Notre Dame's defense has been absolutely humming over the last two months. They've held high powered offenses in check and dominated inferior opponents throughout this nine-game winning streak. The Irish defense currently ranks No. 12 in the country in points allowed, No. 22 in the country in yards allowed, No. 14 in yards per play allowed, No. 9 in yards per rush allowed and No. 1 in the country in interceptions. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash and his staff have turned this unit around from their woeful performance in September.
This weekend, they prepare to face a Stanford offense that, for a lack of better words, is simply not that good. They rank 124th in the country in points per game and yards per game, 134th in the country in yards per rush, 85th in the country in yards per attempt and only have 20 total touchdowns on offense through 11 games. They turn the ball over quite a bit and rank 92nd in the country in turnovers lost. That being said, there are still players on this offense the Notre Dame defense will have to account for in their Saturday night showdown for the Legends Trophy.
Running Back #20 Micah Ford
Running back Micah Ford is the team's leading rusher. He has 145 carries for 643 yards and averages 4.4 yards per carry. His four rushing touchdowns lead the team. Ford is coming off of one of his best performances of the season after rushing for 150 yards and a touchdown against California in a rivalry game. He's not much of a receiving threat out of the backfield but he does have two games this season over 30 yards in receiving. He went for 35 against North Carolina and 64 yards against San Jose State. Ford is a strong runner that falls forward and doesn't go down with arm tackles. Stanford will feed him the rock early to prevent some untimely interceptions.
Matchup To Watch: Notre Dame's linebacking corps will be heading into this matchup without one of their most talented backers. Earlier this week, it was announced that standout sophomore Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury paving the way for freshman Madden Faraimo, redshirt sophomore Jaiden Ausberry and redshirt junior Jaylen Sneed to have more opportunities on the field. Replacing Viliamu-Asa's production will be a collective effort and it starts with doing their part in shutting down Ford and the Stanford rushing attack.
Wide Receiver #3 CJ Williams
Senior CJ Williams is the team's leading receiver by a wide margin. He has totaled 58 receptions, 735 yards and six touchdowns this season; the next closest pass catcher has 472 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-1, 205-pound receiver has put together some impressive performances over the last couple of weeks. Williams had 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns against Pitt, 61 receiving yards and a touchdown against North Carolina and 76 receiving yards and 1 touchdown against Cal this past weekend. He's a sure-handed receiver that only has two drops on the season. Williams is also a premier go-to target in clutch situations with 40 of his 58 receptions going for first downs.
Matchup To Watch: Sophomore Leonard Moore has been exceptional this season and his lived up to his reputation of being the best cover corner in college football. This week, he'll be matched up against another No. 1 wide receiver and will be tasked with shutting down a player in Williams who is playing his best football of the season right now. Williams isn't the biggest or fastest receiver Moore has lined up against this season, but he's extremely productive. Targets will come in Moore's direction and he'll have to make Ben Gulbranson or Elijah Brown regret the decision to target him when given the opportunity.
Tight End #86 Sam Roush
Tight end Sam Roush is one of the better players on offense for Stanford. He's one of the returning starters from last season and is building off of last season's performance. Roush is the team's second leading receiver with 472 receiving yards and two touchdowns. His 45 receptions ranks him in the top five in college football amongst tight ends. Roush has been targeted 74 times this season but has had some issues with drops throughout the year. He has five total but has played clean football in their last two outings. The 6-5, 260-pound tight end has also had some of his better performances against the better opponents they've faced. Roush tallied 104 receiving yards against Pitt, 63 yards against Florida State and 89 yards against SMU.
Matchup To Watch: The safety play for Notre Dame has really ramped up over the last two months. With Tae Johnson out, Senior Day star Jalen Stroman will likely get his second start in a row. Stroman is coming off a game where he led the team in tackles, had a pick six, a blocked punt and racked up a couple of tackles for a loss. He, along with Luke Talich, will have to do their part in shutting down one of Stanford's best offensive weapons in Roush. If they're successful, the Cardinal will have an extremely difficult time moving the football.
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