts Saturday night against the Cardinal.