Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from loss to Stanford in Week 13

Notre Dame football took on Stanford on Saturday night and came away with a tough loss. What did we learn from the Week 13 rivalry game.

It’s been an impressive turnaround season for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish went from 4-8 last season, missing out on a bowl, to 9-3 in the 2017 regular season with a chance for a 10th win in the Irish’s bowl game.

However, they had a chance to get a 10th win in the regular season, but a road game against Stanford in the season finale ended those hopes. Moreover, a playoff berth was still possible. Those hopes were crushed as well seeing as Stanford scored 21 straight points to start the fourth quarter to come away with a big win, clinching the Pac-12 North.

What did we learn from Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford in Week 13?

3. Josh Adams could be back for 2018

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Josh Adams and the Fighting Irish offensive line. Notre Dame’s junior running back got off to a great start to the 2017 season and averaged nearly 10 yards per carry through the first half of the season.

Adams rushed for over 100 yards in six of the season’s first eight games and since then he’s put up just 215 yards combined in four games. The Irish offensive line has struggled to open up the running lanes despite having a couple of first round NFL draft prospects up front.

There’s a good chance he could come back for his senior season, especially if he’s unable to show off in Notre Dame’s bowl game, which could be a New Year’s Six matchup.

Notre Dame has a lethal running game with Brandon Wimbush and Adams, but they haven’t been playing up to par for the past few weeks.