In many ways, the heavens above reflected the mood on the field for the Stanford football team (2-4, 1-2 ACC). The trip out to South Bend started with a bright and sunny outlook, but ended dark and gloomy, both in the skies and on the field.
“They outplayed us in all three phases,” said head football coach Troy Taylor.
After the defense forced the Irish to punt to start the game, the Cardinal offense marched down the field and found the end zone to give Stanford a 7-0 lead. But that would only hold for about five more minutes.
The next possession, Notre Dame marched down the field with ease and tied the game up, and never looked back. Seven out of the next eight Notre Dame drives ended in touchdowns, as the Irish scored 49 unanswered points. The lone drive that didn’t finish in the end zone was a second quarter strip by sophomore cornerback Jshawn Frausto-Ramos, who ripped the ball out of the arms of Beaux Collins.
Stanford’s secondary looked pedestrian once again, especially with injuries to fifth-year cornerback Zahran Manley and junior safety Jaivion Green. Notre Dame targeted the Cardinal’s young secondary players in coverage, and the result was that Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard had his best passing game of the season.
On the offensive side of the ball, things weren’t much better. After the first drive, Stanford gained more than 30 yards in a drive only once. That 49-yard drive occurred at the end of the first half when Notre Dame left the middle of the field open, and Stanford was unable to score before the clock expired. On its other drives, the Cardinal failed to convert on 4th down three times, punted four times and turned it over once.
Ashton Daniels’ return to the field initially looked like just the jolt the offense needed. He started out with a perfect 4-4 passing start, and a crucial 26-yard scramble on the opening drive eventually set up the only Cardinal points of the game. However, Daniels and redshirt junior quarterback Justin Lamson overall combined to set a final passing line of 10-18, for 87 yards. Daniels also turned the ball over, as his pitch on an option play was read perfectly and picked off.
But the quarterback play cannot be understood without addressing the offensive line play. Stanford’s offensive front allowed four sacks and eight tackles for loss, appearing to be physically overwhelmed by Notre Dame’s front-seven. Defensive lineman Howard Cross III had two sacks in Saturday’s game.
While Saturday’s game exposed the lack of depth and talent on Stanford’s roster currently, the Cardinal will need to quickly regroup. The Cardinal will have to come back home next week to play another challenging opponent in No. 25 SMU (5-1, 2-0 ACC)
“It’s demoralizing for sure when you’re a competitor,” Taylor said about his team’s back-to-back blowout losses. “You’re gonna feel that way for another 24 hours. But as a competitor you [then] focus your attention on the next opponent. That’s the way it works.”
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