No. 7 Stanford vs. No. 8 Notre Dame College Football Preview and Pick

No. 7 Stanford vs. No. 8 Notre Dame College Football Preview

Two ranked opponents collide in South Bend, Indiana on Saturday when the Stanford Cardinal visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Saturday, September 29 at 7:30 PM ET

Notre Dame Stadium

Odds: Notre Dame is a 4-point favorite. The total is 52.5.

Stanford Cardinal

Stanford escaped with a 38-31 come-from-behind overtime win against Oregon last Saturday night. The Cardinal trailed 24-7 in the third quarter and the Ducks were on the one-yard line. They were about to make the game 31-7.

Two fumbles, with the second one being returned 80 yards for a score, changed the course of the game.

K.J. Costello completed 19 of 26 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. He will be a player to watch in this contest because Notre Dame has been below average defending the pass so far.

The Cardinal are averaging 264.0 passing yards (47th in the nation) and 104.3 rushing yards (120th). Stanford ranks 77th with 29.0 points per game and 10th with 13.5 points against.

K.J. Costello has passed for 1056 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. Bryce Love has 254 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 59 carries. JJ Arcega-Whiteside has 17 receptions for 408 yards and seven touchdowns.

 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame has a solid ground game and a strong receiving corps. Quarterback Brandon Wimbush struggled early on, so they decided to give a chance to his backup Ian Book. On the road against Wake Forest Book led the Fighting Irish to a 56-27 win.

The Notre Dame offense finally looked great. Book earned himself another start over Wimbush after completing 25 of 34 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 43 yards and three touchdowns.

The Fighting Irish finished with 241 rushing yards, led by Jafar Armstrong's 98 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

The Fighting Irish are averaging 231.8 passing yards (71st in the nation) and 183.8 rushing yards (60th). Notre Dame ranks 64th with 31.5 points per game and 33rd with 19.3 points against.

Ian Book has passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Tony Jones Jr. has 263 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 46 carries. Miles Boykin has nine receptions for 167 yards.

 



 

College Football Trends:

The Under is:

38-16 in Stanford's last 54 games after accumulating less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game

12-4 in Stanford's last 16 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game

9-2 in Stanford's last 11 games following a straight up win

8-3 in Stanford's last 11 games after allowing more than 450 total yards in their previous game

10-4 in Stanford's last 14 games overall

16-5 in Notre Dame's last 21 games after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game

7-1 in Notre Dame's last eight games overall

7-1 in Notre Dame's last eight non-conference games

4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Notre Dame

7-1 in the last eight meetings

The Notre Dame offense exploded against Wake Forest last week. I don't see them putting up many points on this Stanford defense. Stanford hasn't been solid on offense so far, especially their running game, so they'll look to establish the run, which will eat the clock.

College Football Pick: Under 52.5 (-110) at Jazz Sports

Check odds here: https://goo.gl/dVwAAb

Odds as seen on ESPN Chalk: https://goo.gl/ji6GJZ