“And we truly thought that we were one of the best teams in the country”. He left with joy – “It was the best”, he said – to override that of his previous home game, a 38-36 loss to OR on November 14 in which Hogan and Stanford suffered two shocking, drive-quashing, fourth-quarter fumbled snaps. And then, after the kickoff return to the Stanford 27-yard line, just 25 seconds left. Notre Dame now awaits its bowl bid.
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After a slow night against Temple, Prosise was banged up the following week against Pitt, didn’t play against Wake Forest, left the Boston College game with a high ankle sprain and didn’t play Saturday versus Stanford.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish face the Stanford Cardinals in a classic rivalry game Saturday night. “And the special teams, coming out of the back field, obviously a very gifted runner”. “One play at Clemson and one play here at Stanford”. Quarterback DeShone Kizer and risky WR Will Fuller will be facing a Cardinal defense that is vulnerable against the pass, often giving receivers a big cushion and hoping it can shut the door in the red zone.
But just before Notre Dame takes on Stanford, Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State, in a game that could have big playoff implications. Deadlocked at 14 entering the half, they would head to the first overtime with the same score: neither team scored a point in the second half.
Despite some great pass rush from Stanford, Kizer was able to march the Irish into Cardinal territory on a methodical drive with a chance to take a late lead.
For the second time this season, there can be no doubt: Notre Dame handed a game away that they put themselves into prime position to win. Two plays later, the back of the Irish defense was exposed again when Hogan found Devon Cajuste for a 27-yard completion, setting up a kick Conrad Ukropina will never forget.
“I ran out there, looked at Dallas and said, ‘I mean, shoot, man, might as well just make it.’ It’s the same kick we have done hundreds of times in practice”, Ukropina said. “It’s a culmination of the game, and the reality is, we’re two plays away from being the No. 1 team in the country – one play at Clemson and one play here at Stanford”.
The Cardinal also get another shot to impress the committee next week in the Pac-12 title game against either No. 23 UCLA or Southern California.
Watson passed for 279 yards and ran for 114 to keep the Tigers on track for a spot in the College Football Playoff – and moved their record to 12-0 for the first time since their 1981 national championship winning season.
“We had talked about letting them score”, Shaw said.
The Irish believe they belong in the CFP with a win against Stanford tonight when we watch the Notre Dame Stanford game live streaming or on TV tonight. Christian McCaffrey has been lighting people up all season and Kevin Hogan has been good at quarterback.
This game, like almost all of the other ones, has playoff implications. DeShone Kizer is completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 2,362 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Fighting Irish fell from No. 4 to No. 6 in last week’s CFP rankings, and figure to fall out of contention with their second loss of the year. “I told them, ‘Hey, this is our time, this is where we need to just nut up, basically, and say we’re not going to let anything get past us.’ We’re going to make those stops for our offense”.
WHAT WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT: Stanford can add to its résumé against USC.
In fact, as Ukropina waited through the timeout, Stanford players on the team bench were already ecstatic.
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Notre Dame ran its power read and counter runs throughout the game with excellent results.
