SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame football team dropped a 16-14 decision to the Stanford Cardinal Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium. The loss is Notre Dame’s third of the season, to go with an equal number of wins. Stanford improves to 2-4.
The Irish defense limited Stanford to just 2.3 yards per carry, totaling 97 on the day. Linebacker JD Bertrand was key in that effort, totaling 13 tackles, six solo and adding 0.5 tackles for loss. Safety Xavier Watts added seven stops of his own, while lineman Gabriel Rubio totaled a career-best seven tackles.
Quarterback Drew Pyne led the offense, finishing with 13 completions for 151 yards and a touchdown. Michael Mayer was the top target, catching five passes for 60 yards. Freshman Tobias Merriweather hauled in his first career catch, a 41-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
The rushing attack was led by sophomore Audric Estime. Estime ran for 57 yards on eight carries. Logan Diggs finished with an equal amount of yards on nine attempts. Chris Tyree carried eight times for 35 yards as the running game combined for 160 yards.
How It Happened
After forcing a three-and-out on the Irish’s opening possession, Stanford wasted no time getting on the board. The Cardinal used eight plays to gain 66 yards and capped the drive with a Casey Filkins two-yard touchdown run.
The defenses on both sides buckled down over the next 20 minutes of game action. The Irish offense had a first and goal opportunity, but failed to get on the board in the first quarter. Stanford saw a drive in Irish territory come up short towards the end of the first half as Notre Dame’s defense forced a turnover on downs with 1:45 remaining in the half.
After an Irish fumble gave the ball back to the Cardinal in Irish territory with less than a minute to go, Stanford moved up 18 yards and capitalized with a 45-yard field goal by Joshua Karty to go up 10-0 and the end of the first half.
Stanford tacked on three more early in the third quarter. The Cardinal took their first possession 48 yards in nine plays, hitting a pass down the middle of the field for a gain of 38 to move into Irish territory. Notre Dame’s defense then sandwiched a run for no gain with a pair of interceptions, setting up the 43-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-0 with 8:44 remaining.
Pyne and the offense started to right the ship on the ensuing possession. The Notre Dame offense marched 75 yards on six plays to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Estime 10-yard. Diggs got the drive started with a 26-yard gain to move into Stanford territory. Pyne found Mayer twice to move the ball down to the 10 for Estime who broke free off left tackle for the score, his fifth score of the season.
The Irish defense stepped up again, turning Stanford over on downs towards the end of the third quarter. Rylie Mills and Rubio stuffed the Stanford running attack at the line of scrimmage on fourth and short to give the ball to the offense who turned it into seven points. Notre Dame went 60 yards on six plays as Pyne hit Merriweather from 41-yards out for the score. Blake Grupe was true on the extra point and the Irish took the 14-13 lead with 14:53 remaining.
Stanford took its next possession 51 yards to regain the lead. After what was originally ruled a lost fumble by the Stanford quarterback, the Cardinal benefitted from an overturned replay ruling to keep Cardinal possession. Stanford moved another 25 yards further into Irish territory before settling for a 43-yard field goal. The kick was good and Stanford took a 16-14 lead with 10:20 left.
The Irish had a drive moving late in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame had moved 54 yards on eight plays, handing the ball to Estime for over 40 yards, but a fumble erased the progress as the Cardinal took over at their own 21. The Irish defense forced a punt and Notre Dame took over with 2:30 left on the clock for one last chance.
The Cardinal punt started the drive at the Notre Dame 10. The Irish moved up its own 28 before encountering some trouble. Stanford’s defense dropped Pyne for a three-yard loss and back-to-back incompletions sealed Notre Dame’s fate as the Irish turned it over on downs with 1:04 on the clock and no timeouts.
Up Next
The Irish are back in action next weekend as they host the UNLV Rebels at Notre Dame Stadium with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Peacock.