The Fighting Irish are coming off one of the most dominant performances in the entirety of the college football season. The 70-7 clobbering that Notre Dame put on the Syracuse Orange was one for the ages, and the offense proved to be just as capable as the dominant defense.
Of course, everyone has heard of Jeremiyah Love, the legendary running back who will undoubtedly go down in ND history books. However, it was the entire offense that put on a show against Syracuse, and now, the squad is looking primed and ready for an appearance in the College Football Playoffs
Notre Dame's offense looks unstoppable at the perfect time
Yes, Love undeniably carried the offense (literally) with eight carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns. However, the offense as a whole recorded one of its most impressive performances ever.
According to Collegefootballdata's calculated points added per play metric, the game was the Fighting Irish's most efficient per-play offense game in the site's database (keep in mind that the database spans over two decades, going all the way back to 2001).
Meanwhile, the defense, which has been dominant for the entirety of Notre Dame's nine-game winning streak, recorded its most efficient game since the team defeated the Pitt Panthers 58-7 in 2023.
With just one game remaining in the regular season (a matchup against the unranked Stanford Cardinal that is 4-7 overall), Notre Dame is peaking at the perfect moment: right before the College Football Playoffs kick off.
Sure, it's rivalry week, and that means that anyone could beat anyone, but the Cardinal is far from a good football team, and the Irish are looking like one of the best in the country.
Not to mention, Stanford hasn't defeated Notre Dame since 2022 in a shocking 16-14 upset (which was the first time Stanford had won since 2017).
This weekend, the No. 9 Fighting Irish and the unranked Cardinal are scheduled to kick off from Stanford Stadium at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 29, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.