Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 30, 2019 31 ing on how the last two weeks of the season play out. Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, Stanford stood 4-6, and its best win is at home against a Washington team that also has had a disappointing year. Meanwhile, the strong start against Northwestern has looked less and less impressive be- cause the Wildcats have stumbled to a 2-8 record, with just one win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. Stanford's issues have not been limited to one side of the ball. "This is not an overpowering col- lection of athletes on defense," said Jacob Rayburn of CardinalSportsRe- port.com. "Then on the flip side, the offense has kind of clicked only a few times this season and looks the way people thought it would look before the season started." Injuries have played a significant role in the Cardinal's struggles as well, having to replace a significant number of starters at almost every of- fensive and defensive position group. OFFENSE Coming into the season, Stanford was expected to have a lot going for it on offense: a highly talented line, a veteran quarterback, a savvy fifth- year senior running back and loads of explosive receivers and tight ends. But the focal point of this power offense, the line, was hit by injuries early on and is still trying to bounce back. It started with junior left tackle Walker Little, who at the beginning of the year was considered a pos- sible top-10 draft pick but underwent season-ending knee surgery. The injury issues on the offensive line only snowballed from there, which also have impacted the Cardi- nal ground attack. "You cannot run the ball when you're rotating guys up front as much as they were — and it was losing one guy a week for most of the first half of the season," Rayburn said. "It's to the point that now there are three true freshmen on the front line, and it's not like these are three guys who were expected to start this season." After patiently biding his time behind former Heisman candidates Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love, fifth-year senior Cameron Scarlett has taken over as the team lead run- ning back. The 6-1, 216-pounder has received about 73 percent of the team's carries out of the backfield for a unit that hands the ball off about 24 times per game, and paced the team with 766 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The leading pass catchers on the team have been junior wide receiver Connor Wedington (51 catches for 506 yards and one touchdown), ju- nior tight end Colby Parkinson (41 for 492 and one score), sophomore wide receiver Michael Wilson (40 for 513 and four) and junior wideout Osiris St. Brown (19 for 208). In addition, sophomore wide re- ceiver Simi Fehoko has been a weapon for the Cardinal. The 6-4, 226-pounder had only 15 catches but was averag- ing 29.9 yards per reception and had a team-high six touchdown grabs. Due to injury, there's also been a bit of a revolving door at quarterback as returning senior starter K.J. Costello has been banged up throughout much of the season. But this hasn't been as much of an issue as one might expect given how talented ju- nior backup Davis Mills is. "Stanford is in a situation that's better than most where they are," Rayburn said. "The No. 1 quarter- back can go down and the No. 2 guy is really good. Davis Mills is the best quarterback recruit Shaw's ever signed. Injury problems his first two years on campus really slowed his development, but there's no denying when you watch Davis throw. "He's really talented. It has more to do with kind of what's happened around the quarterback on offense. The offensive line situation, in par- ticular." The good news for Stanford is that there is finally starting to be some con- sistency along the offensive line over the past few weeks, and Rayburn be- lieves this unit could be peaking by the time the Cardinal hosts Notre Dame. DEFENSE The Stanford defense has also dealt with plenty of injuries, but it's still been the strength of the team. "The ups have been connected to when the defense had enough of their preseason starters on the field and they were able to do well if they weren't playing a mobile quarterback," Ray- burn said. "That was a big deal. If they're playing a mobile quarterback, that's a big problem for this defense. "When they managed to play very disciplined and really at a high level within their scheme, they were able to overcome their lack of physical talent." But against Notre Dame, there's a good chance the Cardinal will roll out a very inexperienced secondary that doesn't include All-American junior cornerback Paulson Adebo, who leads the team in passes broken up (10) and interceptions (four). In- stead, Stanford will potentially start true freshman at both corner spots and nickel, along with inexperienced sophomores at safety. GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT STANFORD Game Info Date: Nov. 30, 2019 Site: Stanford Stadium (50,424) Kickoff: TBA (not available at press time) Television: TBA (not available at press time) Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129) and on Notre Dame's IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This will be the 34th meeting between Stanford and Notre Dame. The Irish have a 20-13 record in the series and won last year's meeting 38-17 in South Bend. Head Coaches: Stanford — David Shaw (86-33, ninth season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (90-37, 10th season). Noting Stanford: With a record of 657-465-49, Stanford is 39th all-time in total wins … The Cardinal's .582 winning percentage is 35th all time … They have two school-recognized national championships in 1926 and 1940 … The program dates back to 1891 … Stanford has been part of the Pac-12 Conference since 1959 … In the past, the Cardinal was independent and part of the now defunct Pacific Coast Conference … Stanford has 15 conference championships, eight from the PCC and seven from the Pac-12 (formerly known as the Pac-10 and Pac-8) … The Cardinal is 15-14-1 all time in bowl games, which is 36th all time in terms of winning percentage … Quarterback Jim Plunkett is the lone Cardinal player to ever win the Heis- man Trophy (1970) … Stanford has never been No. 1 in the Associated Press poll … Twenty-five Stanford players have gone on to be first-round NFL Draft picks and 265 Cardinal players have been drafted in total.