Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS Stanford Cardinal: Staff Picks

It’s Friday afternoon, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Stanford Cardinal to close the regular season out tomorrow. I’m a little late in getting this up — but they’re in my gmail inbox I swear to Moose.

Billy Gorman

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 35, Stanford Cardinal 14

The only reason to think this game will be close is that it’s a rivalry game. I’m not buying that and I think Notre Dame gets win number 10 easily. I’m still not completely sold on the offense, as their last three games haven’t come against the greatest competition, but it won’t matter on Saturday.

Washington State Cougars 42, Washington Huskies 45

Well, it’s finally Apple Cup week! Washington State has proven this season that they can score with just about anybody and can stop almost nobody. Washington has struggled on offense for parts of this season but facing the Cougars defense should be a decent cure for that. I expect this game to be a shootout and may come down to who has the ball last. Chris Petersen has dominated Washington State in this series, so I’ll go with the Huskies at home.

Brad Wechter

Notre Dame 28, Stanford 10

I predict the first win on the farm since... 2007? Wow. Stanford doesn’t seem very good this year, and Notre Dame appears to have it together. A blowout - even over BC - this late in the season is a rarity and cause to believe.

Miami-Ohio Redhawks 24, Ball State Cardinals 13

That’s the MAC East Champion Miami RedHawks to you. First time they’ve won the division in the Chuck Martin era, and first trip to Detroit to play for the MAC championship since 2010. RedHawks take care of business and await to learn their opponent.

Lisa Kelly

Notre Dame 42, Stanford 14

Here we are at the last Notre Dame (9-2) game of the regular season, on the road against Stanford (4-7). I was hoping we’d be approaching this juncture with only one loss, but such is not the case. Nevertheless, I am not worried about facing Stanford on the road this weekend. Over the past few weeks, Ian Book and company have really settled down and shown all of us that they can execute the offense that we knew was there all along. And the defense is, without a doubt, firing on all cylinders, and should have no problem taking care of Stanford. Camping World Bowl, here we come! GO IRISH!

Arkansas Razorbacks 9, Missouri Tigers 37

Even though the Missouri Tigers (5-6) haven’t exactly been world beaters this season, they are still finishing out their season in a better place than the poor Arkansas Razorbacks (2-9). I’m sure the faithful in Fayetteville are more than ready to get this season finished and look ahead toward a new coach and a fresh start in 2020. Although the Tigers don’t have a whole lot to play for after the NCAA ruling this week, denying their appeal to be bowl eligible, they will still come out and play to the best of their ability. Don’t expect the Razorbacks to get shutout, but also don’t expect the Tigers to come out flat. Here’s to next year ... Woo Pig!

Bobby Norell

Notre Dame 31, Stanford 10

Notre Dame shouldn’t have a problem on Saturday. Stanford is banged up at QB and on the line. They might be missing Paulson adebo. The weather might be the only thing to slow down the Irish attack. Irish 10-2.

Indiana Hoosiers 35, Purdue Boilermakers 17

Boiler the eff down! Hoosiers bringing home the bucket to BTown! 8-4 Indiana sounds pretty good! And they’ll become #9WINDIANA in the bowl game!

Mike Whitlow

Notre Dame 34, Stanford 20

For Notre Dame to have a realistic shot at a NY6 bowl, a win on Saturday afternoon on The Farm is a must. It’s wild that a win against the Trees on the road hasn’t come in 12 years, but that drought should end this weekend. Even though the Irish haven’t exactly wowed anyone throughout this season, they’re 60 minutes from a 10-2 campaign. That’s not bad. By the end of the day, they should be a 10-win team because Stanford’s offense is putrid and the Irish are just a better team on both sides of the football. Ian Book will make a few plays with his legs and the Irish will cap the regular season on a high note.

Kentucky Wildcats 37, Louisville Cardinals 31

There’s really only one thing to say: L’s down.

Pat Sullivan

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 37, Stanford Cardinal 17

No Paulson Adebo means Chase Claypool will be running wild in this one, and Ian Book will be picking apart a not-great Stanford defense. Meanwhile, whoever plays QB for the Cardinal will struggle to pass against the Irish’s elite secondary, and without some key offensive linemen who are out with injury, Stanford will be unable to rely on the run as they have in the past. I think ND has Stanford blown out by midway through the 3rd quarter, finally winning in Palo Alto for the first time under Brian Kelly.

Kansas Jayhawks 33, Baylor Bears 31

OUR Kansas Jayhawks have a huge opportunity to knock down the top-10 Bears and insert themselves right back into the Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff discussions (act like they would leave a 4-8 Jayhawk squad out of the top 4 after a win like this, folks). I expect Les will have the Lads ready to lay the lumber this weekend, and the Mad Hatter’s men will mutilate Matt Rhule’s mob in Lawrence. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS BAY-BEEEEEE.

Philip Gough

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 28, Stanford Cardinal 3

A sloppy and slow game all around because of the weather. I think the Irish are superior in nearly all phases of this game forcing turnovers and capitalizing on field positions struggles by the Cardinal. The weather prohibits this game from being an offensive explosion by the Irish, but they prevail none the less.

Holy Cross 21, Monmouth 35

FCS PLAYOFF FOOTBALL BABY. Holy Cross is officially BACK. However, this only being the second year of the rebuild, they don’t have all the pieces to make a playoff run. They match up well with Monmouth, but the biggest gap will be Monmouth’s running back. This is an NFL caliber type back in FCS, which is tough to defend. All around fantastic season by the Crusaders, who will return next year as heavy favorites to repeat as Patriot League Champs.

Connor Leichtle

Notre Dame 31, Stanford 10

Notre Dame continues its late season roll by finally defeating Stanford in Palo Alto for the first time under Brian Kelly. I’m expecting Ian Book to continue to his improved play against a subpar Cardinal defense. Bold prediction alert: Tony Jones Jr. rushes for over 100 yards.

Iowa Hawkeyes 27, Nebraska Cornhuskers 21

The Hawkeyes continue their dominance as they run their win streak to 5 games against the Cornhuskers. Although ugly, Nate Stanley and Tyler Goodson carry the load on offense. Hawk fans delight as Nebraska finishes the year 5-7 and misses a bowl game.

Matt Greene

Notre Dame 28, Stanford 17

The Irish do take care of business in this one, but for some reason the defense still gives up some points. The offense has an ok day with some weird weather, but Stanford is still not good enough to get it done against a better ND team.

Central Michigan Chippewas 31, Toledo Rockets 28

This is a BIG one. With NIU beating Western Michigan on Tuesday night MACtion, the Chips control their own destiny in the MAC West. If the Chips win, they go to the MAC Championship. A vast improvement from not beating an FBS team last year. The Chippewas are in a dog fight, but they come out with the victory to go to Detroit next week. FIRE UP CHIPS!

Lauren Dangel

Notre Dame 35, Stanford 9

Ian Book will shine his brightest against the Cardinal, and the same goes for Cole Kmet. Irish fans can expect the guys wearing gold and blue to set the tone and run with it. These Irish have the heart and the hype to go all in and end the season right.

Ohio State Buckeyes 52, Michigan Wolverines 48

The Wolverines have stepped it up on both sides of the ball since their loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. However, the Buckeyes’ flow will prove to be more established. This will be a close one, but tOSU will remain undefeated.

Joe Londergan

Notre Dame 36, Stanford 14

Stanford are giving up nearly 300 pass yards for game, which makes this one ripe for Ian Book to end the regular season on a high note. They’ve also lost two of their three games against ranked teams to date. On Saturday, it will be three out of four.

Oregon State Beavers 28, Oregon Ducks 37

Oregon might have eliminated themselves from the college football playoff, but they’ve got one more win in the tank. OSU have improved so much from where they were last year and they should be proud...but their secondary is still very bad. Oregon’s pass game is not.

Joshua Vowles

Notre Dame 38, Stanford 10

I think I was a little to worried about the weather when I first gave a prediction of a 13-0 win for Notre Dame. While i still think that the field conditions will be terrible, it won’t be like Clemson 2015, N.C. State 2016, or Michigan 2019 with a driving rain. There still should be a wind factor, so we have to keep that in mind. Since I’m changing my prediction a bit, I might as well go big. I think Ian Book has a fantastic game through the air and on the ground, and the Irish defense absolutely manhandles Stanford for 4 quarters.

Eastern Michigan Eagles 34, Kent State Golden Flashes 27

EMU is fully prepared to win their 7th game and help give them some momentum before ANOTHER bowl game in the Chris Creighton era. Mike Glass III will have an efficient day, but I think running back Shaq Vann is ready to explode on a poor KSU defense. HURONS FOREVER!