Notre Dame Football: Fighting Irish Need Luck To Beat Stanford

I'm not normally one to advocate looking ahead on the schedule, but there is no doubting the fact that the Stanford Cardinal and quarterback Andrew Luck are looming rather large at the end of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's year.

The Irish need to get through Boston College first, but if they can do that, there is a good chance that they could face the ultimate redemption game against the Cardinal on the road.

There is no doubting the fact that this has been somewhat of a disappointing season for the Irish, who came into the year with some major BCS hopes.

That being said, all of that can be wiped away with a huge win over the currently No. 9 Stanford football team.

Do you remember when Notre Dame started the season 0-2? 

The first was a huge upset loss against South Florida at home, and the second was a last-minute meltdown to Michigan at the Big House.

At that point it looked like the Irish's season was doomed for disaster, and most, including myself, wrote them off as pretenders.

While they did acquire one more loss at the hands of USC, the Irish somehow managed to turn things around, and now they are facing the prospect of entering the Stanford game at 8-3 if they can beat Boston College.

The focus should be on the Eagles right now, but Stanford is where the true pot of gold lies at the end of Notre Dame's season.

Truth is, it may be too much to ask for. Stanford is fifth in the nation with an average of 46.4 points per game, and they're only giving up 20.2.

The Irish have a great run game bolstered by the combined 20 touchdowns and 1,637 yards of Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray, and they would have to utilize it to control the clock and keep Luck off the field.

When he is on the field the key will be putting pressure on him and forcing him into turnovers. He's had an exceptional year all-around, but the Oregon Ducks exposed that he can be vulnerable to pressure, and he's thrown four interceptions in the past three games.

If there is a way to beat Stanford, it's by controlling the ball and forcing Luck into mistakes.

He's good, but he isn't unbeatable.

It won't be an easy task, but with a little luck, Notre Dame may come out of this year with a pretty decent ranking and a redeemed season.