Final score prediction for the Notre Dame football battle against the Stanford Cardinal

Bye weeks are always an interesting topic of conversation for teams. Sometimes teams come out rejuvenated and ready to go, seeming to grow a ton during that break. Then other teams come out slow, and seem to knock out a little bit of rust. It’s anyone’s guess which version of Notre Dame we will see this weekend against Stanford .

While Stanford isn’t an overly talented team, they can be tricky if you aren’t prepared well enough. On offense they are a well schemed unit that has some skill position talent to utilize. Quarterback Ashton Daniels is a dual threat signal caller who can hurt a team with his arm and legs. His top pass catcher is Elic Ayomanor, who is an NFL wide receiver with outstanding size and ball skills.

That offensive unit has been its own worst enemy so far this year. Through five games, they have thrown seven interceptions and lost two fumbles. Moving the ball isn’t an issue, but finishing certainly has been.

On defense, this Stanford defense leaves a lot to be desired. This is a downhill unit that doesn’t have the overall athleticism to make a ton of plays in space. Forcing the linebackers into conflict, and working off of movement up front is key. There’s no excuse for Notre Dame not to be able to throw the football in this game.

Until proven otherwise, the Irish offense has shown flashes of creating big plays but too often operates at a snail's pace. Once they get up by a solid margin, this Notre Dame team seems more than okay to take the foot off the gas pedal and let the defense close things out. This is how this game feels.

Stanford has the skill to make some plays against Notre Dame offensively. This feels like a game where they move the football solidly, but make some crucial mistakes at the worst possible time. In the end, it just doesn’t feel like Stanford will consistently be able to finish drives.

Final prediction: Notre Dame 34, Stanford 13