Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Stanford Cardinal NCAA Football Odds
While it’s unlikely the No. 22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be heading to a bowl game this year, they can spoil the No. 6 Stanford Cardinal’s bid for a trip to the Fiesta Bowl or Rose Bowl, with a win to close out the regular season on Saturday.
Fighting Irish v Cardinal
Venue/Stadium: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
Time/Date: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 26, 2011, ABC
NFL Odds From: Betonline.com
Spread (ATS): Stanford -6.5
Over/Under: 58
Notre Dame’s offense was a mess last week against Boston College, and if it weren’t for David Ruffer’s three field goals, and a defense that finally found its footing, the Irish may have not been able to hold off a late Boston College rally for a 16-14 victory.
But a win is a win, and it was the eighth in the last nine games for the Fighting Irish.
Despite, Notre Dame’s inability to sustain multiple drives –converting just 8-of-19–fortunately the Eagles were even worse with just 3-of-13 translating to points on the scoreboard.
Boston College did however make things interesting, cutting a nine-point fourth quarter Irish lead to two with just under two minutes to play, but could not find its way into field-goal range in its final effort.
Senior running back Jonas Gray, who exited the game in the second half with an apparent knee injury, put the Fighting Irish on top for good with a 26-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive. It was the only time Notre Dame reached the end zone despite outgaining the Eagles, 417 to 250. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Once again Cierre Wood paced the Notre Dame offense with 94 yards on 26 carries, while Michael Floyd caught 10 passes for 92 yards.
Meanwhile, Stanford started their game against Cal with some offensive pop, but then sputtered during the first half, only to lead 14-13 at the break.
But once again, quarterback Andrew Luck took the offense on his shoulders, throwing for two touchdown passes in the third quarter to help lift No. 6 Stanford to a 31-28 victory in the 114th edition of the “Big Game” on Saturday.
The Golden Bears battled back to pull within one possession to make it interesting, but Jordan Williamson’s 35-yard FG restored a two-score lead. Cal once again struck with under a minute to go to keep the Stanford crowd nervous until the final kickoff of the game.
Notre Dame leads the series 17-8 against Stanford who won 37-14 last year in South Bend.
Matt’s Prediction: Stanford 35, Note Dame 21–
If the Irish scores just 16 points again this week against the Cardinal, then this one will be over early. Their only hope is to contain Luck, something the Bears were able to do early on, but failed to sustain.
The victory over Cal keeps Stanford in the mix for a spot in the Pac-12 title game and they will win the North if Oregon loses to Oregon State earlier in the day.
Whatever the outcome, though, Saturday’s game should bring some celebration as Luck now has 31 TD passes, for a 76 career TD passes, and is likely to surpass John Elway’s school record of 77 on Saturday.
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