Notre Dame Football: Claypool was Unsung Hero vs. Stanford

It wasn’t a career day by any means for Notre Dame football wide receiver Chase Claypool, but he will be credited with changing the game versus Stanford.

Finding Notre Dame football’s unsung hero versus Stanford is difficult for the simple reason that Notre Dame played a complete game. It was domination from Ian Book under center and his counterpart Miles Boykin who had a big day. In the running game, Dexter Williams made his debut well worth the wait.

On the defensive end, Jerry Tillery was ridiculous with four sacks and Te’von Coney did what he did best leading the team with seven tackles and a fourth-quarter interception.

Everyone had a part in Notre Dame’s victory. You could name multiple MVPs. It’s what makes them look so dangerous right now.

As you look at Chase Claypool’s numbers, they weren’t impressive. Claypool finished the day with three catches for 23 yards. Three other receivers had more yards than Claypool and the unit was led by Boykin’s 11 catches for 144 yards.

Even with how big of a game Boykin had, Claypool came away with the same number of touchdowns: one.

It was more about when Claypool’s touchdown came about.

Just before the half, Book led the team on an 80-yard drive where he threw a perfect five-for-five. Four of those catches for 64 yards went to Boykin. The last pass of the drive was a 10-yard dart to Claypool for the touchdown.

Up until that point, it was a close and hard-fought game. There wasn’t much give on either side. Claypool’s touchdown gave the Irish the momentum when they needed it the most. After that point, the second half was all Notre Dame. The Cardinal didn’t stand a chance.

Notre Dame’s win over Stanford was a dominant team win. Many players had a big game and put up great stats, but it was Claypool who was the unsung hero this time.