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

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PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 25: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal runs with the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Stanford Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

1. Growing pains are evident

It’s been a great comeback season for the Fighting Irish, going 9-3 with wins over teams like NC State, Michigan State and USC, among others, and they have some quality losses as well to ranked teams such as Georgia, Miami and now Stanford.

However, there has been one major knock against this team: when it rans, it pours. When the Fighting Irish struggle, it usually is to the extreme. Notre Dame fell behind early against Miami and was unable to bounce back. I’m not saying this team isn’t resilient, but the Irish weren’t able to stop the bleeding effectively.

It’s clear that this team is young and learning on the fly. Brian Kelly has a strong young team with plenty of potential and the future in South Bend is incredibly bright. However, his team struggled in tough games, such as at Miami and Stanford, to end the year.

Next: Projected Week 14 CFB Playoff Rankings

The team made silly mistakes and seemed to fall apart at the seams when things got out of hand. Prime example was Saturday against Stanford, allowing 21 points in the matter of four minutes after holding a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. This team will grow, but the pains are evident.

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