Advertisement
football Edit

Rapid Review: Notre Dame 45, Stanford 24

BOX SCORE

No. 16 Notre Dame (10-2) finished a 5-0 November by ending a five-game losing streak at Stanford (4-8), dating back to 2009, with a 45-24 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Irish rallied from a 17-7 deficit late in the first half on the strength of a blocked punt by freshman defensive end Isaiah Foskey that dramatically changed the game’s momentum and resulted in a 31-0 run thereafter for a 38-17 cushion.

Stanford scored a window-dressing touchdown with 1:56 left in the contest and then the Irish senior defensive end tandem of Ade Ogundeji and Khalid Kareem, teamed up for the final tally with 41 seconds left when Ogundeji forced a fumble that Kareem recovered in the end zone.

Senior quarterback Ian Book completed 17 of 30 passes for255 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions, with Chase Claypool snatching two of the scores.

Sophomore tight end Tommy Tremble and senior running back Tony Jones Jr. grabbed the other two aerial scores, while sophomore running back C'Bo Flemister tallied on a one-yard run with 5:10 remaining in the contest.

Ian Book an the Irish held off a game 4-8 Stanford team to finish the regular season 10-2.
Ian Book an the Irish held off a game 4-8 Stanford team to finish the regular season 10-2. (Spencer Allen)
Advertisement

TOP 3 STORYLINES

• Stanford trailed at halftime 21-17 despite having a 19:40-10-20 advantage in time of possession and 278-194 in total yards.

The Cardinal's second drive of the game took 8:15 off the clock, but after having first-and-goal at the Notre Dame two-yard line, it had to settle for a field goal and a 10-7 lead.

• Notre Dame's defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs by Stanford during the third quarter while building its advantage to 28-17 on the second touchdown pass from Book to Claypool.

• Ranked third in the country in turnovers forced, Notre Dame won that department 2-0, not including the game-changing blocked punt.


TURNING POINT

Leading 17-7, Stanford came up inches short on third-and-three from its 22-yard line, forcing a punt. Foskey then broke through to block the kick that was recovered at the one-yard line, resulting in a six-yard touchdown pass (after an Irish false start) on third-and-goal from Book to Tremble with 3:01 left until halftime.

After Notre Dame's defense quickly forced another punt, Book completed three straight passes, 21 yards to junior tight end Cole Kmet and then 12 and 41 yards deep to a leaping Claypool in the end zone with 1:20 left.

In a span of 1:41, the Fighting Irish went from a 17-7 deficit to a 21-17 advantage.

Holiday Pick-It Sale - Save Big On A BlueandGold.com Subscription And Get Free Gear Too (click here for details!)

STAT OF THE GAME


While building its 17-7 advantage, Stanford quarterback Davis Mills completed 12 of 17 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Thereafter, which encompassed the final 39 minutes and 31 seconds, he was only 16 of 29 for 132 yards, or a mere 8.3 yards per completion and a measly 4.6 yards per attempt.

GAME BALL

The Notre Dame defense — with junior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah a standout versus the run and pass — controlled the action after falling behind 17-7. Owusu-Koramoah led the defense in both tackles (9) and solo stops (6), and also broke up a pass.

In the next seven series (or prior to their last one) after taking a 17-7 lead, Stanford punted each time while totaling only 93 yards total offense. Four were three-and-out, highlighted by all three in the third quarter.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE

This is the first time Notre Dame won its final regular season game in back-to-back years in California since Stanford was permanently added to the schedule on an annual basis in 1997. Notre Dame ended last year's regular season with a 24-17 conquest of USC.

The last time the Irish had back-to-back years in which they finished with a win in the final regular season contest was 2000 at 5-7 USC (38-21) and then at Purdue (24-18) in 2001, a game that was moved to Dec. 1 because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

----

Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement