David Shaw Preparing Stanford For ‘Difficult Place To Win’ At Notre Dame
Stanford head coach David Shaw is quite familiar with the Notre Dame program.
So playing in South Bend this weekend and potentially winning inside Notre Dame Stadium will be nothing new for the Cardinal head coach.
In his first seven years at the helm, Shaw compiled a 5-2 mark against the Irish (1-2 on the road). When he served as the offensive coordinator the previous four years under Jim Harbaugh, Stanford was 2-2 in the rivalry (with a 1-1 mark in South Bend).
Shaw knows communicating and handling the noise will be tough tasks on Saturday.
“It’s a difficult place to win,” he said on Tuesday. “Over the years it’s gotten louder. … They’ve done a great job in creating and making adjustments to the stadium, creating a great home-field advantage.
“You have to prepare for noise, the crowd being into it and loud on third downs and in the red zone. It’s a difficult place to come back with a victory.”
Beating Notre Dame and claiming the Legends Trophy remains meaningful for the players within the Stanford program.
“You talk to our players, which is where rivalry really matters, it’s right up there,” Shaw stated. “We feel we have a ton of rivals when you talk about Cal, USC, Oregon and Washington. Notre Dame is right up there as is UCLA. … We recruit so nationally, so we don’t have all West Coast guys … [a lot of them] either grow up watching Notre Dame or not liking them.
“The games have been outstanding over the years. A lot of victories on both sides and great players. There is no wonder why this game every year is one of the higher-rated games to watch.”
Over the past six meetings, five have finished with seven points or less. Stanford won 38-20 in 2017, but the Irish actually led 20-17 heading into the fourth quarter before the Cardinal capitalized on Notre Dame’s mistakes.
“That it didn’t start too well,” Shaw said of his memories from last year’s matchup. “They had some big plays, including a big shallow cross for a touchdown to Osiris’s brother [Equanimeous St. Brown]. The runner that I’m glad is gone now [Josh Adams] had a big one back against us. They still have great talent and great athletic ability.
“For what we just gave up this past week in the first half, we have to handle guys coming after us. They can move the ball. I still anticipate seeing both quarterbacks. They have an explosive offense we have to try and contain. That was a big thing last year keeping them under wraps and creating turnovers.”
After senior Brandon Wimbush started the first four games at quarterback, the Irish threw out junior Ian Book against Wake Forest. Book connected on 25 of 34 throws for 325 yards with two touchdowns while leading the Irish to a 56-27 victory over the Demon Deacons. Shaw still expects to see both signal-callers, even if Book gets the starting nod for a second straight week.
“I just zipped through the opposing team’s offense earlier in the week, but off of watching more than half pretty quickly, the kid has an accurate arm and quick release,” Shaw said of Book. “He’s a good athlete. … That’s an added thing you have to deal with when a guy has an ability to beat you from inside and outside the pocket.”
With its 38-31 comeback win over Oregon and its three-game winning streak over the Irish, confidence from Stanford won’t be lacking in the top-10 matchup.
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