Notre Dame at Stanford

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have to be feeling a bit perplexed here, as last week they were #4 in the playoff poll, but even with a win the new poll shows them slipping to #6. This is obviously a make or break game for Notre Dame. Even Stanford at 9-2, can now see a scenario or two that puts them back in the talk, and it all starts with beating Notre Dame at home. And the Cardinal is plenty capable. Both of these teams are strong at the line of scrimmage, but Notre Dame has not had to go out and defend strong passing attacks week-after-week like Stanford do in the PAC-12. This will by far be the best passing team the Irish has seen all season, and they may not be up to the task. Stanford is also above average defensively. Remember USC, and Cody Kessler torched the Irish for 31 points, 440 passing yards, and 590 yards overall, and this Stanford offense is every bit as good, but with more defense. I like the Cardinal here to actually get a comfortable win, so take Stanford.