Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD a figure usually seen more amongst game-breaking wideouts. First-round pick Fleener, who caught two touchdown passes against Notre Dame last year (the latter for 55 yards), has graduated, but Ertz and Toilolo remain vital figures. During Stanford's 3-1 start, Ertz was tied for the team lead in receptions with 15 for a robust 16.8 yards per catch. Similar to Notre Dame senior All-America tight end Tyler Eifert, the 6-6, 252-pound Ertz is not your con- ventional in-line tight end, and he will even line up as a slot receiver. Meanwhile, the 6-8, 265-pound Toilolo, who opened the scoring with a three-yard grab in Stanford's 28-14 victory against Notre Dame last sea- Five Mainstays Dame's schedule each of the past 15 years: Michigan State, Purdue, Navy, USC and Stanford. Starting in 2014, the Irish will play five Atlantic Coast Conference teams each season as part of their deal with the league to fully join in most every other sport. While Michigan will not be on the schedule Since 1997, five teams have been on Notre son, is one of the nation's premier red- zone targets. At the same time, his 17.1 yards per his eight catches after four games this season provides evidence that he also can be a vertical threat. In addition to Ertz and Toilolo, the Cardinal frequently aligns 6-4, 248-pound fullback/tight end Ryan Hewett into their jumbo-sized person- nel groupings. Maximizing the tight end position in 2012 is crucial to Stanford's success for several reasons: 1. Stanford possesses average speed and no game-breaking threats at the skill positions, especially with the graduation of wideouts Griff Whelan and Chris Owusu, thus it must play to its strength with its power packages that feature multiple tight ends. Soph- omore wide receiver Ty Montgomery (6-2, 212) tied Ertz for the team lead in receptions after four weeks — but his 15 catches averaged only 9.3 yards, and he had several drops in the 17-13 loss at Washington Sept. 27. 2. Minus three-year starting quar- from 2015-19, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick has stated that maintaining a presence on the West Coast, particularly in California, is essential to the Irish keeping their identity as an independent football school with a national schedule. Thus, the home-and-home series with both USC and Stanford appear safe for many more years to come. The plan is to continue visit- ing the Trojans for the regular-season finale in even-numbered years and the Cardinal in odd- numbered years. terback Andrew Luck, the Cardinal is experiencing a similar learning curve with new starter Josh Nunes that Notre Dame has been with Ever- ett Golson, meaning a more button- downed attack to aid the redshirt ju- nior signal-caller's development. 3. Senior running back Stepfan Tay- — Lou Somogyi lor remains the bread-and-butter cen- terpiece after back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing campaigns. He averaged 22 carries in the first four games — and no one else on the roster had more than nine attempts during that time. Taylor's 20 carries against Notre Dame