Notre Dame Beats Stanford 45-14 As Defense Fuels Another November Blowout
Notre Dame finished the regular season with an 11-1 record after another convincing November victory, this time with the Irish defense combining with a big-play offense to fuel a 45-14 victory over Stanford.
Notre Dame struck first, with Jack Coan hitting Kevin Austin over the middle after a play-action, and Austin got free for a 33-yard gain. The drive ended when Coan hit Braden Lenzy on a quick post route for a 16-yard touchdown.
After the two teams traded punts the Irish offense marched 69 yards on nine plays, with Coan finding tight end George Takacs for his second touchdown pass of the game to give the Irish a 14-0 lead.
Defensive end Justin Ademilola forced the ball out a sack of Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee, and the senior edge defender recovered the ball deep in Cardinal territory.
A holding penalty on guard Cain Madden was followed by a false start and the Irish offense could not get back on track, but the great field position set up Jonathan Doerer for a 36-yard field goal to extend the lead.
Another forced three-and-out by the punishing Notre Dame defense was followed by a methodical, 12-play, 75-yard drive by the offense. Running back Kyren Williams finished the drive off with a 1-yard run to make it a 24-0 score.
Notre Dame held Stanford to just 47 yards of offense in the opening half, but the Cardinal were able to break the no touchdown streak of the Irish defense to start the third quarter. Coan was intercepted by safety Jonathan McGill, who returned the ball all the way back to the Irish 13-yard line.
Coan responded quickly, hitting Austin on a deep drag route, and Austin did the rest for a 61-yard gain that set up a Coan sneak for a touchdown two plays later to get it back to a four-score game at 31-7.
The Irish offense struggled to find its rhythm in the second half. Big plays by Austin (61 yards), Mayer (34 yards) Chris Tyree (33 yards) and Tyler Buchner (33 yards) were the only bright spots for the offense, which sputtered in the final two quarters.
Coan finished the game 26-35 (74.2%) for 345 yards and two touchdowns. He added a touchdown run on a quarterback sneak. Williams rushed for two scores but averaged just 3.9 yards on 19 carries (74 yards) as the offense largely struggled to run the ball against a Stanford defense that came in giving up 241.7 yards per game on the ground.
Mayer led the Irish with nine catches to go with 105 yards, and Austin led the offense with 125 receiving yards to go with six catches.
Notre Dame out-gained Stanford 510-227.
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