Notre Dame Football: 20 biggest wins of the Brian Kelly era

Notre Dame Football: 20 biggest wins of the Brian Kelly era

3. Notre Dame 20, Stanford 13 (2012)

One of the best games of the Brian Kelly era, the overtime win over Stanford in 2012 was a difficult and well-deserved win over one of the rivals who gave Notre Dame the most issues in the early Brian Kelly era.

The 2012 game was by far the best of them.

The Irish were ranked seventh in the country, while the Cardinal were 17, with a surprise loss to Washington being the only black mark on their record. The game itself was close from the start, with an Everett Golson fumble that was returned for a touchdown being the difference in the first half and a 10-3 Stanford lead.

It wouldn’t be until the fourth quarter when Golson found Tyler Eifert to tie the game. That was followed by a quick exchange of field goals, including a Kyle Brindza field goal to end regulation.

13-13. Overtime.

Notre Dame took the ball first and scored. It was a Tommy Rees (He’d come on for a struggling Everett Golson) touchdown to TJ Jones that gave Notre Dame the lead in overtime. However, that’s not the memory most people have from overtime, as the Irish held on with a goal-line stand to win the game.

This was a huge game in keeping the unbeaten 2012 season rolling while proving that Notre Dame had one of the best, if not the best, defense in the country.