Notre Dame football deep dive: Bitter Stanford rivalry renewed

Notre Dame football will come off of the bye week to continue its homestand against an old rival, this time as an ACC matchup.

The Stanford Cardinal is coming off of a disappointing 2023 where they finished 3-9 in the PAC-12’s final run. At this point of the season, there is a good chance that Stanford will be worn out. The team begins the season against TCU, travels across the country in Week 4 to face a new-and-improved Syracuse team, heads back to the East Coast the following week to face Clemson, and finally hosts ACC dark horse Virginia Tech to wrap up a brutal three-week stretch.

That’s the harsh reality for a West Coast team joining an East Coast conference.

To make matters worse, Stanford loses runningback EJ Smith. Smith was the only runningback that had a major contribution to a lackluster ground attack, and only totaled 218 yards on the ground to begin with. 

The Cardinal, in total, loses nine players on the defensive side of the ball to the portal, two offensive linemen in Lucas Heyer and James Pogorelc, and only exchanges them for a total of four incoming transfers.

Notre Dame football must prepare for surprising talent

The good news: the top three receivers in Elic Ayomanor, Tiger Bachmeier, and Sam Rouch all return, as do quarterbacks Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson. Daniels was the main guy under center, while Lamson added a wildcat look to the redzone offense. 

Stanford may have lost a good chunk of their roster, but returning their main scoring threats is a big plus.

The Notre Dame defense will be a challenge for Stanford, but the Cardinal always seems to play well against the Irish. In the 2012 season, Stanford forced overtime against the eventual national champion runner-ups. Since that game, Stanford and Notre Dame have split the last 10 meetings at five games apiece.

Last year's 56-23 Irish win saw runningback Audric Estime put up career numbers: 238 yards on the ground to go along with four touchdowns, both career highs. One of the greatest final games in Notre Dame history.

But this is a new year, and the "Baby Bus" is off to the Broncos.

Daniels can hit his targets, and there are three great targets to choose from. Both Daniels and Lamson run the QB Power package well. It will not be an easy game, but a very winnable game all the same for Notre Dame.

But who knows, maybe the Cardinal makes some noise in its inaugural ACC season.