Notre Dame Football: Overreactions to the big win over Stanford

The run defense shut down Bryce Love

Bryce Love has gotten off to a very slow start this season, but his performance against Notre Dame can’t just be a case of poor individual effort.

The Fighting Irish made it a focal point to shut him down and make Stanford beat them through the air, which they clearly were not capable of doing.

Love ran the ball 17 times for 73 yards a score, but a closer look at the numbers show how dominant the Notre Dame front seven was. When you take out Love’s 39-yard touchdown run, the Cardinal averaged just 2.3 yards per carry (those numbers don’t include negative yardage from sacks).

On the season Notre Dame is giving up just 3.3 yards per carry and less than 130 rushing yards per game. Te’von Coney and the Notre Dame defense have stuffed the run all season and it could be a key part in shutting down other top 5 opponents if the Irish make the College Football playoffs.