by Leprechaun Express & Steve Welsh
“How desperate are things at Notre Dame? Apparently to the point that coach Brian Kelly pulled DeShone Kizer for Malik Zaire in the second half of Notre Dame’s implosion of a 17-10 loss to Stanford Saturday night. The Irish are 2-5 and enter the bye week with uncertainty at the one position that hasn’t had it since the second half
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Running back Christian McCaffrey will not play on Saturday night against Notre Dame, coach David Shaw confirmed … Last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up did not play most of the second half of last Saturday’s 42-16 loss to Washington State. … After rushing for 436 yards over his first three games, all victories, the junior has been limited to 84 total rushing yards
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… when the Irish and Cardinal have met in each of the last five seasons, both teams have been nationally ranked — with Notre Dame three of the last four seasons ranked ninth or higher. Stanford has played in the Rose Bowl three of the last four years (winning two of those), while Notre Dame appeared in the Bowl Championship
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Notre Dame’s offense, when not playing in a hurricane, has been plenty explosive, although not at all dependable. … The offensive line in particular hasn’t met expectations. … expected to be a strength, with McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson returning, but the Irish rank 92nd in the nation in rushing at 149.5 yards a game. That’s 58.1 yards a game worse
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Notre Dame players on Wednesday disagreed with the notion their head coach was blaming players or throwing them under the bus in a way that was unfair or negatively impacted the locker room. ‘Blame is definitely not the word,’ quarterback DeShone Kizer said. ‘In this game there are 11 guys who are required to do their job … in order
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