[Psyblast]

Matchup Preview | November 23, 2013
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-8, 1-3 Away)		#6 Stanford Cardinal (10-1 (8-1), 6-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 5511 Total Yards 6539 380.2 (49th) Total Offensive Yards 460.7 (3rd) 214.2 (41st) Passing Yards 253.3 (15th) 166.0 (59th) Rushing Yards 207.5 (21st) 25.1 (73rd) Points Per Game 42.7 (2nd) 18 Passing TD 30 15 Rushing TD 23 215 First Downs 203 38 Red Zone Attempts 50 23-6 Red Zone TD-FG 31-10 79 Red Zone Percentage 82 Defensive Stats Comparison 395.0 (95th) Total Yards Allowed 299.0 (14th) 212.9 (85th) Passing Yards Allowed 202.5 (73rd) 182.1 (88th) Rushing Yards Allowed 96.5 (1st) 321 (99th) Points Allowed 218 (26th) 23 (94th) Sacks 44 (1st) 9 Fumble Recoveries 7 12 Interceptions 22 29.2 Points Per Game 19.8 54 Red Zone Attempts 25 34-4 Red Zone TD-FG 13-9 70 Red Zone Percentage 88 Injury Report Game Notes Notre Dame's season has collapsed into a 3-8 abomination, but it would be a tremendous mistake for Stanford to sleepwalk through this game, as they still have a BCS bowl bid up for grabs, and the Irish DO have talent that can make plays on both sides of the ball. Not to mention the fact that Notre Dame is the final team on the "revenge tour" for Stanford in 2013. Senior Tommy Rees has been average at best on the season, completing just below 50% of his passes for 1964 yards with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Junior Andrew Hendrix has 392 yards and three TDs and three INTs in fill-in duty. Cierre Wood, who scorched Stanford last year in South Bend, is gone, but junior George Atkinson III has 1054 yards and seven touchdowns, while averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Tight end Tyler Eifert is Notre Dame's #1 receiving threat, leading the team in catches (48) and yards (677), while tied with wideout TJ Jones for the team lead in touchdown catches with six. Jones, in addition to the six scores, has 37 catches for 558 yards. 6'6 sophomore wideout Anthony Bridges has shown signs of living up to his 5* status with 42 catches for 488 yards and three touchdowns, while junior DaVaris Daniels has also had a nice year with 35 receptions, 471 yards, and three scores. Defensively, the Irish have been a hot mess all season, and their defensive rankings reflect that. Senior inside linebacker Carlo Calabrese is the team's leading tackler with 70 stops. Aaron Lynch is Notre Dame's most disruptive lineman, leading his team in both tackles for loss (12) and sacks (3.5). 346-pound nose tackle Louis Nix III is right behind him with 10 TFL and three sacks. Junior Stephon Tuitt has been a disappointment so far in his career, as he only has five career sacks, 2.5 of which have come this season. That's not as disappointing as Ishaq Williams, however. The 6'5, 260-pound junior from New York arrived at Notre Dame as a five star recruit renowned for his pass rushing skills - but he has not a single sack on the season. Corner Bennett Jackson and safeties Eilar Hardy and Mike Golden are tied for the lead in interceptions, with three each. Hardy and Golden are sophomores, leaving Notre Dame vulnerable at the safety positions. Jackson and senior corner Lo Wood are serviceable, but the Irish are unimpressive in basically every aspect, defensively. That, combined with Stanford being steamed after last week's loss at Cal, last year's loss in South Bend, and this game being in Palo Alto, could add up to a very long day for the Fighting Irish.