Hogan threw four touchdown passes and drove the 13th-ranked Cardinal to the winning 45-yard field goal by Conrad Ukropina on the last play of a 38-36 victory over No. 4 Notre Dame in a playoff elimination game Saturday night.
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“We’re two plays away from being undefeated and being the No. 1 team in the country”, coach Brian Kelly said. Stanford, No. 9 prior to the contest, will certainly see their stock rise a bit as a result.
“There’s so much going on in the next week and whatever the chips may fall after that, you can’t really pause and think back yet”, he said. “I don’t know how many teams can stay as consistent as they have with injury… after injury… after injury, and still win a ton of games and look good”. The Cardinal opened with a 75-yard touchdown drive covering 5:31, and Notre Dame answered with a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown by C.J. Sanders.
The lead did not last, but Kizer’s toughness, downfield passing and running helped the Irish rack up 533 yards of total offense – the most against the Stanford defense since the 2012 season.
Romond Deloatch caught a touchdown for Temple, which will play at No. 21 Houston for the AAC title Saturday with a New Year’s Six bowl bid possibly at stake for the victor.
“It still hurts to go out this way, as far as the end of the season”, said linebacker Jaylon Smith, another likely high first-round pick who had a game-high 15 tackles.
The Irish even went out of their way to toughen their schedule this season, but other schools – mainly USC (8-4) – didn’t hold their end of the bargain.
Watson had a 5-yard scoring run and threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain to put the Tigers up 14-0 lead.
Notre Dame trailed 14-7 with 1:54 remaining in the opening quarter when the Irish had their first play from scrimmage.
Adams, who started the season third on the depth chart at running back, finished the Stanford game with 168 rushing yards for his fourth 100-plus yard game of the season – a Notre Dame freshman record.
For his efforts on an emotional Senior Night against the team he supported with his late father growing up, Hogan was awarded the game ball and got a heartfelt and emotional congratulations from head coach David Shaw after the game was over. However, it should have been clear 30 seconds was too much time.
But just before Notre Dame takes on Stanford, Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State, in a game that could have big playoff implications. His strong play was a reason the Irish were able to hold Stanford to just 176 yards in the second half. Shaw opted to kick the extra point, putting the Cardinal ahead 35-29 rather than going for two to try to go ahead by seven.
But a facemask penalty against Notre Dame and a 27-yard pass from quarterback Kevin Hogan to wide receiver Devon Cajuste set up Ukropina for the winning kick, which represented the eighth lead change of the game.
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Notre Dame lived by the big play in an odd first half that saw Stanford run the first 23 plays from scrimmage in the game. Replay officials did not reverse it, and it actually helped Stanford, saving precious seconds on the clock for the Cardinal. It was the program’s second loss of the season – and for some – the final nail in the College Football Playoff coffin. It was all up to Conrad Ukropina, from 45 yards out.
