Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/388723
GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD touchdown in the first three games, and is as dangerous an athlete as the Irish will face this season. Through three contests, he was averaging 156.0 all‑purpose yards per game. "If Ty Montgomery were at Ala‑ bama, he would certainly be a Heis‑ man candidate right now and maybe at Notre Dame [too]," Fitzgerald said. "Out here he doesn't get the national [press] that he would otherwise. He's fast, he's big, he's strong. He's 220 pounds and built like a running back but plays wide receiver. He can give some secondaries a lot of fits." Defensively, Stanford has lost some of its familiar names — particularly in the front seven — and is not quite as imposing as in years past, even with talented senior defensive end Henry Anderson. "Without Trent Murphy, Shane Skov, Ed Reynolds and Ben Gardner, there's four guys right there who are All‑Pac‑12 [that are gone]," Fitzgerald said. "Not only that, but they were the leaders of the team. Skov in particular was the inspirational leader. "They don't have anybody to step into that role on this team. They're a bunch of good guys, but more quiet guys. They're not the fire‑breathers that Shane Skov was. He was unbe‑ lievable. He's a once‑in‑a‑generation player for Stanford." Through three games, Anderson had recorded 10 tackles (one for loss) and recovered a fumble on the Cardinal's new‑look defensive line. "Henry Anderson is a terrific player and he will be very tough for anybody," Fitzgerald said. "He's big and very quick and very skilled. He's healthy this year and he wasn't last year." Although the Cardinal rely on skill more than strength in the trenches compared to years past, it still figures to be one of Notre Dame's toughest games in 2014. ✦ 2014 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 30 Rice W, 48-17 Sept. 6 Michigan W, 31-0 Sept. 13 vs. Purdue* W, 30-14 Sept. 27 vs. Syracuse^ W, 31-15 Oct. 4 Stanford (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 11 North Carolina (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Florida State TBA Nov. 1 vs. Navy+ (CBS) 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Arizona State TBA Nov. 15 Northwestern (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 22 Louisville (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at USC TBA * at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; ^ at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; + at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. 2014 STANFORD SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 30 UC Davis W, 45-0 Sept. 6 USC L, 13-10 Sept. 13 Army W, 35-0 Sept. 27 at Washington W, 20-13 Oct. 4 at Notre Dame (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 10 Washington State (ESPN) 9 p.m. Oct. 18 at Arizona State TBA Oct. 25 Oregon State TBA Nov. 1 at Oregon TBA Nov. 15 Utah TBA Nov. 22 at California TBA Nov. 28 at UCLA (FOX) 3:30 p.m.