SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was an outcome almost no one saw coming.
Against a 1-4 Stanford team coming into Saturday night's game, the Irish (3-3) lost all the momentum of a three-game winning streak with a 16-14 blunder at Notre Dame Stadium. In front of a sellout crowd of 77,622, Notre Dame struggled to find its stride on offense while the defense made a handful of mistakes.
Inside ND Sports gave game balls to the following players for their performances.
Stanford: K Joshua Karty
Stanford's kicker proved to be the most valuable asset for the Cardinal in their defeat of Notre Dame.
Karty was a perfect 3-3 on field goal tries from beyond 40 yards. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound junior hit field goals from 45 and 43 yards out (twice) to aid the Cardinal with nine points. He was also successful on his one extra-point try.
His most important field goal came with 10:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving Stanford the 16-14 lead and, ultimately, the win.
Notre Dame:Â WR Tobias Merriweather
After hearing his name in press conferences for weeks and fans clamoring for his increased involvement, Merriweather answered the call with a memorable catch.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the freshman Merriweather beat Stanford's fifth-year senior safety Kendall Williamson on a post route for a 41-yard touchdown. That score gave Notre Dame a 14-13 advantage and its first lead of the game.
The 6-foot-4, 198-pound Merriweather scored on the second target of his career.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD
Earlier in the game, Pyne missed a wide-open Merriweather from 31 yards on his first-ever target. Eight plays later, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees returned to the freshman wide receiver. Pyne hit Merriweather for the longest completion of his Irish career.
Merriweather finished the game with just that catch. Pyne was 13-27 (48.1% completion) for 151 yards and one touchdown.
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @ByKyleKelly.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
