Marcus Freeman is making sure Notre Dame treats Stanford like the rivalry game it is.
With the Legends Trophy on the line Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish are set to face a Cardinal team Freeman believes is better than its numbers suggest. Stanford coach Tavita Pritchard is new to the job, but not new to this matchup. He played for Stanford, and Freeman said that background matters.
"I don't know him, but I've heard really good things about him," Freeman said about the first-year Cardinal head coach. "He obviously played at Stanford, so he understands the rivalry.
I think that's important that our guys understand it. Their head coach has been a part of this rivalry and they'll be fired up, ready to come into Notre Dame Stadium.
"It's a rivalry game," Freeman continued. "The majority of our program has played in the Legends Trophy game.
But we've got to make sure the people that haven't been a part of it understand what this rivalry is all about. It's Irish wear green.
It's a great opportunity on Saturday. Good to be back home in our stadium."
Notre Dame is 25-14 all-time against Stanford, and Freeman has had the upper hand lately. After losing his first meeting with the Cardinal in 2022, he has won three straight. Over that stretch, Notre Dame has outscored Stanford 151-50.
Still, Freeman isn’t looking at Stanford as an easy weekend. He pointed to a passing game that has been effective in the middle of the field and to quarterback Davis Warren as a steady presence.
"I think on offense, they've done a really good job throwing the football, especially in the middle of the field," Freeman shared. " Davis Warren is an experienced quarterback that if you give him time, he's going to find a way to put the ball where it needs to be.
We've got to make sure that we are really detailed out in our past defense. And we've got to find ways to affect the quarterback.
Their defensive coordinator, Kris Richard, is well-respected.
"He's formerly an NFL coordinator, NFL guy, a lot of NFL experience," Freeman continued. "I don't think their statistics probably reflect the type of defense they have.
They had a couple guys out last week, a couple linebackers, but I think they've gotten a takeaway in every single game. It would be a great challenge for our offense to take care of the ball and take advantage of the opportunities it presents itself."
Freeman sees a Stanford program moving in the right direction, even if the stat sheet doesn’t fully show it. That makes this another one of those familiar Notre Dame games where the name on the front of the jersey carries plenty of weight, and the Irish know they’ll need to be ready from the start.
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