Notre Dame Football Recap: Notre Dame 20-Stanford 27
By Andrew Hall
Nov 30, 2013; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal cornerback Alex Carter (25) carries the ball as Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Joe Schmidt (38) attempts to tackle in the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
2013 Notre Dame Football
The Irish faced off against the Stanford Cardinal off for the 28th time in their history. The Fighting Irish had won 18 of the 27 previous games. However, the Irish needed to play a perfect game to beat the Cardinal in 2013. For most of the game, the Irish hung tough against the Cardinal. The injury ridden Irish failed to stop the Cardinal rushing attack. However, the Cardinal gave the ball away two times.
Notre Dame struck first, scoring on a 12 play 65 yard drive. That score gave the Irish a 3-0 lead. Stanford scored on their next two drives to take a 14-3 lead. The first score was on a 16 yard Kevin Hogan pass to Devon Cajuste. The second score was on a 1 yard Tyler Gaffney touchdown run. Kyle Brindza added another field goal to make it 14-6.
In the second half, the Cardinal struck first. Anthony Wilkerson ran for 20 yard touchdown on 3rd down. But, Notre Dame struck back with 4 yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rees to TJ Jones. Stanford then tacked on a field goal. Again, the Irish responded with a 8 play 75 yard drive. Stanford then added another field goal to make the score, 27-20.
Bennett Jackson made an interception with 6:29 left in the 4th Quarter. This gave the Irish Offense an opportunity to tie the game. After two solid runs by Tarean Folston, Tommy Rees threw two bad balls, one of which was intercepted.
The Defense again stopped the Cardinal with 3:35. Again, Rees was intercepted. From that point, Stanford ran out the clock.
Tommy Rees threw for 199 yards on 16 of 34 passing. Miss communication on the different routes caused Tommy Rees to have a low completion accuracy. The two interception killed the Irish.
Notre Dame ran for 64 yards on 24 rushes for a 2.4 yard average. The Irish were dedicated to the rush despite not being able to run the ball well. In contrast to the Irish, Stanford ran for 261 yards on 51 carries or a 5.1 yard average.
Notre Dame will next play in their bowl game. This will likely be in the play in the Pinstripe Bowl on December 28 at 12:15.