Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904117
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2017 35 BY BRYAN DRISKELL STANFORD RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE It is no secret what Stanford is going to try to do each week — run the football. Through Nov. 11, the Cardinal ranked 26th in the country in rushing yards per game (218.0) and third in yards per carry (6.57). The driving force behind the Stanford ground attack has been junior Bryce Love, who led the nation with 1,622 rushing yards despite missing a game due to injury. Love paced all running backs nationally with an average of 9.0 yards per carry and was second among running backs with 15 rushing touchdowns. The Wake Forest, N.C., native topped the country in runs of 20 or more yards, runs of 30 or more yards, runs of 40 or more yards and runs of 50 or more yards through Nov. 11. Stanford's offensive line doesn't have the same mass as past units, with just one starter weighing more than 304 pounds, but it's a physical and expe- rienced front. Sophomore Nate Herbig is the one exception in regards to size. The Kalaheo, Hawai'i, native is mas- sive at 6-4, 339 pounds, and serves as a road grader up the middle for the Cardinal run game. Notre Dame's run defense has certainly improved from the three previous seasons, when the Irish allowed opponents to rush for an average of 176.3 yards per game and 4.3 yards a carry. Through its first 10 games, Notre Dame permitted its foes to rush for 140.9 yards per game and 3.98 yards per attempt, which ranked the defense 39th and 45th in the land, respectively. After a four-game stretch from Sept. 30 to Oct. 28 during which the defense gave up only 81.8 yards per game on the ground, the Irish defense began to falter, yielding 239 yards in a 48-37 win over Wake Forest Nov. 4 and 237 yards in a 41-8 loss to Miami Nov. 11. Those two opponents averaged 5.8 yards per carry, which is a bad trend heading into a matchup against the most explosive back in the country. Advantage: Stanford STANFORD PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Cardinal has had to rely heavily on its run game due to the season-long struggles of its aerial attack. When Stanford has had trouble running the ball, it has labored to score points. Love racked up 126 yards on his first seven car- ries in September against USC, which helped the Cardinal tie the game 14-14 early in the second quarter. On his next 10 carries, though, the Trojans held him to just 46 yards en route to a 42-24 victory over the Cardinal. Washington State held Stanford to just 21 points in its 24-21 win Nov. 4 in large part because it held Love to a mere 69 yards. Love also missed Stanford's Oct. 26 matchup against 1-9 Oregon State, and the Cardinal needed a late fourth-quarter comeback GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD On PaPer Sophomore right guard Nate Herbig — a 6-4, 339-pound road grader — has helped clear the way for a Stanford rushing attack that ranked 26th nationally with 218.0 yards per contest entering the last two weeks of the regular season. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORDPHOTO.COM