Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS Stanford Cardinal: Staff Picks

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are back home for a prime time matchup against the Stanford Cardinal. Notre Dame will be looking for its fourth straight win over Stanford — and the first CHUG FROM THE TROPHY moment from Marcus Freeman.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Irish are 17 point favorites over Stanford with an OVER/UNDER of 53.5.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Now it’s time for the OFD Staff to unleash their own picks. More still may roll in throughout the day. Here are a few thoughts from The Emperor’s Elite Pick-Em Force:

Joseph Babey

The most interesting part about the game against Stanford is that it’s at night. I think the Irish have their way in almost every facet of this game. My hopes for the night will be for Notre Dame to continue their momentum offensively, work on reducing the breakdowns on defense, and hopefully get some of the younger guys some snaps towards the end of the game. I believe now is a great time to get snaps to players you may need as you get towards the end of the season. Be careful though, it’s true I don’t think Stanford stands a chance. Don’t come out flat though, this team has nothing to lose. Notre Dame: 42, Stanford 19

Hayden Adams

Stanford is bad, plain and simple. That doesn’t mean Notre Dame can’t lose to them. Marshall (0-3 against FBS teams not named Notre Dame) is also bad and the Irish somehow lost to them at home. Clearly I will never get over that. But Notre Dame is playing better, so there is actually evidence to indicate they will win handily. Given the way these games have played out in recent years, I’ll go with 38-13 Notre Dame and manifest Tobias Merriweather’s first career reception.

Matt Boomer

Given Notre Dame’s demonstrated proclivity for giving up big plays, I do think Tanner McKee will put a few points on the board in this game. But that isn’t going to be enough and I expect McKee will also face a lot of pressure and turn the ball over once or twice. On the other side of the ball, there is just no way Stanford’s defense can slow down the running game the Irish have developed over the past few weeks, and I expect Drew Pyne to light up their secondary enough. This year is stupid so this game will probably be closer than it should be, but even allowing for that I’m still taking the Irish 45-17.

Matt Greene

The Irish come back home to play a night game, even though the opponent probably doesn’t warrant a night game. It should be a fun time anyway. The offense can continue their momentum against a struggling Stanford team, and the defense can take advantage of a depleted Stanford O-Line. This one shouldn’t be in doubt overall, and I see a 45-10 Irish victory to continue to win streak.