Notre Dame football: Reasonable expectations against Stanford Week 7
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team takes on Stanford in Week 7, and here are some reasonable expectations for the Irish in the matchup.
In Week 7 of the 2022 college football season, the Notre Dame football team will take on the Stanford Cardinal inside Notre Dame Stadium. For the Irish, they could not be getting Stanford at a better time, as Notre Dame is peaking right now, and the Cardinal are headed in the opposite direction.
Here, we look at some reasonable expectations for the Irish against the Cardinal.
Notre Dame football: Reasonable expectations against Stanford Week 7
Drew Pyne with zero turnovers
Drew Pyne has been outstanding under center for the Irish in recent weeks, and we look for that trend to continue on Saturday night. Pyne has not only been able to spread the ball out to multiple weapons, with Jayden Thomas emerging last weekend, but he is doing a great job protecting the football.
For the Irish to win, they have to control the turnover battle, and I believe that Pyne will finish the game with zero turnovers in a blowout victory for Notre Dame football.
Irish rush for over 250 yards
The good vibes around this Irish offense not only come from the emerging Drew Pyne, but also from an incredible group of running backs. Every week, we are seeing multiple Notre Dame backs inch towards the 100-yard mark, and that should lead to another big effort inside Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night.
I like for Audric Estime to rack up over 100 yards on the ground, and Logan Diggs to come close to that mark as well. When all is said and done, the Irish should be closer to 300 yards rushing in this one.
Defense scores their first touchdown of the season
To date, the Notre Dame football team has struggled to force turnovers on defense, as was evident by the team’s first interception of the season last weekend. Notre Dame has a stingy defense and is playing at a much better level right now, so the time has come for them to score their first defensive touchdown of the season this Saturday night.
