Bottom Line
It was Marshall all over again. And then it was worse.
And even with a fourth-quarter offensive surge aided by freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather, it was a bewildering offensive performance by Notre Dame against the nation’s No. 109 team in total defense no matter how it ended.
And it didn’t end well.
Stanford took advantage of a late Audric Estimé fumble deep in Cardinal territory, and played just enough keepaway offense and disruptive defense over the final 6:35 to seal a 16-14 upset of the Irish Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium.
The Cardinal (2-4) broke an 11-game losing streak against FBS competition. Notre Dame (3-3) broke any last dreams it had of salvaging its 0-2 start with a late run to the New Year’s Six bowl lineup.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and quarterback Drew Pyne both probably could have used a stern talking-to on the press box phone, Pyne regressed a week after completing 15 consecutive passes in a win over BYU at one juncture to complete a total of 13 against Stanford.
He routinely out-and-out misfired and threw into coverage on his way to a season-low 107.3 pass-efficiency among his four starts. That translated to 13-of-27 for 151 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions.
The TD was a 41-yard, fourth-quarter strike to Merriweather. It was his first collegiate catch, and it gave the Irish a short-lived 14-13 lead.
Notre Dame amassed just 106 yards in the first half and 301 for the game. They also managed to lose the turnover battle 2-0 to the worst turnover-margin team in the nation.
Big Picture
Notre Dame’s defense played well enough to create hope that Saturday night’s loss won’t evolve into a full-fledged rebuild. But ND realistically can only hope to be an intermittent spoiler.
Questions Answered
Freshman Tobias Merriweather showed he’s ready for an expanded role – a role period, actually, after catching the longest pass of Drew Pyne’s season. Pyne earlier missed an open Merriweather for a would-be touchdown. … Head coach Marcus Freeman showed he could still recruit, reeling in a Rivals100 running back in Jeremiyah Love of St. Louis, who verbally committed hours before the upset loss.
Questions Lingering
Which is the real Drew Pyne – the ascending player in the North Carolina and BYU games or the one Stanford flustered on Saturday night? Is this a game Marcus Freeman’s inexperience cost Notre Dame?
The Road Ahead
The Irish will be back at Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday for a matchup with UNLV (4-2 heading into a late Saturday night game with Air Force) in the first-ever football clash between the two schools. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. EDT, and this is the one home game this season that won’t be on broadcast on NBC. Rather it will stream on Peacock exclusively. ND is 31-6 all-time against the current members of the Mountain West Conference.
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