October 4, 1997
Notre Dame at Stanford Final Stats
By Chris Hamilton, The Scholastic 1997 Football Review
No one could have expected this. Coming into the 1997 season, Notre Dame was not hailed as a strong national championship contender but they did have their usual lofty expectations – at least a top 20 finish. But five games into the season, Irish fans would have settled for just a winning record. A 1-4 record and the first four game losing streak in 34 years tends to lower expectations.
After the previous week’s 21-14 loss at Michigan, the Notre Dame faithful thought they saw signs that the team was ready to break out of its season-long rut. They played their hearts out against the undefeated Wolverines, leading 14-7 at the half and almost pulling out a victory in the fourth quarter.
Heading into the Stanford contest, many believed this game would be a confidence booster. But the Cardinal killed any momentum the Irish had, handing Notre Dame its worst beating of the season, a 33-15 defeat at Stanford Stadium.
“We need to get more in sync as a coaching staff,” Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie said. “It’s a lot of things and that is what I told the team. We can sit here and say it was this or it was that. But any time you get handled like we have gotten handled, it’s more than just one or two things.”
The Irish hung with the Cardinal for almost three quarters before Stanford plowed over Notre Dame’s defense en route to a 16-point fourth quarter. Stanford’s ground game wore out the Irish defense as the tailback tandem of Anthony Bookman and Mike Mitchell combined for 277 of Stanford’s 322 rushing yards. “We just finally broke at the end,” defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. “The kids battled their hearts out early, and then the dam just broke. Our kids just got worn down, and they started smash ing the ball against us. We just can’t hold up against that.”
The game, played in sunny Palo Alto, Calif., in front of 75,651 fans, began with a bomb. On the very first play of the game, quarterback Ron Powlus threw a deep pass to freshman split end Joey Getherall. Though the pass was incomplete, it indicated a significant change in the Notre Dame game plan. The Irish coaching staff, widely criticized during the first four games for not throwing the ball downfield enough, was trying to force Stanford to respect the deep threat and open up room for the Notre Dame running game. The tactic seemed to work as the Irish gained 124 yards on the ground in the first half, 106 by junior Autry Denson.
After the opening incompletion, the Irish failed to get a first down on their next two plays and were forced to punt. Stanford also was unable to score on its first possession but Kevin Miller’s 31-yard punt pinned the Irish back at their own 4.
Deep in their zone, Notre Dame’s offense began attacking. The Irish mixed up the play-calling, with Denson carrying the ball seven times for 44 yards and Powlus completing four passes for 38 yards, including an 18 yard strike to Bobby Brown. The drive was halted at Stanford’s 28-yard line where Davie called upon place-kicker Jim Sanson. The 45-yard attempt was 6 yards longer than his previous career best but the sophomore drilled it, giving the Irish a 3-0 lead.
Stanford came right back, putting together a scoring drive its their own. Wide receiver Damon Dunn got things started with a 32- yard kickoff return, giving Stanford’s powerful offense excellent field position. The Cardinal proceeded to pick apart Notre Dame’s defense, with Mitchell doing most of the damage. The senior gained 43 yards on the drive, including the drive-capping touchdown, a 15-yard run with only four seconds left in the quarter.
On Notre Dame’s first possession of the second quarter, freshman tailback Tony Driver was inserted into the lineup and gained 20 yards on four carries. Two Irish penalties that the offense was unable to surmount, however, marred Driver’s efforts and the drive stalled at the Stanford 33.
The next time the Irish touched the ball, they sustained one of their best drives of the season. Starting on their own 6, Notre Dame needed some breathing room. With the help of a dominating offensive line, Denson gave them that and more. He totaled 61 yards on seven rushes, giving him a whopping 8.7 yards per carry for the drive. Powlus finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Jabari Holloway. Sanson, who had looked so qualified just moments before, invited criticism once again by missing the extra point. The 11-play, 94- yard drive took only 3:54 and gave the Irish their second lead of the day, 9-7.
Once again, Stanford answered the Irish scoring drive with one of their own. With 2:58 to go in the half, Hutchinson went to work, completing six of eight passes for 52 yards before the offense bogged down at the Notre Dame 20. The Cardinal settled for a 37-yard field goal by Miller with 18 seconds left in the first half and looked to go into halftime with a 10-9 lead.
But Notre Dame had other thoughts. With the ball on their own 25 and only 18 seconds to work with, the Irish tried to get into field goal range. On the first play, Powlus scrambled out of the pocket and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Cardinal nose tackle Willie Howard. Luckily for the Irish, Miller’s 43-yard field goal attempt was no good and the Irish headed into the locker room down by only one.
Coming out for the second half, Notre Dame knew they had to reverse their season-long trend of flopping in the third quarter if they wanted to win the game. But they didn’t. For the fifth consecutive game, the Irish failed to score a point in the third quarter, gaining only 32 yards and running only 10 offensive plays. “The third quarter killed us,” Powlus said. “We haven’t scored in the third quarter all year. I felt that we let the defense down in the third.”
Stanford, on the other hand, composed a 17-play, 87-yard drive that ate up 7:11 of the clock and resulted in a touchdown. Bookman and Mitchell took turns pounding the ball into Notre Dame’s defense, combining for 41 yards on the ground. Hutchinson completed six of seven passes and Mitchell scored on a three-yard run off tackle.
Down 17-9 at the end of three quarters, the Irish still appeared to have a shot at a win, but their offense couldn’t get going. Three straight passes to open the final quarter left Notre Dame with a fourth-and-five from the Stanford 26. Davie again rolled the dice on Sanson but came up empty.
Stanford took over at its own 27-yard line and let Bookman go to work. He took the Cardinal 73 yards in only two plays, the second of which was a 58-yard touchdown run that put Stanford up 24-9, with 13:42 left in the quarter.
Notre Dame was down by more than two touchdowns, but the Irish refused to give up. In six plays they drove 76 yards for a touchdown. Powlus came up huge, completing a 38-yard pass to Malcolm Johnson and a clutch fourth down, 27-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Brown. Notre Dame decided to go for two, but Powlus’ pass fell incomplete. The Irish cut the lead to 24-15, and with more than 10 minutes to play in the game, they needed their weary defense to take a stand.
Instead, the defense allowed Stanford to drive 74 yards on 16 consecutive running plays and consume 7:42. More importantly, the Cardinal scored a touchdown to go up 31-15 with3:15 remaining, putting the game out of reach.
On Notre Dame’s last possession of the game, Powlus was sacked twice. The last one, by Kailee Wong, resulted in a safety. Stanford ran out the clock on its next possession to end the game.
Despite the one-sided loss and a 1-4 record, Davie refused to give up on the season. “I know the problem areas, and I know what it’s going to take to get us through those problem areas,” he said. “Sometimes, it gets worse before it gets better.”
Which left Irish fans wondering if it could get any worse.