Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED The linebacker position has also been thinned out due to injuries. "Inside linebacker got hammered by injuries and they've had to re- cently start a former walk-on," Ray- burn said. "They have Curtis Robin- son playing a bit banged up. They've gotten very little impact play-making from inside linebacker." A bright spot on the defense thus far has been fifth-year senior outside linebacker Casey Toohill, who leads the team in tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (7.0). "Casey is your classic Stanford guy on defense," Rayburn said. "He's hardworking, is maximizing what he has and off the field is up for com- munity service awards and academic awards. He is the rock of that unit. "When plays have been made in the backfield at critical times, it's al- most certainly been him. He has re- ally maximized his effort and produc- tion this season. If there is an edge defender to worry about, it's him." Sophomore defensive end Thomas Booker (6-4, 280) has also had a solid year on defense, and is second on the team in tackles for loss (7.5) and sacks (4.0). In addition, senior Jovan Swan and Michael Williams have helped anchor the front, combining for 43 tackles, 8.0 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 3.0 sacks. MATCHUP WITH THE IRISH It's been more than a decade since Notre Dame has traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., and left victorious, but given Stanford's struggles this sea- son, the Irish are in a prime position to break that streak. "Last year at Notre Dame it was a disaster in terms of pass protection," Rayburn said. "It was the type of game that gives quarterbacks night- mares, and Davis Mills is much more mobile than K.J. Costello. "But that'll be my number one thing to look at in the final regu- lar-season game, assuming it's the same starting five offensive linemen they've had in recent weeks." Of course, Notre Dame has had its own injuries along the defensive line, but that hasn't slowed the Irish unit down too much. Rayburn says an- other issue for Stanford in this game will also be their inability to stop dual-threat quarterbacks. "Number one is stop the run," he said. "The pass defense has been pretty bad all season, but it can't also be accompanied by bad run defense, which has been an issue of late, really for most of the season off and on. "Book is just mobile enough to be yet another one of those quarterbacks that Stanford has to worry about as a runner and as someone who, if they lose contain, there will be another critical third down conversion." If the Cardinal is unable to im- prove in those two aspects, Rayburn believes it will have trouble keeping the game close, let alone winning it. But this is a rivalry game, and Stan- ford will have no problem getting up for it, especially after their lackluster performance in Notre Dame Stadium last year. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD Senior defensive end Jovan Swan contributed 23 tackles, 3.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 2.0 sacks during Stanford's 4-6 start. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD ATHLETICS/ISI PHOTOS 2019 STANFORD SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Northwestern W, 17-7 Sept. 7 at USC L, 45-20 Sept. 14 at UCF L, 45-27 Sept. 21 Oregon L, 21-6 Sept. 28 at Oregon State W, 31-28 Oct. 5 Washington W, 23-13 Oct. 17 UCLA L, 34-16 Oct. 26 Arizona W, 41-31 Nov. 9 at Colorado L, 16-13 Nov. 16 at Washington State L, 49-22 Nov. 23 California L, 24-20 Nov. 30 Notre Dame TBA 2019 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 at Louisville W, 35-17 Sept. 14 New Mexico W, 66-14 Sept. 21 at Georgia L, 23-17 Sept. 28 Virginia W, 35-20 Oct. 5 Bowling Green W, 52-0 Oct. 12 USC W, 30-27 Oct. 26 at Michigan L, 45-14 Nov. 2 Virginia Tech W, 21-20 Nov. 9 at Duke W, 38-7 Nov. 16 Navy W, 52-20 Nov. 23 Boston College W, 40-7 Nov. 30 at Stanford TBA