How important was the win over Notre Dame for Stanford?

Stanford may have secured their biggest win in a couple years

The pressure was beginning to really heat up as outlets were starting to speculate about whether or not David Shaw was on the hot seat. 

The fan base had grown restless, there was an obvious frustration by the players, and the national media was starting to make a mockery of Stanford. There were almost daily tweets in regards to Stanford's record against FBS programs which was 0 wins in their last 11 games, people were continually implying that this program is far from its glory days with no chance of return. 

While it remains to be seen what will happen with coach Shaw's future at Stanford, and what this team's ceiling is, all of the doubts have been silenced. At least for a week or so. 

The win over Notre Dame may have been a job, season, and morale saving win for the Cardinal who were coming off of the most heartbreaking loss I have witnessed a week prior against Oregon State. This win against a struggling Irish team may be the most important win that Stanford has had since the 2019 season. Rather than Shaw being the one the ridiculed by the media and fans, that attention has turned to Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman who has not gotten off to the best start as the Irish head coach.

Marcus Freeman seven games into his tenure:

-- 3-4 overall
-- Three game losing streak to start his tenure
-- Lost to a Sun Belt team at home
-- Lost to a Stanford team on an 11 game FBS losing streak (also at home)

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 16, 2022

Wow - Irish money guys will want this guy gone. Marcus freeman just lost to a terrible Stanford team at home. It’s about to get ugly in South Bend. No chance this is tolerated. He was handed a Ferrari and turned it into a Prius.

— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) October 16, 2022

Stanford is in no means in a better situation as their record sits at 2-4, but beating Notre Dame and then following that up with a matchup against a struggling Arizona State team is exactly what the doctor ordered. If the Cardinal can keep up their strong defensive performance and getting a little more from the offense, this two week swing could very well change the outlook on this program.

A loss at Notre Dame, especially considering they were up by double digits could have been absolutely fatal. Now, Shaw and company fought out of the corner, it is just a matter of not getting in their own way to continue to ease the pressure. The only down side is, a loss to this Arizona State team may put the team and coach right back where they were, which was looking for answers and in jeopardy of the worst case scenario.