Notre Dame @ #1 Stanford
Stanford Stadium
Palo Alto, CA
November 26, 2011
No Bowl for the Golden Dome
Cardinal buckles down, pulls away from the pesky IrishAfter a quarter, it seemed like business as usual, with Stanford well on its way to an easy win against Notre Dame.
But the Irish fought back with surprising success, knocking the Cardinal defense back on its heels with their up tempo no huddle passing game. Even more of a surprise was the fact that Notre Dame's offensive line kept quarterback Tommy Rees upright all day, keeping Stanford's feared pass rush at bay.
But ultimately, Stanford's talent and ruthless efficiency won out, as the Cardinal pulled away in the second half for a 42-19 victory, setting the stage for the Pac-12 Championship Game in two weeks, where Stanford will have a chance to win their 13th conference title and book a trip to the BCS National Championship Game.
"Our guys never lost their focus," coach Brian Kudron said. "We started fast, but we sputtered in the second quarter, and they caught us with a right hook and took momentum for a while. But I know the resolve of this team, and I knew we would circle the wagons and get things straight. Now we've got a bye week, extra time to heal up and prepare for the next one."
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Stanford Cardinal |
| Nov 26, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-7) | 3 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| #1 Stanford Cardinal (12-0, 9-0) | 21 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
|  |  |
| Total Offense | 352 | 494 |
| Rushing Yards | 33 | 230 |
| Passing Yards | 319 | 264 |
| First Downs | 11 | 24 |
| Punt Return Yards | 15 | 49 |
| Kick Return Yards | 49 | 101 |
| Total Yards | 416 | 644 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 6-17 | 13-18 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 0/3 | 5/0 |
| Penalties | 3-26 | 1-10 |
| Posession Time | 12:00 | 36:13 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | ND | STAN |
| 10:47 | (ND) Ruffer, 30 yard FG | 3 | 0 |
| 7:31 | (STAN) Luck, 7 yard pass to Hewitt (Williamson kick) | 3 | 7 |
| 4:41 | (STAN) Luck, 1 yard pass to Meinken (Williamson kick) | 3 | 14 |
| 0:20 | (STAN) Luck, 41 yard pass to Fleener (Williamson kick) | 3 | 21 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | ND | STAN |
| 10:41 | (ND) Ruffer, 42 yard FG | 6 | 21 |
| 8:38 | (ND) Rees, 61 yard pass to Riddick (Ruffer kick) | 13 | 21 |
| 1:00 | (ND) Ruffer, 19 yard FG | 16 | 21 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | ND | STAN |
| 9:30 | (ND) Ruffer, 35 yard FG | 19 | 21 |
| 5:50 | (STAN) Wilkerson, 15 yard run (Williamson kick) | 19 | 28 |
| 2:31 | (STAN) Stewart, 4 yard run (Williamson kick) | 19 | 35 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | ND | STAN |
| 8:15 | (STAN) Luck, 12 yard pass to Fleener (Williamson kick) | 19 | 42 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | T. Rees | 22/43 | 319 | 1 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | C. Wood | 12 | 19 | 1.5 | 0 | | T. Rees | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | | T. Jones | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | T. Eifert | 7 | 103 | 14.7 | 0 | | M. Floyd | 4 | 47 | 11.7 | 0 | | J. Goodman | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 | | C. Wood | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 0 | | D. Daniels | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | | B. Koyack | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 | | T. Riddick | 1 | 63 | 63.0 | 1 | | T. Jones | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | G. Gray | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | D. Fox | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | J. Slaughter | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | E. Johnson | 6 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | | R. Blanton | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | D. Fleming | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | M. Te'o | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | S. Cwynar | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | | H. Smith | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | D. Ruffer | 4/4 | 1/1 | 13 | 43 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | B. Turk | 5 | 201 | 40.2 | 0 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | G. Atkinson III | 2 | 49 | 24.5 | 0 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | T. Riddick | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 |
| | Stanford Cardinal | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | A. Luck | 16/26 | 252 | 4 | 0 | | D. Zychlinski | 1/1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | S. Taylor | 23 | 154 | 6.6 | 0 | | J. Stewart | 20 | 38 | 1.9 | 1 | | A. Wilkerson | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 1 | | A. Luck | 5 | -19 | -3.8 | 0 | | G. Meinken | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | C. Fleener | 6 | 118 | 19.6 | 2 | | Z. Ertz | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 0 | | L. Toilolo | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | | D. Terrell | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | | G. Meinken | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | | J. Rashad-Patterson | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 0 | | J. Richards | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | | A. Wilkerson | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | | G. Whalen | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | | R. Hewitt | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | S. Skov | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | D. Howell | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | T. Murphy | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | M. Bergen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | M. Thomas | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | C. Thomas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | J. Bademosi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | J. Williamson | 0/0 | 6/6 | 6 | | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | D. Zychlinski | 2 | 92 | 46.0 | 0 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | T. Montgomery | 4 | 101 | 25.2 | 0 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | D. Terrell | 2 | 49 | 24.5 | 0 |
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