Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 37 GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD Date: Oct. 19, 2024 Site (capacity): Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (71,000) Kickoff: TBA TV: TBA All-time series: Notre Dame leads 30-6-1 Last meeting: Notre Dame 55, Georgia Tech 0 (Nov. 20, 2021 in South Bend, Ind.) 2024 Record To Date: 3-2 overall, 1-2 ACC Georgia Tech head coach: Brent Key (third season, 14-12 through Sept. 28) Season Summary: There might not have ever been a more misleading Week 0 result than Georgia Tech fending off Florida State, 24-21, with a last-second field goal in Dublin, Ireland. In the weeks following that matchup, which seemed like a slugfest between two ACC world-beaters at the time, we've learned so much more about both teams. Not a lot of it is favorable for the two programs. First, Florida State. The Seminoles lost their next two games to Boston College and Memphis to become the first team since Arizona State in 1976 to start a sea- son 0-3 one year after posting an undefeated regular season. FSU barely stopped the bleeding with an ugly 14-9 win over Cal in Week 4. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has losses to Syracuse and Louisville on its ledger through Week 4. Their two wins in addition to the one over FSU came against Georgia State and the Virginia Military Institute of the FCS. The Yellow Jackets were thinking College Football Playoff after beating the Seminoles, but that fas- cination has all but completely faded. Wins over VMI only carry so much weight. Not a lot at all, really. As it turns out, Georgia Tech isn't deep enough to be a CFP-type of team. The Yellow Jackets have studs at the top in quarterback Haynes King, running back Jamal Haynes and linebacker Kyle Efford, but they were one of seven teams in the FBS through Week 4 that had not recorded a single interception. They had only recovered two opponent-lost fumbles, too. The offense puts up a fight, but the defense isn't overly dynamic. Brent Key is still a head coach who's learning how to navigate a long season, too. Georgia Tech being one of the ACC's best was a fun thought experiment in August, but the theory had already burned up by mid-September. FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH Pos. No. Player Notable Stats* QB 10 Haynes King 102-of-138 passing, 1,274 yds, 6 TD, 1 INT RB 11 Jamal Haynes 58 carries, 238 yds (4.1 avg), 5 TD WR 8 Malik Rutherford 29 catches, 398 yds (13.7 avg), 2 TD WR 2 Eric Singleton Jr. 21 catches, 33 yds, (16.1 avg), 1 TD LB 44 Kyle Efford 39 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 sack DB 4 Warren Burrell 14 tackles, 3 PBR * Statistics through Sept. 28 On Deck Opponent: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Quarterback Drives The Run Game Much like Notre Dame, one of Stanford's most effective methods of mov- ing the ball is its quarterback run game. Unlike Notre Dame, Stanford's quarterback — junior Ashton Daniels — has 12 more carries and 80 more sack-adjusted rushing yards than any running back on Stanford's roster. Daniel has run 33 times for 212 yards, not including 6 sacks for 49. That averages out to 6.4 yards per carry, for a passer who's thrown for 5.9 yards per attempt this season. Daniels has shown flashes of brilliance with his arm, such as his touchdown pass on the run and game-winning fourth-and-9 conversion to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Elic Ayomanor in a 26-24 win over Syracuse Sept. 20. The fourth-and-9 was a perfectly timed back-shoulder throw, on which he trusted Ayomanor to make a play. Still, he's also made some perplexing decisions like his interception during the Syracuse game. He threw into double-coverage on a sky-high pass down the right sideline, and ex-Notre Dame cornerback Clarence Lewis was there to pick it off. Run Of Elite Kicking Continues Through three games in 2024, Stanford senior kicker Emmet Kenney is 8 of 8 on field goal attempts. He got the game ball after the Syracuse win, hitting all 4 of his tries. That included a 51-yard bomb and a 39-yarder to win the game as the clock ticked down to zero. "Where's the best kicker in the country?" Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said, before handing Kenney the game ball in the locker room after the vic- tory over the Orange. Kenney was then mobbed by his teammates, who descended into raucous cheers. Two days later, when the Los Angeles Rams needed a game-winning field goal of their own, they turned to rookie Joshua Karty. Karty was the only Stanford player selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, becoming a sixth-round pick. Karty drilled it from 37 yards out. In the locker room after the game, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford received a game ball from head coach Sean McVay. He then turned around and said, "Where's Karty at?" prompting chants of "Karty! Karty! Karty!" Stanford has done kickers well during the past few years, and that hasn't stopped with Kenney. Notre Dame Helped Pull Stanford Into The ACC Notre Dame is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in every sport but football (independent) and hockey (Big Ten, the ACC does not have hockey). When Stanford was pushing to join the league in August 2023, shortly after the Pac-12 collapsed, one of its biggest supporters was the Irish. Specifically, then-Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick was a major proponent of bringing Stanford and California into the ACC. "The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D-I sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realign- ment is an indictment on college athletics," Swarbrick texted ESPN reporter Heather Dinich. Less than a month later, Stanford, Cal and SMU were accepted into the ACC and are currently full members. The Cardinal is 1-0 in conference play so far, beating Syracuse 26-24 on Sept. 20. Head coach Troy Taylor and the Cardinal made their ACC debut with a sur- prising 26-24 win at Syracuse Sept. 20. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD ATHLETICS Three Things About Stanford