No. 11 Notre Dame went into its bye week hoping to make a push for the playoffs. Now, as they return to the field on Saturday, they are in control of their playoff destiny.
The next challenge is to defeat Stanford.
Notre Dame does not have any more games against ranked teams, which is similar to last season when things fell apart after a loss to Louisville. That was a tough lesson, but it could help the Irish achieve their goal of being in the expanded 12-team playoff.
“I would say it made us more mature,” running back Jeremiyah Love said about their experience. “Not getting the outcome that we wanted last year definitely gave a lot of people a chip on our shoulder. Our goal coming into this year is to get a better result and to reach a higher standard, trying to be better than we were last year.”
The Fighting Irish (4-1) have bounced back well since their surprising loss to Northern Illinois in their home opener. They won three straight games before taking a break last weekend ahead of their annual matchup with struggling Stanford (2-3).
Love mentioned that he and his teammates never lost faith in their abilities or goals after that loss and focused on improving instead.
So far, things are looking good.
However, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is cautious. Even though Stanford has lost two games in a row, they are still a team similar to the one that forced four turnovers in last season’s 56-23 loss to the Irish.
Freeman is also concerned about the challenges posed by Stanford’s creative offensive play-calling under coach Troy Taylor.
“I have a lot of respect for (Taylor) as an offensive play caller,” Freeman said. “When we played them last year, their offense was unique in what they did. They put a lot of pressure on a defense with motions, shifts, and formations. They did some unusual things in last year’s game that created extra wide splits.”
